Stephen Peacocke talks family, nerves – and how important Bonnie Sveen was in his decision to go back to Home And Away
Stephen Peacocke knows nothing. That’s a good thing. Having cut his teeth in Home And Away, playing River Boy leader Darryl “Brax” Braxton, the actor has learnt that this is how he gets the best out of himself.
“To do good work, you’ve got to kind of feel a bit on edge,” Stephen, 44, tells TV WEEK, “and like you don’t know what you’re doing. It’s a bit torturous that way.
“The more you think you know what you’re doing, the less effective it’s probably going to be. So, my litmus test for whether something’s going to be good is how nervous I am when I show up.”
Stephen Peacocke on Home And Away
A very green Stephen was a bucket of nerves when he first started playing Brax in 2011. He thought he’d stuffed up the role and was about to be sacked. But audiences latched onto Brax like a barnacle on a boat and never let go.
“It was a great relief to me,” the Dubbo-born star recalls. “But I had no sense that it was going to be anything that it turned out to be, because it did turn out to be pretty popular. It’s just funny, some things resonate. And I know I worked really hard at it, so I was glad it did. I brought a lot of who I am to the role. It was just a good bit of work.”
In 2012, Stephen won the TV WEEK Logie for Most Popular New Talent and the following year he picked up Most Popular Actor, and was twice nominated for TV’s top honour, the Gold Logie, in 2014 and 2015.
After filming more than 650 episodes as bad boy Brax, Stephen quit Summer Bay in 2015. He didn’t give much thought to leaving Brax behind, but the in-demand actor quickly scored roles in 2016 movies Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and Me Before You. He also landed roles in Australian series Wanted, Five Bedrooms and, more recently, RFDS and The Newsreader.
Stephen Peacocke is back as Brax
A decade after his last episodes as Brax aired, Stephen is thrilled to be back on screens in the role which made him famous. “I really love playing the character and I just genuinely thought the audience would really get a kick out of (seeing Brax),” he says.
“Whenever you get a chance to play a character that resonates with the audience the way mine did on the show, I think it’s something to be cherished. That (HAA) audience has followed my work since leaving the show, so I don’t take for granted how much of an opportunity it was.
The last time we saw Brax, he was driving away with the love of his life, Ricky Sharpe (Bonnie Sveen), and their baby Casey. You could also say fleeing, as Brax was technically on the run after escaping prison for a crime he didn’t commit.
Where do we find Brax, Ricky and the now 10-year-old Casey? On a cattle station in remote Western Australia, as it turns out. It was a life Stephen could identify with, having worked on farms before moving to the big smoke to chase acting gigs.
“I remember when I worked out on a place, people would blow in and out and they’d say, ‘I can ride a motorbike’, and someone else would say, ‘We’ll put you behind a mob of cattle and see if you can do that.’ I figured that’s what Brax did.”
Stephen recalls people wouldn’t ask too many questions about where people had come from. And that was probably for the best.
“I did come across people where you’d just wonder what that tattoo on the arm meant or they had a couple of scars on their faces and you’d think they’d probably seen a bit of action somewhere,” he laughs.
Stephen Peacocke and Bonnie Sveen
Of course, reprising his HAA role meant the chance for Stephen to once again work with on-screen partner Bonnie. As Brax and Ricky, they were a cyclonic force of nature.
“I think if one of us hadn’t have wanted to come back, then neither of us would’ve,” Stephen admits. “Bonnie is great. When you’ve got someone that cares as much about the character that they’re playing as you do about yours, it means that the standard’s always high and I felt that way (about Bonnie).”
Sadly, for Brax and Ricky (Bricky) fanatics, the characters are here for a good time, not a long time.
“The main thing was whether I wanted to come back and revisit the show and the character and I did,” he says. “(But) it’s a stop, not a stay type of thing.”
Stephen Peacocke’s family life
Away from the Bay – and WA – life has changed for Stephen in the past 10 years. After a stint living in Los Angeles with wife, actress Bridgette Sneddon, the private couple now live back in Australia with their daughter born in 2023.
“You seem to reach different stages in your life where you care less about some things and more about other things,” he says. “I enjoyed family as a big part of my upbringing and it’s a big part of everything.”
While the family couldn’t join Stephen in WA to shoot his scenes, they do like to travel together. “We’re lucky we can always travel as a family, so that’s a bonus.”
While it’s still up in the air, Stephen is hopeful of a season four of hit drama RFDS. And he’s firing off audition tapes for US jobs when roles take his eye. He’s committed to acting because …well, he doesn’t have a back-up plan.
“Acting is all I’ve wanted to do since I was in Year 10,” he says. “I put all my eggs in one basket. I’ve been lucky going from job to job. But it’s easy when you’ve got no plan because whatever comes your way, you just bloody run with it. And it’s fun.”
