Kylie
27-05-2005, 13:51
Home and Away fans could be forgiven for doing a double take in Leeds last weekend.
Michael Beckley, better known as Rhys Sutherland, was in town to see some friends and help boost his acting career now he has left the sun-kissed soap.
Beckley, 41, has fond memories of his time in the hit show, but for those who have never seen the series, he sums up his character simply.
"Rhys was a good husband. He started out as a father of three and I think they had about 12 children by the end of it, what with stepchildren, lost children, forgotten twins and what have you.
"He was an ex-footballer so he was a very sporty guy and he had a very short fuse. Normally he'd only get angry if someone was threatening his wife and kids, but as we then found out, he was a bit of a rotter. He had a couple of skeletons in the closet and he wasn't as pure as the driven snow as we had been led to believe."
One storyline really took its toll on the seasoned actor.
"The most memorable was definitely the break up of his first marriage to Shelley," he recalls. "There were all the horrible repercussions from that and it was made worse with Angie from his dark past suddenly turning up.
"Finding out Dylan was his son and then discovering the terrible news after they'd bonded that he wasn't. Emotionally that was a huge storyline and it went on for months. By the end of it I was exhausted."
Now his tenure in Summer Bay is over, he's hoping to find work in the UK.
"At the moment I'm sending off my little curriculum vitae saying: Hello, this is me. I'm in your country and can I please have a job?"
Michael Beckley, better known as Rhys Sutherland, was in town to see some friends and help boost his acting career now he has left the sun-kissed soap.
Beckley, 41, has fond memories of his time in the hit show, but for those who have never seen the series, he sums up his character simply.
"Rhys was a good husband. He started out as a father of three and I think they had about 12 children by the end of it, what with stepchildren, lost children, forgotten twins and what have you.
"He was an ex-footballer so he was a very sporty guy and he had a very short fuse. Normally he'd only get angry if someone was threatening his wife and kids, but as we then found out, he was a bit of a rotter. He had a couple of skeletons in the closet and he wasn't as pure as the driven snow as we had been led to believe."
One storyline really took its toll on the seasoned actor.
"The most memorable was definitely the break up of his first marriage to Shelley," he recalls. "There were all the horrible repercussions from that and it was made worse with Angie from his dark past suddenly turning up.
"Finding out Dylan was his son and then discovering the terrible news after they'd bonded that he wasn't. Emotionally that was a huge storyline and it went on for months. By the end of it I was exhausted."
Now his tenure in Summer Bay is over, he's hoping to find work in the UK.
"At the moment I'm sending off my little curriculum vitae saying: Hello, this is me. I'm in your country and can I please have a job?"