Aussie actor Ben Esler big in the wild west with new show Hell on Wheels

YOU can be forgiven for getting the wrong idea about new drama series Hell On Wheels.

Hell on Wheels

YOU can be forgiven for getting the wrong idea about new drama series Hell On Wheels.

Perhaps the title conjures images of a series about the torturous Tour de France. Or a reality show about a parachute pants-wearing bogan who gets his kicks from dropping donuts in his lowered Commodore.

On the contrary, Hell On Wheels is a critically acclaimed period drama about the construction of the railway through the wild west of America.

It is a brutal post-Civil War saga that in some ways resembles the renowned Deadwood. There is plenty of violence (including scalping), drinking, sex and greed.

Mixed up in it all is a young Irish immigrant Sean, who has his initially naive sights on achieving "the American dream". It is a plum role for Ben Esler, who was raised in the Melbourne suburb of Templestowe.

"The first audition for it, I remember just sitting in a waiting room with lots of other Irish-looking guys," Esler says.

"I just went in there (to audition) and did my best."

Esler, 29, back home for a break before returning to Canada to begin work on a second season, spent many years performing bit parts in shows including Blue Heelers.

His stocks skyrocketed after he scored a key role in the $200 million Steven Spielberg-Tom Hanks war series The Pacific, which was filmed in Australia in 2007. Esler played gunner Chuck Tatum, whose real-life memoirs were used as source material for the show.

Hell On Wheels is being produced by US network AMC (Breaking Bad). "AMC make shows that push the envelope - they get away with a fair bit," Esler says.

"One of the big stories in the show is about racial prejudice and being a black man in America figuring out what his life is going to be like post-emancipation. How real his prospects are."

Hell on Wheels, FX channel, Sunday, 7.30pm