Ryan Thomas
“Viewers will have to work out if Rafael is good or bad!”
When the soaps are looking for suggestions about who to cast in certain roles, there’s only one magazine they trust enough to offer advice – and that’s Inside Soap, of course! So after Neighbours executive producer Jason Herbison emailed us for ideas about casting a UK star in the Aussie soap, we knew a guy who would be perfect for the part…
Fast-forward a few months, and we’re talking to former Corrie star
Ryan Thomas – better known as Jason Grimshaw – about his Erinsborough guest role. And we can’t resist telling him that he has his favourite soap magazine to thank for his latest job! “Jason did actually tell me that Inside Soap was responsible for my part in
Neighbours,” he chuckles. “So you guys definitely deserve a big ‘thank you’ from me! It was never my plan to come straight out of Corrie and do another soap, but this was such an exciting opportunity – I just had to grab it with both hands. I was blown away to be offered the role.”
It may have been a tantalising prospect, but Ryan had to give it some serious thought – it did mean moving to the other side of the world, after all. And that would involve being away from his nine-year-old daughter Scarlett, whose mum is Corrie star Tina O’brien (Sarah Platt), for several months.
“Missing my daughter was the hardest thing of all,” he admits. “Facetime is a great thing, though, and it really does make you feel that you’re not missing out on as much as you think you are. Spending time with Scarlett is my favourite thing – though being in
Neighbours was a fantastic experience.” Ryan plays mysterious Brit Rafael Humphries, who appears on our screens in a one-hour late-night special at 10pm this Monday. And while Ryan doesn’t want to give away too much about his alter ego, he does tell us that he had lots of scenes with one of his favourite characters… “Rafael is very heavily involved with Paul Robinson and his family,” teases the star. “He’s come to Erinsborough for a reason – he’s looking for answers, but doesn’t necessarily go about getting them in the right way. People may get hurt in the process, and viewers will have to work out if they think he’s a bad guy or a good guy.
“It was great working so closely with Stefan Dennis [Paul] – he’s a
Neighbours legend, and just a supertalented actor. He’s someone who
I really admire because he makes the job look effortless, while the rest of us find it pretty hard. It’s annoying!”
One thing we know about Rafael from the picture above is that he has a huge scar on his back. What’s the story there?
“The scar is part of the reason why Rafael is there,” notes Ryan. “It had to be pretty gruesome for people to understand why he is in such emotional turmoil. It was put on about four or five times, and it took two hours each time!”
Stefan Dennis [Paul] makes the job looks so effortless – it’s annoying!
The 33-year-old may be a soap veteran now, having notched up 16 years on the cobbles, but he admits that landing a role in
Neighbours has been a real thrill. “It’s a huge part of people’s lives, especially people in my age group,” reckons Ryan. “I grew up watching it – me and my brothers used to get in from school and put Neighbours on. We’d sit and watch it with a bowl of cereal!
“I never got to film on Ramsay Street, but they did take me out there to see it,” he adds. “I was like, ‘Wow, I’m on Ramsay Street!’. It was a great feeling to be working on the other side of the world. It gave me a real purpose.”
Inside Soap is eagerly anticipating Ryan’s first episode – it’s just as nerve-wracking for us as it is for him, seeing as we were the ones who cast him! However, we’re not the only ones who will be tuning in…
“My Corrie pals will be watching too,” he grins. “Everyone wants me to do well. I know my Corrie family always have my back, and that’s such a nice feeling!”