5 MINUTES WITH BLAIR MCDONOUGH

How did you end up scoring this role? I auditioned like always and this one went my way. Were you a fan as a kid? Absolutely! Neighbours at 6.30pm, then Home And Away at 7pm. It was a routine that rarely got broken in our house. What’s it like playing a dad of a teenage daughter? A little confronting at first! My real daughter Leni is only two, so there’s a big difference between parenting those age groups. Aren’t you too young to have a teenage daughter? Maybe, but it’s a big old world of possibilities – you just never know! What’s it like playing dad roles now? I was a little concerned at the beginning, but after you get over the ego that you’re not 25 anymore, it opens doors to new characters that present challenges younger characters don’t get. As a dad yourself, did your character’s storyline affect you in any way? The whole storyline was happening while my wife Kristi was in the final stages of her pregnancy with our new son Van. It was an exciting time for us personally, as was working on the show, but the storyline presented some very confronting emotional moments. How has becoming a father changed you? Enormously! It’s hard, it’s amazing, it’s tiring and it’s exciting! Ask any parent. What’s it like going from one kid to two? It’s like going from a single puppy to a full pack of dogs! Any more on the horizon? Two kids, our dog Chief and us... That’s certainly enough. More acting in the works? Got another coming up very soon, but can’t tell you about that just yet. Not like when I let Home And Away out of the bag back in April! I’m a daggy dad that still doesn’t understand how social media works!