Meet the glamorous actress behind the voice of Chilli on the Aussie children's TV series Bluey

She stars on one of the most popular shows on TV, but Melanie Zanetti is still unrecognisable to many of her fans.

The glamorous 36-year-old is the voiceover actress behind Chilli on the animated children’s TV show Bluey, about a family of Australian cattle dogs.

In an interview with New Idea on Monday, Melanie spoke about the cult series which has attracted legions of celebrity fans around the world.  

Watch this face: She stars on one of the most popular shows on TV, but actress Melanie Zanetti is still unrecognisable to many of her fans

‘It feels amazing to have people, whose work you respect so much, really enjoying a show you have been part of creating,’ she said.

‘I saw Billy Joel had a Bluey party for one of his kids this year. It’s awesome to see Bluey infiltrating all over the place!’

Melanie said that while she doesn’t get the opportunity to interact with the other voiceover artists, she was particularly excited by one famous guest star.

Claim to fame: The glamorous 36-year-old is the voiceover actress behind Chilli on the animated children’s TV show Bluey, about a family of Australian cattle dogs

‘Everyone records solo, so I don’t ever see or meet the other characters, but I was very excited when I heard Leigh Sales’ voice as Coco’s mum,’ she said.

‘I’m such a big fan of her work, so that was really fun to be in a scene with her – even if we didn’t record together!’

In an interview with industry website Backstage in March, Melanie admitted she never set out to be an actress and studied journalism instead.  

Miss Popular: In an interview with New Idea on Monday, Melanie spoke about the cult series which has attracted legions of celebrity fans around the world. Pictured in LA in August 2015

‘I was never going to be an actor. I thought acting was just for incredibly beautiful or unknowingly deluded people and I didn’t consider myself either of those things,’ she said.

She also described her role voicing Bluey’s mum as ‘one of the greatest joys of my career’.

Speaking to TV Week in November last year, Melanie said she never ‘could have predicted just how massive Bluey would become’.

Support: ‘It feels amazing to have people, whose work you respect so much, really enjoying a show you have been part of creating,’ she said

But like so many others, she said she ‘fell in love with the show straight away and knew that it was something very special’.

Despite Bluey’s popularity around the world, Melanie admitted she ‘never’ gets recognised by her voice.

‘I have quite a chameleon voice and, as an actor, I slightly alter my vocal quality for the character of Chilli,’ she revealed. 

Change of plan: In an interview with Backstage in March, Melanie admitted she never set out to be an actress and studied journalism instead. Pictured at a premiere in LA in February 2020