When the West End star Mazz Murray was growing up, her parents had one piece of advice. “They told me to be different and not to be the same as everyone else,” she tells us in this exclusive interview.
“I don’t copy what people wear or things like that; I do what I want to do, however ridiculous or whatever it is. I’ve always been comfortable just being different.”
It’s this attitude that has endeared her to audiences who have seen her take on lead roles in shows including Sunset Boulevard and We Will Rock You – plus Mamma Mia, in which she has been playing Donna for the past six years.
Clearly, her parents knew what they were doing when they offered their advice. And it’s no surprise: her father is the renowned 1960s songwriter Mitch Murray, who has worked with the likes of Gerry and the Pacemakers and the Beatles, while her mother is the actress Grazina Frame, who has sung with Cliff Richard and starred on the London stage.
However, even with that showbusiness pedigree, it wasn’t a given that Mazz, 50, would follow in their footsteps. Although she joined a theatre school aged nine, she only did it to stay close to her older sister, Gina.
“I didn’t want to be separated from her,” she says. “I didn’t even know what theatre school was, but by the time I got there, I loved it. Music and famous people at our home was the norm, so it was probably inevitable that we would do the same.”
At the age of ten, Mazz delivered an audition with a comic twist that landed her a small role in the 1980s TV show You Should Be So Lucky, and from there, her star only rose. Playing Donna in Mamma Mia – the role taken by Meryl Streep in the 2008 hit film – was a long-held ambition after she originally auditioned to portray the character’s daughter, Sophie, when the show was new.
“I didn’t get it, because I sounded as if I was 45 even back then,” she laughs. “I was hopeful the show would last 25 years and, blow me, it did. So when I got the opportunity to audition for Donna, it was a dream come true.”
Why does she think the show, which recently marked its 26th anniversary in London, is still popular? “It’s not just the songs,” she says. “It shows women that they’re the best, that we survive and can actually get through things. It’s also about sisterhood and our friends because, as we get older, they are our comfort and support.”
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Mazz has her own support in the form of her sister, with whom she performs in the band Woman, and a group of close friends that includes Hannah Waddingham and Alexandra Burke. She first met Ted Lasso star Hannah through Gina when she was 14, with both then winning parts in the musical Smokey Joe’s Café.
“She is a great friend and a huge support,” Mazz says. “When I’ve had bad moments in my life – although I’m lucky that I’ve not had that many – she has been great. There was one of those moments when I was on the floor and she rang me backstage before she got an Emmy and picked me up in a FaceTime call.
“She was 100% there, which is hard when you’re as in demand as she is, but her priorities are right. And her love for her friends – nothing really compares to it.”
Mazz’s love for Gina – whose son, Max Murray, currently plays Joel Marshall in EastEnders – also knows no bounds, and she is very close to her two sons, aged 14 and 11, from a previous marriage.
© BRINKNOFF-MOEGENBURG“I hope they’re proud of me,” she says. “I’m very aware of not embarrassing them, but it’s inevitable if I’m wearing yellow lycra and singing Dancing Queen. They’re really well-adjusted gentlemen and show me huge respect.”
How does she juggle her stage career with motherhood? “I see them in the morning before they go to school, and when they come home from school, I have an hour and a half to tell them off and kiss them. Then I see them when I get home. My mum did what I do and it’s all they’ve known.”
After turning 50 last year, Mazz feels that she is “100%” where she wants to be, and is now thinking about trying her luck on the small screen, too. “I would love to do TV drama,” she says. “I want to do EastEnders. I want to be challenged and try things that are different and new.”
Listen to Mazz talking to Ateh Jewel on the Second Act podcast, sponsored by Absolute Collagen and available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon or wherever you get your podcasts.
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