Words by Sjaan Askwith | Photography and Videography by Charles Grant | Styling by Caroline Tran
From humble beginnings in small-town Australia to the giddy heights of global runway shows to taking advice from Nicole Kidman, and a starring role in Netflix’s Dynasty, Maddison Brown’s journey has been nothing short of a whirlwind. But now, the actress and model is stepping back from Hollywood’s spotlight to focus on growing her sunscreen and skincare brand, Outside Beauty & Skincare — a venture that represents her most personal challenge yet. In this next chapter, she’s prioritising fulfilment over fame, embracing change with refreshing candour.
For Australian actress, model, and entrepreneur Maddison Brown, while a life in the spotlight was perhaps always inevitable, ultimately, that was never the end goal, “Growing up, I was always very naturally creative.” Brown explains, “Acting quickly became a way for me to express that part of myself, but it was always the creative aspect that I was drawn to.”
Brown grew up in the semi-rural suburb of Dural (45 minutes north-west of Sydney), where she talks of a quintessentially Aussie, relatively prosaic upbringing spent beneath the ever-present sun and never far from the ocean.
With a natural confidence since childhood, Brown’s foray into performance came about at the age of five, when she and her siblings (two older sisters) were encouraged by their parents to give acting classes a go. Her innate talent was quickly recognised, and she was signed by an agent soon thereafter. From there, momentum built organically, “I just started doing it. One thing led to another: classes turned into commercials, commercials turned into TV, and TV turned into movies.” But, in between that final step, she began modelling — another creative outlet that, by her own account, set her up for success in all of her future endeavours. How? Affording her grit, nerves of steel, and sense of independence that would pay dividends later in life. “My agent suggested I try modelling when I was around 13, and by 16, I was living in New York modelling full-time,” Brown explains. It was then she realised that, perhaps, she could make something of herself in a world notoriously fickle and hard to break into that felt a million miles from small-town Australia, “I think modelling made me realise that [global success] was possible; that it can happen to people like me.” But, acting was a long-term goal, “I thought, when I’m 28 and too old to model, I’ll really get into acting,” she tells me with a laugh, “Which is funny because I’m now 27, and don’t feel old at all.”
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As it happened, it was a little sooner than 28 that Brown would find herself on the big screen. At just 16, she landed a role in the independent Australian film Strangerland, playing Nicole Kidman’s daughter. “Working with someone like Nicole [Kidman] opens a lot of doors,” says Brown. In fact, it was Kidman’s encouragement that convinced her to take a reluctant step back from modelling and go all-in with acting, “I felt like I was pulled in two different directions,” she recalls, “I really wanted to throw myself behind [my acting career], but I felt like I was leaving behind modelling if I did.” She continues, “But Nicole was very encouraging. She said to me, you’re good at this, you should keep doing this. And that coming from an actress of her standing was pretty incredible.” She pauses, “When Nicole Kidman gives you advice, you take it.” Acting quickly became her focus, leading her to LA, and she’s been in America — and on our screens — ever since.
“I never expected to actually go to America and act — I don’t think I ever thought that would be possible for me… I was just a girl from the suburbs… people like me didn’t go to Hollywood.”
I’m interested to know whether, given Brown’s early foray into acting, she could have predicted her path, “When you’re a kid, you think… I’m going to be an astronaut, I’m going to be a zoologist,” she says with a laugh, “I never expected to actually go to America and act — I don’t think I ever thought that would be possible for me.” She continues, “I was just a girl from the suburbs…. people like me didn’t go to Hollywood.” Giving me a jolt of nostalgia, she quips that growing up, the pinnacle of success was landing a role in the enduring Australian soap, Home and Away, “[Home and Away] was as far as I thought it could ever go. It was the final destination.” But, regardless of whether she could have foretold the future, she certainly worked hard to make things happen. Following Strangerland, Brown went all-in, “The path opened up for me, and I just went for it.” And it paid off.
Following the film’s release, it wasn’t too long before the actress landed a starring role in Dynasty — an American comedy-drama series based on the 80s soap opera of the same name, centred on an ongoing feud between two of America’s wealthiest families. For four years, Brown played Kirby Anders, daughter of the Carrington family’s majordomo. “I was so young when I got that show, and it taught me a lot,” Brown muses, “I had just turned 21, and I was on a plane to Atlanta. I thought I would be there for three months and ended up being there for four years.” Despite the remarkable opportunity the show presented from an exposure and growth perspective, Brown talks of the lasting relationships she forged on set being the highlight, alongside the mentorship of her female castmates, “It was so nice to have these confident, strong women on set that I felt I could connect to and ask for advice.” She tells me that Michael Michele and Daniella Alonso were particularly supportive, and remain close friends.
