So for now, Stephen and his actress wife Bridgette Sneddon are still calling Australia home.
“I have always taken the attitude that I will work anywhere if the job is good and if I am lucky enough to get it,” Stephen, 38, says.
“I have been really lucky to have been able to cram all my Australian projects into six months. Once I am done, I will head back to LA.”
Stephen’s latest role is in Nine Network’s two-part drama, Informer 3838, and it’s a departure from the characters that he has played previously because it is based on a real person -- former drug squad officer Paul Dale.
To prepare himself for playing Paul, Stephen read the ex-policeman’s autobiography.
“He’s a complicated character,” Stephen says of Paul.
Stephen says his work on programs like Five Bedrooms and Channel Seven’s Wanted had allowed viewers to see beyond the role that made him famous – Home and Away’s River Boy Brax.
“I think the perception of me being a tattooed drug dealer has probably changed since I have taken on other roles,” he laughs of playing Brax.
“But I have never been precious about any of that. I am grateful to have a job and to have found an audience who wants to watch me.”
For more, see this week's New Idea - out now!
