Brooke Satchwell on the Aussie larrikin spirit, violence on TV and Mr Inbetween’s runaway success

Brooke Satchwell says the secret to homegrown series Mr Inbetween’s success around the world is embracing its Aussie origins in a unique way.

Brooke Satchwell calls the global success of the distinctly Down Under-flavoured TV series Mr Inbetween a “triple-pike somersault trick”.

The acclaimed black comedy, which earned its creator and lead actor Scott Ryan last year’s silver Logie for outstanding actor, could hardly be more Aussie, revelling in its suburban Sydney locations, sweary homegrown slang and a rogues’ gallery of villains, larrikins and misfits.

But perversely, it was actually commissioned by US cable channel FX, who continue to champion the second series and the continuing underworld adventures of Ryan’s hit man with a heart of gold, Ray Shoesmith.

And former Neighbours and Wonderland star Satchwell, who plays Ray’s girlfriend Ally, says it’s that very dedication to the minutiae of the realistic world in which it’s set that has fascinated viewers in the US and beyond.

Picture: John Feder

“There is no question that the delivery — in terms of the context of the dialogue and the characterisations — are intrinsically Australian and that’s where a lot of the humour comes from as well,” Satchwell says.

“But its absolute dedication and commitment to not watering that down in any way, I think that’s the triple-pike somersault trick, means it resonates with people who are not of that culture.”

From Ned Kelly to Chopper, Australians have seemingly had a long attachment to underdogs, no matter how questionable their deeds.

In the first season, Ray proved his talents for violence (mostly against the many people he considers “dickheads”) and murder (at the behest of his gangster boss Freddy, played by Damon Herriman), but he emerged at the end of the six-episode series as loyal to his mates, devoted to his family, and even as an oddly noble figure, dangerous but damaged.

Satchwell admits she’s still a little baffled by the enduring appeal of Aussie antiheroes.

Brooke Satchwell and Scott Ryan in a scene from season two of the TV series Mr Inbetween.

“I don’t know,” she says.

“I guess it’s that complex culture we have with the tall poppy element, the mateship, the underdog — all those strands that we identify as part of the Australian identity and I guess the antihero tends to incorporate a lot of those elements and characteristics.

“And I think we are also very no bulls---, so I think the truth-teller is always a bit of a beacon for our society.”

Ryan spent years becoming an overnight success — the first incarnation of the character appeared in the 2005 low-budget (shot in 10 days for $300) film The Magician, which he wrote, produced, directed, edited and starred in.

While critically acclaimed, it failed to put him on the path to the career in film he craved and after years of unemployment, false dawns and depression, it wasn’t until the concept and character were championed by Nash Edgerton and picked up by FX, that he finally got his shot.

Satchwell says she’s “radically proud” of what he has achieved and the two have had the chance to become close between seasons, to the point where she now considers him family. When the Sydney based Satchwell needed a house sitter to look after her pets while she was away filming, the Melbourne-based Ryan was the obvious choice.

“It was only after we completed filming and he was actually up here doing a writers room for series two and we caught up for a counter meal and that’s when we actually got time to sort of enjoy each other’s company and get to know each other properly,” she says.

“And we realised we were a bit ‘brother from another mother’ and we had a lot of character traits and views in common.”

Actress Brooke Satchwell is best known for her role on Neighbours, and Packed to the Rafters, but is having a career renaissance first with Foxtel's Mr Inbetween.

That close bond in real life worked well in series two, as their characters become closer and the blissfully unaware Ally starts to wise up to the fact that Ray’s claims to work in “security” might not be the whole truth.

“Second time around was actually terrific for us because we had that interlude in between where we became firm friends and to be able to bring that friendship into the second series obviously gave a texture and a resonance to time having passed between Ray and Ally’s relationship and gave us that unspoken familiarity and shorthand.”

Satchwell warns that, while still maintaining its humour, series two of Mr Inbetween

“definitely enters a darker landscape and goes into brave emotional territory”.

While her life has been touched by violence after being assaulted by her ex-partner Matthew Newton in 2006 — “my life experiences have no doubt been educational” — she is impressed with the way the show raises important questions without glorifying the violent actions of some of its characters.

“In discussing a television show that touches on these things with the characters that Scott has written, there could have been a propensity for people to take it on face value and glorify this behaviour they are seeing and perceive it to be something that is that hyper-masculine violence being power and dominance,” she says.

“But what the conversation has been about, which I have found really interesting and has surprised me, it that it is dissecting that and there are subtleties in Scott’s writing and details that audiences and reviewers alike are picking up on and actually furthering that conversation. I think that has been an excellent by-product of something that’s also purely brilliant entertainment.”

Brooke Satchwell and Darren McMullen a scene form Seachange.

As dark as Mr Inbetween got, Satchwell has also been able to embrace her light side thanks to the rebooted Seachange, sometimes flipping between the two as they shot concurrently in Sydney and Lennox Heads. She says she embraced the chance to work with Sigrid Thornton, who plays her mother, on a program that is “purely about family connections, joy and being light-hearted”.

“There hasn’t been something like that in the television landscape for quite some time and particularly with the barrage of reality television, they have gone down this rabbit warren of hideous people doing hideous things to each other,” she says.

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“So to re-enter that beautiful Seachange world, which comes with that element of nostalgia, perhaps there’s a chance with the audience responding to this new incarnation to bring back a little bit of that slow, lifestyle to programming and if we had the opportunity to go again to really invest in those relationships that people seem to be craving. What was interesting was filming the two of them at the same time. On Mr Inbetween, believe it or not, we have unicorns in season two and on Seachange I was chained to a bulldozer — and this was all in the space of one week. So you never know what to expect in this job, that’s for sure.”

Mr Inbetween, Friday 2pm and 8pm, Foxtel Showcase and on demand.