australian television information archive

William Shows His Dark Side

The rugged actor is set to surprise fans with some menacing new roles.

Australian TV's most reluctant sex symbol, actor William McInnes, set female pulses racing as wetsuit-clad Max Connors, the love interest for SeaChange's Laura Gibson (Sigrid Thornton). The role established him as one of our most popular actors.

But far from resting on his laurels, William, 37, admits he set out to test the boundaries with the roles he's taken since leaving idyllic Pearl Bay.

William certainly doesn't expect to win any popularity contests with his major guest role on Halifax f.p., which returns to the Nine Network on Sunday, October 21 at 8:30pm.

The Scorpion's Kiss, the first of three movie-length versions of the popular series with Rebecca Gibney as forensic psychiatrist, Jane Halifax, has William playing sinister Jeremy Buckle, who's far from the man he seems on first meeting.

"He's a bit loopy at the end," William admits about the character he plays.

"As an inteligence officer, he's used to keeping secrets and playing his cards very close to his chest. But he very much has his own agenda."

Working on Halifax has given William a chance to work with Rebecca again.

"Rebecca and I were on the 1993 miniseries, Snowy—she played the schoolteacher and I played the German guy who bumped into her occasionally," he says. "She's a lovely person, very professional. It was great to work with her again."

For Rebecca, The Scorpion's Kiss marks the start of the sixth series of Halifax, a show she says she'll be happy to stay with until she's "old and grey".

"What I love about this show is that the scripts are really good and we have six months to get things together and build a fantastic crew. Unlike a lot of TV, we have four weeks to film each show, affording us the time to get it right. "I've definitely grown into Jane's shoes. It's like struggling into a second skin," Rebecca says.

The week The Scorpion's Kiss screens on TV promlises to be quite a time for William, who is starring in the Syndey THeatre Company's production of Molière's Don Juan, which opens on October 25, at the Sydney Opera House. There'll be some nervous moments. William admits, before he goes on stage.

"I've been lucky Everything I've done since SeaChange has been different—My Brother Jack, Do or Die, ART, Halifax f.p. and a role in Dirty Deeds, which will be released in 2002. But Don Juan is certainly going to be the most taxing of the lot," he says.

As the licentious Don Juan, the notorious philanderer with a self-granted mandate, William admits he has taken on an enormous challenge.

"I'm not sure if I'm doing Don Juan or if he's doing me! This is a big mountain to climb—twice as high as the Sydney Harbour Bridge. But it's good to give yourself a bit of a fright."

Patrice Fidgeon
October 2001
Woman's Day