You're a businessman in real life, with your production company (with wife Robyn Butler). How much of your experience as a businessman informs the experiences of Don Angel?
Are you asking how dodgy I am in real life?
Wayne Hope is Don Angel, and Danielle Horvat is Lilliana in Back in Very Small Business.
You could put it that way.
I can read between the lines. There is complete separation, there is a firewall between my business dealings and Don Angel's business dealings. Having said that, there are things that come in handy with having your own business – just the energy that's required to keep a business going is helpful, to transpose and amplify that to the way Don pedals so ferociously to keep his head above water.
You've returned to the character after 10 years – do you have a lot of affection for Don?
I have a lot of affection for Don – we felt it was cut short after the first season, we only made six episodes, and the character threw up a lot of ideas for us. And I just loved playing him. I love playing characters that say one thing but constantly have another meaning underneath, that is the most delicious thing to perform comically, and Don is constantly spouting something when his eyes are telling a totally different story. Give me those characters any day.
Did you have to do a lot of research into the small business, business park world?
Not particularly. I read the business section of the paper, I always have for some weird reason, I did economics in year 12, there's part of me that has some interest in that. I think it's interest in the personalities, in people's endeavours, where they put their passion, in building things and ideas and pursuing them to the nth degree. In that sense I always look to that world, and whenever Robyn and I are driving around, any franchise we see we always love discussing the fonts they've used, who they're pitching to, what the market is, we love analysing marketing.
Does working with your wife lead to a lot of tension at home?
It's not a sexy answer, but there isn't a lot of tension. I don't think we could have worked together for 20 years if it wasn't robust. We engage with each other on a creative level – that doesn't mean we always agree – but we get on really well. She makes me laugh, and that's probably the key to my heart.
Was it hard getting your daughter Molly Daniels for the part of your screen daughter?
It's bloody harder than you'd think. I thought it was hard getting her to clean her room, try getting her to be in your series. It is nepotism, but who wouldn't? She's really funny, I love doing scenes with her.
Was diversity something you were conscious of in your casting?
We often just go with whoever fronts up. Some of the characters we had diversity in mind, from a story point of view, because to challenge a character like Don Angel and his values, the most potent thing you can do is to place as many potent cultural differences, gender difference, age differences around him, and they will elicit a response from him.
I've always found Kim Gyngell scary. Is he scary?
No! He's beautiful, he's the most gorgeous, soft, interesting man. He's not scary at all. Feel free to do an interview, he's fine.
Back in Very Small Business is on ABC, Wednesday, 9pm.
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