she is the only actress playing two different characters at the series McLeod´s Daughters

sie ist die einzige Schauspielerin, die in zwei Rollen bei der Serie McLeods Töchter dabei war.

more about her HERE

"I'm hoping 2012 is going to be my comeback year!" actress Alexandra Davies declares with a big grin.

Best known for her work in All Saints and McLeod's Daughters, it's been a while since Alexandra's been seen on the small screen. After the birth of son Indy 16 months ago, she took a break to be at home "just playing mum, which I think is my best role yet", the actress says.

It hasn't all been smooth sailing for her though, with the 34-year-old revealing she suffered from postnatal depression for six months.

"I actually had quite a tough time," Alexandra says. "I don't think it's a secret that I had issues with anxiety in the past and I copped postnatal depression after Indy was born.

"I'd be walking down a street and I'd see other mothers with four or so kids hanging off them and coping, and I'd think, 'I'm not coping with one.' And you think, 'I'm a woman who is intelligent and capable', so I felt like a real failure as a human being."

Luckily for Alexandra, she had the support of her husband, cinematographer Jay Hanrahan, who she met on the set of All Saints in 2006, and good friend Jessica Rowe, who also battled postnatal depression.

"It's hard on the person going through it and it's equally hard on the partner to take, because they feel very helpless and aren't sure what to do," Alexandra adds. "But [Jay's] always been phenomenally supportive."

"I always said if we ever have a child I hope it's a boy because he already has two beautiful girls, and if he's going to be anything like his father then he's going to be a real sweetheart. And we need more blokes like him in the world — he's a great guy."

As well as welcoming a new child, it was also an adjustment for Alexandra to go from being a career woman to staying at home.

"As women these days we're used to being career people, and all of a sudden you're a walking boob and changing nappies and it's easy to feel like you're not needed for anything other than just this task," she says.

"It can be quite boring and lonely sometimes. Giving up my work was a struggle and only having my husband's income, and you've got a mortgage and bills coming in, and you're just trying to keep your head above water dealing with the bills. So it was head down and bum up."

Thanks to the support of family and friends, Alexandra says she's now in a really good place and adores her role as mum to Indy, and stepmother to Jay's two children — Imogen, 10, and Jemma, nine. Her maternal experience came in handy for her latest role in Aussie sci-fi/disaster flick Arctic Blast, in which she plays a mother to a teenage daughter, Naomi (former Home and Away star Indiana Evans).

"It wasn't completely foreign to play a mother," she says. "And Indiana is gorgeous and a lovely young girl who's doing well for herself. She's very level-headed and a sweet person."

Filmed in Tasmania, Arctic Blast depicts a solar eclipse that causes freezing winds to head towards Earth, leaving death and destruction in their path. Alexandra plays the estranged wife of scientist Jack (Michael Shanks), who's racing against time in a bid to halt the icy blasts' deadly effects.

"It was a good opportunity for me to play a lead role in an American accent. It's always nice to do something different to what you're usually used to, and what TV WEEK readers would know me more commonly for, which is my die-hard Aussie girl roles — often in uniform," Alexandra jokes.

Up next for the bubbly actress is a role in Network Ten's new family drama Reef Doctors later this year.

"I'm playing Matt Day's character's new love interest," she says. "I've filmed some scenes in Port Douglas and will go back to film the rest on the Gold Coast in March. It's quite a juicy role."

As a veteran of the Aussie acting scene, it's perhaps surprising that this is the first time Alexandra's worked with Lisa McCune, Reef Doctors' lead.

"We've never crossed paths, but everyone on the set of Reef Doctors was so lovely and I'm really looking forward to going back," she says.

Alexandra hopes to line up more acting work this year, but she concedes that, now she's in her 30s, roles for women become that much more tightly contested.

"It does get tougher in this game as once you hit your 30s there are fewer roles," she says. "There's fierce competition because there's so many talented actresses in this country and there's a plethora of talent to choose from, and any number of women who could do the role. So it's just a case of who's right at the time."

As for what sort of role tickles her fancy, Alexandra says she'd love to leave her comfort zone for comedy.

"I'd like more mature roles; I feel I'm ready for those," she says. "I've been very good at the girl next door and the cop, because that sort of stuff comes very easily to me. I've always really enjoyed comedy and we don't do enough of it in this country. I've always loved making people laugh."

Not that Alexandra doesn't think fondly of her time playing paramedic Cate McMasters in All Saints and a detective in Young Lions...

"I made some great friends in All Saints and everyone was lovely," she says. "But one of my highlights would have to be working with [producer] Michael Jenkins and Alex Dimitriades in Young Lions."

Her time filming McLeod's Daughters also cemented a strong friendship with co-star Simmone Jade Mackinnon.

"Simmone and I have become very good friends," Alexandra says. "Our sons are born six months apart."

With good friends and family around her, 2012 is shaping up to be a cracker of a year for Alexandra. "There are certainly more things on my radar that I'm looking to achieve," she says.