Mm-hmm.

To go, "Oh, what is life without Colin?" And it's also a huge relief because, as I said, it took up so much of our time and our energy and our thinking, and our kids' time.

And then you've got Devil Wears Prada, which was...

It wasn't, it actually wasn't like a fever dream because it felt so relaxed being on set.

I mean, obviously, I'm working with these huge celebrities, hu- huge stars who I'm used to seeing with a movie screen around them, and that was weird.

But other than that, the day-to-day of making that film was very relaxed and chill, and all the creatives are switched on, and it was, it was a nice vibe.

And then it's kind of the circus around it when it comes out that you go, "Oh, wow," and everyone's got an opinion about it, and I get some feedback about it.

Please, please explain.

Mm

... is the acting department, and that's all.

But like I say, the rhythm of this character was different.

Uh, y- yeah, I mean, in terms of the timing, it's pretty fucking crazy, because we, we shot Last Seen, it was like five months at the start of 2025.

And then, and then after that, I shot Devil Wears Prada 2, those bits in that.

It was like a day here, a day there for a few weeks.

And then we went to Montreal.

[laughs]

Sir Peter.

Christian.

And I, and but I got a call from the casting director and she said, "Look, I'm, um, casting this thing, and it's this big Apple thing, and they wanna m- make a splash with it in Australia." And they're tossing around these names, sort of known Australian leading men types who are kind of con- you know, for doing this sort of thing.

And she said, "Well, I've thrown your name into the mix." And they've all said, "Oh yeah, we love him from Colin from Accounts, but can he do drama?"

Yeah.

And so, "Okay, thanks, Kirstie." No pressure.

So Harry helped me put down this tape.

I didn't have a lot of time 'cause we were doing something else.

It adds to people guessing.

Jokes aside, when I heard Brendan was cast, I was like, well, that's kind of genius, like just on that level because Ian and Henry.

Because he is a genius.

Well, I wouldn't say that and nor should you, Brad.

But two sides of the same coin, Ian and Henry.

You know, as you go through, it's not hero and villain.

You see that nobody's actually clean in this.

I think we could say, how do you know how to play those different tones of his character? Was that something that you clocked in each script or each episode?

What does it take for an Australian show, do you think, to make it globally, and is it important? Does it need to make it globally?

globally?Doesn't hurt.

I mean, a bigger, a bigger audience is always desirable.

Um, what does it take to make it globally? Well, it's, it's a certain quality of storytelling needs to be achieved, and I think that we do that consistently now.

Um, but really it takes, you know, it takes some help to expose it to the rest of the world.

We're fortunate to be in a time of, uh, our audiences now are more used to watching stuff from different cultures.

We don't all have to do a remake for the American market, you know.

... who have suffered a lot-

Yeah.

And I play, I play the lead role, who's Ian Ridley, and he's a man who's sort of been carrying a lot of pain and trauma for 11 years, searching for his missing daughter.

He's never given up hope and, and he gets this, uh, something happens in the town which makes him believe that, that maybe she is alive.

And then so all these local characters, all these secrets start bubbling to the surface, and it becomes this sort of, you get this sort of, it's this gripping thriller with this plot drive, but also this real character drive as well.

She's that good.

She's just that good.

And they said they want an audition, and I said, "That's lovely.

Uh, but I, I won't, thanks.

It's too special.

is that you do get the thriller in the genre like there's a moment where I get the gun out of the safe and I load the thing and it's all genre and it's stuff that we know and it's so fun and it's boy's own adventure stuff but there is also a psychological realism to this that by the time and again Christian our director was so focused on our reasons you know we have these little conversations on set we get to rehearse on set you know to access the scene so As an audience, we get the genre.

We get the propulsive thing and the, oh, it's a cliffhanger.

It's another cliffhanger.

Fantastic.

Entertaining.

But we get this actually really gritty psychological world.

Not cool.

How do you deal with it? And also as you were learning this, doing this job, did you learn something about handling, not customers, but emergency? Because the way it portrays in the show that what happens, I don't want to spoil anything.

Yeah, yeah.

So how was it working all that?

It's a great question.

