Mouche Phillips (born 1973) is an Australian actress and

theatre producer A theatrical producer is a person who oversees all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The producer is responsible for the overall financial and managerial functions of a production or venue, raises or provides financial backing, and hires ...

, best known for her television roles as Aviva "Viv" Newton in ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a tr ...

'' (1989–90) and Eva Sykes in

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eithe ...

series '' Water Rats'' (2000–01).

Early life

Phillips was born in Sydney, and attended

Woollahra Public School Woollahra Public School, (previously known as Woollahra Demonstration School), is a main school located in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Woollahra, near Edgecliff. Description Though accepting students from Kindergar ...

with several other future actors, including Home and away co-star Justine Clarke and singer Deni Hines, and then

St Catherine's School, Waverley St Catherine's School (commonly referred to as ''St Cath's'') is a private Anglican Junior and Senior day and boarding school, located in Waverley, an eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1856 as a school for t ...

from 1984 to 1989. Her father, Tony Lunes was a yacht skipper working in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

, United Kingdom.

Career

Phillips began her career in 1985 by playing the character of Jackie Wilson in the children's television show Butterfly Island. She then starred as "Beatie Bow" in the 1986 feature film '' Playing Beatie Bow'' when she was twelve years old. She later appeared in many

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australi ...

serials, including ''

A Country Practice ''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera which broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 5 November 1993, airing at 7:30 pm on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Altogether, 14 seasons and 1,058 episodes were p ...

'' and ''

Rafferty's Rules ''Rafferty's Rules'' is an Australian television drama series which ran from 1987 to 1991 on the Seven Network. The producers of the series were Posie Graeme-Evans (1987–1988), and Denis Phelen. The directors were Graham Thorburn, Mike Smith ...

''. On 5 July 1989, she premiered as a cast member of the popular series ''

'', on which she played Aviva "Viv" Newton. She left the series on 25 May 1990. Phillips was sharing a house with Justine Clarke and began auditioning the week after Clarke had left the serial. Phillips told a writer from '' Look-in'' that she liked to be kept busy on set. She explained that "people" were often left trying to find her because she was not where she should have been. Phillips told Graeme Kay from ''BIG!'' that the role had taken up too much of her time and she preferred having a free schedule. She later starred in a number of the

Kennedy Miller Productions Kennedy Miller Mitchell (known before 2009 as Kennedy Miller) is an Australian film, television and video game production house in Potts Point, Sydney, that has been producing television and film since 1978. It is responsible for some of Austr ...

in the 1980s. She was cast in the ABC series ''

G.P. ''G.P.'' is an Australian television series produced by Roadshow, Coote & Carroll for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the series was broadcast for 8 seasons between 1989 and 1996. Synopsis The series, screened on the ABC, is set arou ...

'' before, at the age of 17, moving to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. Aged 19, she was accepted into the Central School of Speech and Drama. After returning to Sydney in the mid-1990s, Phillips began producing pub theatre with a group of friends, Jeremy Cumpston, Simon Lyndon and

Joel Edgerton Joel Edgerton (born 23 June 1974) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his appearance in the '' Star Wars'' films ''Attack of the Clones'' (2002) and '' Revenge of the Sith'' (2005) as a young Owen Lars, a role he reprise ...

, later to be known as the

Tamarama Rock Surfers The Tamarama Rock Surfers was an independent theatre company that operated out of the Old Fitzroy Theatre in Sydney, Australia, and beyond. After 18 years, the group ceased trading in December 2015 due to lack of funding. History The Tamarama R ...

theatre group. She later starred in PorkChop Productions' first show, a production of ''

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'' is an absurdist, existential tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966. The play expands upon the exploits of two minor characters from Shakespeare's ''Haml ...

''. That led to her being appointed PorkChop's full-time producer, which led her to develop material to stage at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century archit ...

. Phillips produced ''

Last Cab to Darwin ''Last Cab to Darwin'' is a 2003 Australian drama/comedy stage play written by Reg Cribb and based upon the true story of taxi driver Max Bell who was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer in the early 1990s. The 2003 production was presented ...

'' for PorkChop Productions which was staged at the Opera House in Sydney and at the

Black Swan State Theatre Company Black Swan State Theatre Company (formerly The Black Swan Theatre Company) is Western Australia's state theatre company. It runs an annual subscription season in Perth at the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, tours its productions re ...

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

. In 2000, Phillips appeared as a guest in the police series '' Water Rats'' where she played Eva Minton-Sykes, wife of Gavin Sykes until 2001. In 2009 she appeared in the third season of the series '' H₂O: Just Add Water'' where she played Mrs. Taylor, a science teacher, until 2010. She joined the cast of '' Secrets & Lies'' where she played Vanessa Turner, the wife of the doctor Timothy Turner on 3 March 2014.

Personal life

Phillips married Sy Milman on 21 September 2002; the couple had three children and they divorced in 2010. She is currently the owner and

creative director A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...

of Ripe Productions and took the position of

creative producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

for Byron Theatre in 2010. She also works as the Sponsorship Manager for the

Byron Bay Writers Festival The Byron Bay Writers Festival (also called Byron Writers Festival) is a literary event taking place annually in Byron Bay, New South Wales. The festival commenced in 1997 and was founded by Chris Hanley and a dedicated group of volunteers who in ...

and as the

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the Byron Bay Soul Street New Year's Eve Event. She also works as the Sponsorship Manager for the

She directs a theater program for the Byron Theatre, also has taught several children focused on functions of camera,

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

and has assisted as a children's casting director and acting teacher.

Memberships and associations

* Ripe Productions – Owner (June 2001 – Present) * Byron Theatre –

Creative Producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

(2010–present) *

– Partnership Manager * Byron Bay Soul Street New Year's Eve Event – Curator

Filmography

Film

Television

Producer

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Mouche 1973 births Living people Australian film actresses Australian stage actresses Australian child actresses Australian voice actresses Dramaturges Australian dramatists and playwrights Talent agents Australian theatre managers and producers Australian radio actresses Australian soap opera actresses Actresses from Sydney Australian women in business Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama 20th-century Australian actresses 21st-century Australian actresses