'Neighbours' Ryan Moloney talks Toadie's future - interview

Published Jul 13 2012, 00:01 BST  |  By Daniel Kilkelly

Life remains as dramatic as ever for Neighbours stalwart Jarrod 'Toadfish' Rebecchi on UK screens in the coming weeks as his family's conflict with Troy Miller hots up with huge consequences.

In real life, Ryan Moloney - who plays the Ramsay Street lawyer - recently paid a visit to the UK and caught up with Digital Spy to chat about the latest storyline and his long history at Neighbours.

As we're chatting, you're on a UK promo tour for Neighbours. How are you finding your time here so far? And how do fans react when they see 'Toadie' walking down the street?
"I'm absolutely loving it. Everyone is being very nice to me, so it's been thoroughly enjoyable. In terms of the fan reaction, I've always actually found it really quiet! I don't know whether it's because people don't expect to see me here and they're not looking for me, so I tend to go under the radar.

"That is until I start doing interviews and whatnot - then people start noticing! But everyone is absolutely lovely, so it's certainly not a hard job when people do recognise me."

How often do you visit the UK?
"I came over and did the British Soap Awards a few years ago, but this is probably my first proper promo trip. I used to come over and do pantos and things like that, and I also did a couple of rounds of the university nightclub tours. So I'd say that I get here on average once every two years."

You've been on Neighbours for 17 years - does it feel like that long?
"Time just keeps ticking on by, really! I keep going along and they keep saying, 'Yeah, we'll give you another contract!' You can only ever think that you'll be there for as long as your contract goes for, as they certainly don't say, 'Hey, we're going to sign you up for 17 years!'

"You tend to get two-year contracts at Neighbours, but then before you know it, you're sitting there and 17 years have passed by."

What is it about Neighbours that has kept you interested for so long?
"Well, the cast and the crew are just absolutely brilliant to work with. And I'd say that when it comes to 95% of people who leave this show, within six to twelve months they'll say, 'Oh do you know what? I wish I was back there'. So for that simple reason I just go, 'Well, why leave in the first place?!'"

Toadie's had to grow up a lot in recent years, but do you ever miss his House of Trouser days?
"Oh, I love doing comedy scenes, so any chance I can do silly stuff is great. I try to inject some more of that into him whenever I can!"



Do you think Sonya is the love of Toadie's life? And would they ever get married?
"Sonya is absolutely 'the one' for Toadie. She makes him complete and she had him at 'hello'. But after getting married and killing his wife, then going to marry Steph and realising that she didn't love him the way that he wanted to be loved, and then marrying for the third time as a sham, I think he's kind of done the marriage thing!

"I think Toadie and Sonya should just feel comfortable in their relationship, knowing that they love each other."

Do you think Toadie will cope well when his baby arrives?
"I think it might even bring the child out in him. He's very excited by it all - he's overly excited and it's brilliant. He just can't wait to have a little baby.

"We've already seen Toadie raising Callum, and working with Morgan [Baker] has been absolutely lovely. He's such an amazing young man and he's always been incredibly mature, insightful and easy to get along with."

There's some huge episodes on the way here in the UK, where the conflict with Troy escalates. Were those episodes fun to film?
"Fun's one way of saying it, I suppose! (Laughs) To constantly turn up for work and put yourself in a state of anxiety and stress, I don't know if I'd call that fun - but it's what we do as a job, really!

"It's challenging and you do get satisfaction from doing a good job and rising to the challenge. But at the same time, you do appreciate when that storyline finishes!"

What's the tone of the material you've been filming recently?
"We've gone into a bit of light stuff now. I think the storyliners and the producers have decided that Toadie and Sonya have probably had enough drama for a little while, and they're going to pass the drama baton onto somebody else for a bit!"



What are the standout storylines from your long history at Neighbours?
"The wrestling storyline is probably the one that really stands out, because that was so much fun to do. But then of course, there is getting married and driving your wife off a cliff - that was a fairly poignant moment in my career on Neighbours!"

How has the arrival of Neighbours' new producers Richard Jasek and Alan Hardy affected things behind the scenes?
"Oh, we love these two new producers. We feel very much more part of the show now and it's a much more collaborative effort. It's very exciting to have them and I know pretty much everyone in the building feels the same way. It's made a very dramatic difference."

Away from Neighbours, you've been busy training to be a pilot. Is flying a plane easier than it sounds, or extremely difficult?
"It's both! It's not that hard, but there is an awful lot to it. A lot of it is memory stuff, because there's a lot of things that you have to remember and take into consideration. There's also a lot of common sense that you have to use.

"But the physical part of it is not that hard, and once you get used to it all, it's all about processes and following checklists, so those things make it all happen for you."

How do you find the time to train, given your busy filming schedule?
"Well at the moment, I'm in study land, so I'm not getting to fly an awful lot. I'm building up to becoming a commercial pilot, so I've just got those subjects to knock off."

You've said that you want to focus on flying full-time in the future, so will it be a sad day for you when you eventually leave Neighbours?
"It'll definitely be a sad day when I leave Neighbours, absolutely it will be - and let's hope that it's not anytime soon either!

"It'll be a sad day, but Neighbours is also something that I've done for such a large period of my life, so I imagine that my interest in what's going to happen during the next stage of my life will be fairly large as well…"

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Neighbours airs weekdays at 1.45pm and 5.30pm on Channel 5 in the UK, and weekdays at 6.30pm on Eleven in Australia.