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Don Hany: In the golden age of television
Australian award-winning actor Don Hany thinks himself lucky to have a television acting career at a time when the field is undergoing major developments
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Australian award-winning actor Don Hany thinks himself lucky to have a television acting career at a time when the field is undergoing major developments.
'I think I'm really fortunate to be involved in the new age of television,' he says. 'This is a real golden age where so many adult stories are leaving the cinema and coming to the small screen.'
In the past few weeks, Hany has been busy promoting HBO Asia's first original coproduction with Australia's ABC TV channel, Serangoon Road, in which he plays Australian private investigator Sam Callaghan in tumultuous 1960s Singapore.
The actor, who is of Iranian and Hungarian descent, shares the screen with veteran Chinese actress Joan Chen and rising Indonesian talent Ario Bayu, as well as other cast members from Singapore and Australia.
Hany said he hoped the joint production would pave the way for more regional cooperation in the future.
'We're excited to be doing a show in Asia as it has been long overdue. I've never been involved in a joint production between an Australian network and that of any Asian country. I hope the show pioneers more work between the region's countries,' said the actor, who turns 38 this week.
Hany and the series cast spent weeks shooting in Singapore and Batam in Indonesia.
Before playing the military-trained Australian private eye, Hany had also played Muslim crime unit detective Zane Malik in the critically acclaimed and award-winning Australian drama series, East West 101.
Thanks to that role, Hany was repeatedly nominated for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama and Most Outstanding Actor at TV Week magazine's Logie Awards and the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards between 2008 and 2012.
After shooting Serangoon Road, Hany secured more work acting as a detective in an ABC1 television movie, The Broken Shore. He plays homicide detective Joe Cashin in the thriller, which is based on a book by award-winning author Peter Temple, who is famous for his Jack Irish detective novels.
'I've also acted in a feature film as an inmate that has been locked away for about 20 years and is near the end of his sentence when he is sent for rehabilitation,' he said.
In the movie, titled Healing, Hany tackled his first major role in a feature as Viktor Khadem. About to give up on life, Viktor is transferred to a pre-release prison farm to take care of injured birds of prey.
Hany stars alongside the renowned British-Australian actor, Hugo Weaving, in the film.
'Also, I've just finished an NBC-Matchbox mini-series called Devil's Playground. I play a Catholic priest in the series, whose story is about child abuse in the church. I'm really excited about the recent jobs that I've done,' he said.
Hany began his television career in 1998, starring in the soap opera, Breakers, which dealt with some controversial story lines and contentious issues, such as homosexuality and teenage suicide.
'I think the most rewarding thing about acting for me is the opportunity to step into someone else's shoes and, by doing so, learn a little bit more about myself and the people around me. My love for acting is twofold: there's the enjoyment of being someone else as well as the freedom to do something that nourishes you emotionally and mentally,' he said.
Hany said he loved acting and he hoped he would always be able to act. 'I got into this job because at some stage, I thought I could contribute something to people. I think most people [keep doing what they] do because they are motivated by a similar idea. People can take a message from a show, but sometimes people just want to be entertained,' he said.
In 2011, Hany married fellow Australian Alin Sumarwata, an actress of Indonesian and Iranian descent. With help from his wife, he is planning to try new roles in television.
'At the moment, I'm writing a project with her for a TV show in Australia. I definitely think that I will be producing whatever we make together next. I will probably take some sort of satellite producer role, such as executive producer or coproducer. I don't know if I can produce it in a fully hands-on kind of way; I'm not experienced enough to do so. I'd love to direct someday, but I've yet to find a project that I could do justice,' he said.
' Courtesy of HBO Asia
