After finding international fame on the never ending Aussie soapie Neighbours – which he returned to this year after a lengthy layoff – Stefan Dennis has now put on the producer’s hat with the romantic comedy The Truth About Love.
Filmink’s James Mitchell spoke to this local icon about his new career direction.
“I hate producing! Let that be said I hate producing!” Stefan Dennis roars manically. “I take my hat off and bow down to every independent producer in the world.”
Dennis, best known as scheming smooth-talker Paul Robinson on long-running soapie Neighbours (like so many of the show’s other stars, he also released a single, namely 1989’s “Don’t It Make You Feel Good”), is referring to his nightmarish experience as co-producer of the new British romantic comedy The Truth About Love.
It’s taken seven years for Dennis and business partner/co-producer Tracey Adam to finally see the first feature from their UK based production company Lex Filmed Entertainment in the can.
Dennis admits he feared the film would never see the light of day. From casting problems to scheduling conflicts, funding difficulties to budget cutbacks, script changes to technical calamities, it’s safe to say that Dennis knows a thing or two about the doldrums of development hell.
“I can certainly tell you about that,” he laughs down the line from Melbourne. “Tracey and I became a lot greyer, a lot more wrinkled. My marriage almost fell apart. Tracey’s life almost fell apart.”
While Dennis won’t reveal too much about the black rom-com, the official line is that its premise traverses “phone sex, fidelity and loyalty among friends.”
“In a nutshell it’s about a woman who makes a bet with her sister that her husband will tell her if he receives an anonymous Valentine’s card,” says Dennis.
“When she finds out that he actually does hide the card from her, that’s when the ball starts rolling.”
As all independent producers are painfully aware, it takes a deep well of commitment and a willingness to put yourself through the wringer to see a project through to fruition. Dennis and Adam placed everything on the line.
“Tracey and I literally backed up all our credit cards on this film,” says Dennis.
“Over 4 years we ripped our hair out going from one cast to another. Every time we looked like we were going to get finance, then suddenly we found we didn’t have a cast. Then when we found we had a cast, we couldn’t get finance. It was a catch 22 situation.”
Finally, with finance secured and a cast in place led by Jennifer Love Hewitt, Dougray Scott (Mission Impossible 2) and Jimi Mistry (The Guru) - with Dennis himself putting in an appearance - pre-production rolled along smoothly. But not for long.
“I think our film goes down as one of the most difficult films to be shot in Britain,” Dennis muses. “We were plagued with the most unbelievable mishaps and scheduling nightmares but in spite of that we managed to get it in the can.”
Dennis, who reprised his Neighbours role earlier this year, isn’t keen to jump back into the producing fire. He’s instead itching to jump into the director’s chair.
“My goal was always to be accepted as a credible actor, followed very closely by being a credible director.
“That would be nice,” he laughs. “But don’t hold your breath!”
This is an edited extract of an interview first published in Filmink Magazine, August 2005.
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