Jason Donovan is about to wrestle ‘a monster’. He just wishes his dad was here to see it

The slight anguish of what he said no to still feels fresh in his voice. “That money each week, which wasn’t a lot, but it was big in those days – and those cab dockets out to Nunawading…” Instead, Donovan finished school, and Neighbours, which was on Channel Seven, tanked. When Channel Ten picked it up, he got a phone call for a different role and didn’t hesitate.

He points again to his father’s advocacy for more local content, which meant that by the time he got to Neighbours, both he and Minogue had solid acting resumes even though they were still in their teens.

“We hit the ground running,” he says. “We are all beneficiaries of that … indirectly, probably shows like Neighbours and Home and Away wouldn’t have existed. Films like Priscilla, Muriel’s Wedding.” He pauses. “The pool of talent … there’s an indirect nod to the work my Dad did in the ’70s to make sure we stood tall and proud as Australians and not become the puppet of America and just cheaper imports.”

Though he doesn’t live in Australia any more, every time Donovan mentions coming back to Melbourne he refers to it as a homecoming. While he is looking forward to taking on one of his most challenging roles to date, the loss of his father means that both the show and all that lies around it look different to what he had imagined.

“Coming home was originally about being able to spend time with him,” he says. “He was an avid Age reader every day … I know how much he probably would have loved to have seen this article at his breakfast table with his latte and his toast,” Donovan says quietly.

“I see this as an opportunity for me to really show what I’m capable of and what I’m good at,” he says. At his very core, Donovan says, he’s an actor. “Which is something I inherited from my dad. This is a moment since what’s happened for me to really embody his spirit.”

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is at Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre from November 13 to December 6.

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