Dynasty resonated with people in a way Brown tells me she could never have anticipated, becoming somewhat of a cultural phenomenon during the pandemic, providing escapist entertainment at a time when viewers needed it most. “[Dynasty] meant a lot to a lot of people, and it’s amazing to have been a part of something like that,” she says in earnest. “Everything was over-the-top and campy and wild — it was this hyper-real world, and I think during the pandemic when people just wanted to escape, we were the perfect show for that.” We discuss the series ending, and Brown candidly shares that she’s happy with where it finished up. She was ready to move on to her next challenge.
“Working with someone like Nicole [Kidman] opens a lot of doors… She said to me, you’re good at this, you should keep doing this. And that coming from an actress of her standing was pretty incredible.”
Brown’s drive has extended to the way in which she’s approached her journey into entrepreneurship. Alongside her sister Allyson, Brown launched Outside Beauty & Skincare in 2022 — an environmentally-conscious sunscreen and skincare brand that has quickly found success both within Australia and abroad. When I ask whether founding a brand was a long-held goal, Brown tells me that, for her, it’s simply another creative outlet through which she can express herself. She approaches business ownership in the same way she does acting and modelling — with creativity as her nucleus. “I’m just happy if I’m being creative,” Brown reasons, “Whether that’s acting, whether that’s working on my brand — they’re kind of the same in terms of exercising that part of my brain and having an outlet.”
Not only has Outside Beauty & Skincare afforded Brown a whole new perspective on creativity, but also a sense of stability that, as time goes on, she’s found herself craving outside of the ebbs and flows of Hollywood, “At 27, I’m starting to think about the future — having kids, and what kind of life I want to give them,” she says. “I think my approach has evolved in the sense that I want my life to be secure and kind of completely separate from the industry, so that the inevitable peaks and valleys don’t have such an impact on my personal happiness.” In fact, Brown tells me that, in this chapter of life, happiness is her single marker of success. “Now, I just want to be happy. And if I’m on a great series and happy, that’s a win. If I’m working on my brand and happy, that’s a win, too. But happiness is the end goal.”
As our conversation runs on, I become increasingly aware of the fact that Brown is certainly not shy of hard work and finds joy in building something — be it a character, a business, or a life outside of it all. When I mention this, she immediately agrees, “I’m a really hard worker. I love building things, brick by boring brick. I find it so rewarding.” She adds that she’s been building her career for such a long time, and now, her focus has shifted to doing the same with her life.
She does make a point of telling me that it’s hard, as a public figure, to make that shift, “When you’ve grown up in the spotlight, you wonder — am I allowed to evolve? Do I need to announce that I’m changing, or my priorities are shifting, or can I just let it happen organically?” To me, it seems as if she’s striking a graceful balance between the former and the latter, letting her dedicated fan base in — but not too far in, so as to still keep a sense of autonomy and self-preservation. “I love acting, I always will, and it’s always going to be a priority for me. But I think I have to also make myself a priority too,” she states with candour, adding that, while she’s currently staying open to opportunities, she’s certainly not putting her life on hold waiting for something to come up.
“I’m a middle-class Australian, and I think we’re all very entrepreneurially spirited people.”
And that’s where Outside Beauty & Skincare comes in. “I feel very empowered at the moment,” she states with pride, telling me that Hollywood is going through a weird moment in time. “You can’t control what happens from one day to the next — you’re just a piece of a very complicated puzzle,” Brown explains, adding, “So [with Outside Skincare & Beauty], I feel very empowered that I have something in my life that is within my control, and that acting can then just be a creative outlet.”
Building the brand, Brown tells me, has been an exercise in delayed, long-term gratification and an incredible learning curve. “You plant a seed, and then, years later, the seed blooms, and it’s the best feeling in the world. But all that time, you’ve been waiting, watering, tending. Whereas with acting, your life can change tomorrow.” But both have their upsides, “There’s such an incredible sense of excitement with acting, and there is also that same sense of excitement with building a brand, but I think it’s a much more long-term payoff.”
On the topic of longevity, we discuss the future and whether, given the brand’s success and growth thus far, she feels a certain responsibility to go all-in, turning her back on acting opportunities for the time being. “Everything’s a trade-off at the end of the day,” she pragmatically states, “With a big acting job, there’s press and leverage that benefits the brand, but then I’m not on the ground helping it to grow.” She pauses, “There will always be pros and cons, but, ultimately, it would come down to what would make me the happiest at the time. I’m old enough to recognise that happiness is success.”
