Maxine Aquilina: ‘I would go right back to the dinosaur days. Just to see them’

Masters’ graduate in musical theatre from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Aquilina is now reading for a degree in play therapy at the National University of Ireland. The dance teacher at Stagecoach Theatre Arts School has worked extensively in theatre in Malta, Scotland and London and is currently in rehearsals for Teatru Manoel and MADC’s co-production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, in which she plays the part of Gwendolen.

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

I have forced a habit onto myself. I take a few moments to acknowledge that I am awake, it is a new day and I am well and truly blessed and very grateful.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

That happiness is a feeling like any other and it comes and goes. Instead of spending a lifetime searching and striving for happiness, we should make it our lifetime goal to find our purpose and strive for fulfilment. No idea where I read this... but it stuck with me ever since. So thank you, unknown author!

What do you never leave the house without?

The ‘MMK’ mantra. Mobile, Money, Keys. I check the MMK situation before I leave anywhere.

Pick three words that describe yourself.

Caring, creative and bubbly.

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?

Being the co-founder of the Jays of Sunshine Foundation.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Chocolate. In any form.

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

That at any given moment, your life can change forever. So live in the now and appreciate everything and everyone.

Property and cars aside what’s the most expensive thing you’ve ever bought?

My education.

What is one thing you wish you knew when you were younger?

That what I felt on an almost daily basis was anxiety. That it won’t go away but I will learn to cope and control it.

Who’s your inspiration?

Definitely my mother. She was, and always will be my biggest inspiration.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Well I have two jobs, am studying for a master’s degree, a charity, performances, and a life somewhere in there. It definitely is a challenge to keep everything balanced and on top of it all.

If you weren’t a musical theatre dance teacher what would you be doing?

I would be a schoolteacher.

Do you believe in God?

I do. I am what they call ‘journeying’.

If you could have dinner with any person, dead or alive, who would it be?

Definitely the Queen of England. After several etiquette lessons, of course.

What’s your worst habit?

Cracking my jaw.

What are you like when you’re drunk?

An absolute nightmare.

Who would you have play you in a film?

I love Kate Hudson so I would love her to!

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Rudeness. I don’t care If you aren’t a patient person, haven’t eaten, are late or just stubbed your baby toe. There is zero excuse for rudeness.

What music would you have played at your funeral?

Me & You – The New Victorians. It’s my song. It actually is. It was written for me. Love you girls!

What is your most treasured material possession?

A pair of earrings my mother had designed for me with my birth stones.

What is your earliest memory?

My mother having a scan when she was pregnant with my sister. I remember her looking like a kidney bean.

When did you last cry, and why?

Meeting my nephew for the first time. It was so overwhelming.

Who would you most like to meet?

Definitely Ellen DeGeneres!

What’s your favourite food?

Pasta!

Who’s your favourite person on social media right now?

Lorinda Mamo. I love her outlook on life. Plus, her son Henry, is something else!

If you could travel in time, where would you go?

I would go right back to the dinosaur days. Just to see them. Then I would ask to come right back.

What book are you reading right now?

‘If I could tell you one thing’ by Richard Reed

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

I would just want to be magic. Like Harry Potter kind of magic.

What’s one thing you want to do before you die?

See the Northern Lights from an Igloo Hotel.

What music are you listening to at the moment?

I listen to everything. Usually my mood determines what playlist. Apple Music is great for playlists so I just shuffle and change songs every 1.5 minutes.

In the shower or when you’re working out, what do you sing/listen to?

I sing all the time. It goes from the Baby Shark song to classic rock to musicals and back again.