MEET THE NEW RIVER BOY, DEAN

PATRICK O’CONNOR OPENS UP ABOUT THE ROLE OF A LIFETIME

How did you get into acting?

I got into acting in the last year of high school. I have always been into the creative side of life from a pretty early age. I was originally into music. I picked up the clarinet when I was in primary school and I played that for about nine years. It wasn’t until the end of school that I made the decision I was having a bit more fun on stage acting, rather than music.

Can we expect to see Dean play some music in the show?

Probably not! It would be a bit weird seeing a River Boy with a clarinet.

What attracted you to the role of Dean?

I’m sure being a bad boy on Home And Away is something a lot of actors want to do. You can also have a lot of fun with the drama that happens around these characters. Playing with the law and the violence is something you don’t want to do in real life, but it’s fun as an actor.

Do you share any similarities with Dean?

We share a couple of similarities, but I like to think we are very different people. For both of us, our family comes first, and we are extremely loyal to our friends and can be quite protective of them. We both have, at one point or another, played AFL and love the sport as well. They’re probably the only two we share, because the way he goes about things in life, I would never go down that path.

You have some big shoes to fill as a River Boy. Have any of the previous River Boys given you any tips?

I’ve met Lincoln Younes and Nick Westaway a couple of times. They told me there’s a lot of fun to be had playing a River Boy and to just enjoy it.

This is your first role on TV, how have you found it?

The cast and crew are absolutely brilliant and everyone is a pleasure to work with. It makes work an absolute joy to go to so it’s a dream come true. It’s not often you can be so lucky on your first job.