I can’t help but think that Brown and her sister’s brand has been a catalyst for this shift in priorities, drawing her focus back to Australia, to the laid-back outlook and low-key lifestyle Australians are known for. Brown has long been a proud Australian patriot and still calls Sydney home, despite having lived abroad for over a decade. She talks of being exposed to ‘The American Dream’ at a young age, saying that the ‘more, more, more’ mentality never sat well with her, while ‘The Aussie Dream’ felt more relatable. “As a culture, Australians are this larrikin, loud, warm, and embracing group of people who are go-getters,” she states with pride. “We love to reach for more, but not in a way that feels greedy or overly economically driven. It’s about building your own little empire around what works for you.”
“I love acting, I always will, and it’s always going to be a priority for me. But I think I have to also make myself a priority too.”
Brown adds, “I’m a middle-class Australian, and I think we’re all very entrepreneurially spirited people.” She admires the sense of community and pace of life in Australia, “We have our flaws, don’t get me wrong. But I think Australia is a safe, clean, beautiful country, and a great place to live and be… I’m a very proud Australian. Every time I come home, I feel so peaceful and content.”
As such, unsurprisingly, Brown envisages her future children growing up as she did — in Australia, with “good, Aussie values.” When I asked her what that looks like, her answer succinctly sums up both her aspirations for her future family and her own character: “A solid work ethic, confidence, being loud and funny and happy in who you are, and having respect and reverence for nature.”
Nature, it seems, has been a fundamental part of Brown’s life since childhood — and remains as foundational to her life now as it was growing up. Her passion for nature preservation and ocean ecology is widely known, and, in part, shaped her vision for Outside Beauty & Skincare. Brown feels a keen sense of responsibility to do her bit when it comes to the environment, driven by a respect that was instilled — as it is for many Australians — in her from a young age, growing up immersed in nature. “I grew up feeling very connected to nature,” she reasons, “I think a lot of Australians grow up with that same level of respect and a sense of responsibility for the environment.”
“Our products are skincare, with sunscreen as a bonus. If you don’t care about wearing sunscreen, at least this is a great skincare product that’s also protecting your skin.”
It was also during her early years that Brown learned of the virtues of sun protection, “The importance of sun safety was instilled in us at a young age,” she tells me, “My dad lost his best friend to melanoma at around the age I am now, so it was really important to him that we were sun smart.” Brown and her family lived at the beach over summer (as most Australians do) and, by her own account, were “those kids” with coloured zinc smeared in thick lines across their faces, wearing rash vests and never far from a shade umbrella.
This, coupled with a career that has seen the actress/model sitting in the chairs of some of the world’s leading experts on skin health, laid the foundations for Outside Beauty & Skincare: a brand that blends SPF 50+ sunscreen with potent skincare, making sun protection a daily ritual. “If you’re not wearing sunscreen, there’s no point doing anything else to your skin,” Brown states with conviction, “It is the most important form of skincare, and the most preventative product that you can use in your routine.” She pauses, “You can throw out all your fancy creams if you’re not using sunscreen.”
“I’m just happy if I’m being creative…Whether that’s acting, whether that’s working on my brand — they’re kind of the same in terms of exercising that part of my brain and having an outlet.”
Brown feels passionately about developing two-in-one products for those who aren’t as privy as she is to the necessity of a daily SPF, “Our products are skincare, with sunscreen as a bonus. If you don’t care about wearing sunscreen, at least this is a great skincare product that’s also protecting your skin.” Given her upbringing, she now feels a sense of responsibility to educate people on how important it is to not only wear sunscreen, but an SPF 50+, “SPF 50 filters out 98% of UVA and UVB rays, and it also protects you for longer than SPF 30.” Brown explains, “Given [in Australia and New Zealand] we live under a hole in the ozone layer, that’s quite an important difference.” In an industry largely dominated by artifice, Outside Beauty & Skincare stands out as a brand focused on solving a problem and contributing to positive change. Given how many celebrities are pivoting into beauty for profit over progress, Brown’s passion and genuine commitment to developing an environmentally conscious and socially responsible brand is a breath of fresh air.
When it comes to the future, Brown is focused on growing Outside Beauty & Skincare, with a host of exciting developments she can’t wait to release into the world, “I’m finding growing the brand so rewarding; seeing momentum build, launching new products,” she says with pride, adding that the next chapter of the brand will see an expansion into skincare — something that, unsurprisingly, given her impossibly flawless skin, has long been a passion.
As for what comes next on the acting front? It’s still up for debate, “For the first time in my career, I really don’t know what the future holds. And that feels good.” For now, in this next chapter of her life, after a solid decade of prioritising work, Brown is shifting the focus back to herself, “For me, at this stage in my life, success isn’t anything external. I just want to do whatever makes me happy.” In a world that often prioritises fame and fortune, she’s choosing fulfilment, taking the time to build something meaningful — brick by boring brick.
Hair: Chris Hunter Makeup: Nicole Thompson