I got to spend a day at the emergency services, triple zero it's called in Australia.

And what was apparent straightaway was this huge room and you have over here you have the call takers and they will receive the distress calls and the calls for assistance.

And over here you have the dispatchers who, you know, get the jobs and they send out, you know, fire or police or whatever.

And what's evident about the place is the calm.

Yes.

Um, but yeah, ep five's a big one.

I'd say, uh, for me this season, ep three, ep four.

Mm

... gotta balance everything.

But the way we work with, like, as actors, when something comes up for Harriet or something comes up for me, it's like if something comes up for Harriet, it's like, "Does it excite you?" "Yes, it does."

Yeah.

And then we'll start talking about the edit, or we'll start talking about a scene, or start talking about...

And it's like there, I wish we had a bit more hygiene.

No.

'Cause people will be like, "Well, why, Mum and Dad are fighting."

It's a

rom-com, right? And it starts with first episode, first season.

Two people.

She's walking down the street.

I'm driving my car.

We don't know each other.

Never met.

Your

But they're not, not a stretch.

But, but yeah, that, that's right.

They're not a stretch.

But y- your first question's an interesting one 'cause I think that's part of why the show has had such appeal is that because we're actors by trade, we are constantly can't help but advocate for our own characters.

So it's not Gordon's show, it's not Ashley's show, and we're both there making...

And so I think those two characters are really well served by the writers.

[laughs]

[laughs]

[laughs] Okay, good, good.

And I remembered a conversation when we were talking about the mar- marketing and stuff, and someone was like, "Hey, we could do a beer for the show." I'm like, "No, next."

And then you w- wake up with, like, this oversharing hangover.

Yeah, it was like that on steroids.

I was on the red carpet with, what's that, uh, model who was on the th- red carpet just before me? Like, there's, everywhere I looked at this world premiere in New York at the Getty Center, it was like-

Look, I'm a bit off the tooch because he said that you're not supposed to wear athletic clothes outside of the gym and that's just my whole wardrobe.

Well, his character said that.

I don't think he subscribes to that.

I can't speak for the tooch.

But the tooch loves the show.

Tooch loves Colin from Counts.

And he wrote about it in a book that he wrote where he keeps a sort of a diary and he mentions it.

Yeah,

But ultimately true.

Yes, and there is a lot of truth to it, but it's... [sighs] I mean, fuck, it helps.

Having health helps.

But, but basically if you've got your life, you've got everything.

You know, there's all sorts of degrees of health, you know.

I mean, but when you're sick, of course it has an effect.

I mean, that's all we have is cause and effect.

That's right

Um, how did the audition go? How, how was it explained to you?

The audition came through as all auditions do, which was a, a phone call.

Well, usually it's email, but this was a phone call because they were having trouble casting the role.

I think because it, this film had so much scrutiny around it, you know, because it's so beloved, everybody wanted to get it right, and I think they did different iterations of who this character was and how he inhabited that space, you know, the, Andy Sachs' love interest.

Anyway, so I got a call, and they said they want you to put a tape down 'cause that's being an actor now.

You don't go into auditions really at all anymore.

You put tapes down, and that's good because you get to edit it yourself and send the tape that you want, but, uh, it's also bad 'cause it takes half a day at least.

What, what was it that, that you took away from it, do you think the experience?

You probably know Australian actor, best for his hilarious show, Colin From Accounts.

Now he's landed a major role as Anne Hathaway's love interest.

I'm Andy Sachs.

She was one of the Emilys.

In the highly anticipated movie- Strike a pose ...

The Devil Wears Prada 2.

Yeah.

And, uh, you know, in May, the whatever, he says, "We, um, cooked some, um, uh...

Describe the show a little bit because it's

amazing.

It is a romantic comedy, two people who have no business meeting, kind of like my wife and I. There's a 12-year gap between us, and we make the most of the joke of that in the show.

But it's two people who meet in the first season when she's crossing the road, I'm driving a car, I stop for her, we have a little, you go, you go, no, you go, and she flashes her nipple at me.

Can we say nipple? Yeah, it's too late now.

Yeah, you're fine.

And I'm stunned, and I go to drive off, and I hit a dog.

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