Aussie stars Jesse Spencer and Radha Mitchell are both household names with plenty of things in common.
The pair both got their start on the long-running soap Neighbours, have had great success in Hollywood and now are co-stars playing couple Judy and Tony Bissett on the new Disney+ Australian original series, Last Days of the Space Age.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen Spencer, 45, on our screens in an Australian production.
In recent years, the star, who hails from Melbourne, has worked on shows including House, Chicago Med and Chicago Fire.
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He played Billy Kennedy on Neighbours in a role he landed back in 1994 but left in 2000. Spencer has made brief appearances on the show since.
But coming back to Australia to film Last Days of the Space Age and work on a local production was special for the actor – and he admits to 9honey he was a little “nervous” about it.
“I read the script… and it seemed like a lovely vignette of a moment in time in Perth and Western Australia,” he explains.
“It seemed like a true ensemble, I think, with a wonderful cast of characters put through trials and tribulations with the random and quirky backdrop of the Miss Universe competition in 1979 and Sky Lab.”
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“There was so much to play with for an actor and great relationships between the characters, a lot of transformation and things going on, it felt like a very a full piece, and a nice ensemble and a good opportunity to shoot something in Australia again.”
Spencer says this show, which was filmed in both Western Australia and NSW, just worked out for him – and he couldn’t be happier.
“I had been looking for something for years and years and the timing never worked out, projects fell through and I was finally free after 18 years after network TV to do something like this,” he says.
“So I was quite excited and a little nervous actually to come back. It had been a long time since I had done projects, so I had time to get back into my Aussie and I had a good time.”
In the gripping new show, which is set in Perth back in 1979, Spencer and Mitchell’s characters endure everyday life on the cusp of change; and the threat and unknown of Skylab space crashing near their town.
More than 40 years ago, the NASA space station crash actually happened and debris landed in Western Australia.
For Mitchell, 50, the show appealed to her as it was like stepping back in time to 1979.
“I think that was the charm of the show and that was kind of what was exciting about the invitation to play, like we were going to do some time travelling and step into our parents shoes,” she says.
“I’m personally very nostalgic about the ’70s and my childhood in the ’70s.
“Things were cooler in the ’70s, everything was more relaxed, there were no seatbelts, the pace we’re living at now, we’re all on a schedule… back then we didn’t have a schedule.”
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The show also stars the likes of Deborah Mailman and Game of Thrones star Iain Glen.
“What a great cast,” Mitchell says.
“We really enjoyed each other and some beautiful friendships have come out of the whole experience and it’s great for the show to have really talented actors.”
The pair also gave their best piece of advice to Aussie actors wanting to make their own mark in the industry.
Mitchell, who has starred in Olympus Has Fallen and Man on Fire, says she would encourage actors to keep creating content and also to “make sure you love it [acting] as you’re going to have to work really hard“.
Spencer agrees and adds that you’ve got to be in it for the long haul in terms of success.
“The industry is changing, too,” he says.
“And there might be a lot of downtime, this industry can be fickle to and there’s a lot of uncertainty.”
He adds with a laugh: “So if it’s stability you’re looking for, maybe do something else!”
Last Days of the Space Age premiered on Disney on October 2.
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