From Wentworth Prison to Summer Bay, and a feminine pad commercial in between, Rick Donald is a familiar face on Australian TV. I caught up with the actor who’s latest role is a sexy tradie named Frankie Wood!
Tell us about Australia’s Sexiest Tradie, Frankie Wood
I wrote the character many years ago when I was studying at NIDA. I’d go home to north Queensland, where I needed to pick up the tools to pay the rent. Ninety-nine percent of the tradies I worked with would be normal humans beings, but there was that one percent that were absolute lunatics! I’d make mental notes from that, and kind of formulated the character of Frankie Wood with the series around him. I’ve written many different versions, but seeing him go through an Australian Sexiest Tradie competition is a fun way to see his character.
Is there a bit of yourself in there?
There’s a little bit of me deep down, but I drew from everywhere. It’s such a universal theme and everyone knows a tradie, or has had one in their house. I’ve definitely met some that are a little more colourful than others, though it can be both hilarious and tragic. That’s quite a blend for comedy, because it can become quite cringy.
Rick Donald (Frankie Wood) with the cast of Australia’s Sexiest Tradie
Gay men are attracted to the ‘cowboy like’ brawn of a tradie. They even wear their tool belt like a gun holster. Do you get where we’re coming from?
Oh definitely. Not being gay, I probably don’t have the best perspective, but I can certainly understand it. It comes down to confidence. Tradies tend to be the most alpha males out there. They work with their hands and it’s a rough trade, and can be a rough life. I totally see how that would be an attraction to a gay bloke. They are like cowboys! And if they’re straight, there’s also the fact that ‘you can’t have want you want’, which also weighs in on it.
You do get it! So on that note, who is the sexiest man alive?
Well, I know Frankie Wood would definitely say Channing Tatum. He mentions Channing pretty much in every episode. He’s obsessed with him and he even had a poster of Channing above his bed, which he would stare at. Frankie isn’t actually gay, but he appreciates Channing’s ability to be hot and to pull women, or as he says, to ‘pull puss’.
What about Rick Donald?
I’d say Harrison Ford. He deserves the top spot there! He’s a pretty good-looking bloke. Even still today!
“Frankie isn’t actually gay, but he appreciates Channing Tatum”.
You played the bad-guy warder Sean Brody on Wentworth who was also a gay character. Was that a challenging role?
One element about playing a gay guy is that you want to be convincing. Wentworth has a huge LGBTIQ fan base, so you want to do it well. I made a mental note not to camp him up, because I thought that wouldn’t be believable. I thought I’d let the words do the work. Bernard Curry’s character and mine had a bit of history, and I’d try to reach under his towel and flirt with him. But Sean was a complex character for sure. He was a very traumatised and killed multiple characters. To get into the mind of a killer is always quite complex, but it was also a lot of fun.
Rick Donald as ‘bad guy’ warder Sean Brody on Wentworth
You also played the seductive Lloyd Ellis-Parker on A Place To Call Home. What’s it like travelling back to the 1950’s?
That was a fun role. Lloyd was so rouge-like and rode a motorbike, which was an actual motorbike from that era. Whenever you do period stuff and put on a costume, you fall into the character much quicker. That character was also bisexual, flirting with both the wife and husband, absolutely stirring it up.
“Bernard Curry’s character and mine had a bit of a history. I’d reach under his towel to flirt with him.”
In a change of pace, you were also part of the US sitcom Friends with Better Lives. What was it like being part of the multi-camera staged sitcom?
It was pretty full on. Having studying theatre at uni, you then get out into the real world and it’s all TV and film, and never do the two really meet. But in America the multi-camera sitcom is a hybrid of the two, with four or five cameras and a live audience. It took me the first couple of episodes to realise where to play the comedy, because it’s not just to the people, or the camera. It’s this weird hybrid of everything. Not only was it a different format to anything I’d done in Australia, but it was also American, which is a completely different comedy style. Here we take the piss out of ourselves. We’re bold and cheeky and more aligned to British comedy. So it was all a massive change of pace, but I got paid really well!
Australian actor Rick Donald in a scene from Home & Away
And you also worked with the ‘Beek from the Creek’ – James Van Der Beek!
Yes, he was incredibly welcoming. I was still in Australia when I found out I had the role, and he rang me the very next day! I was the prime age for growing up with Dawson’s Creek, so it was kind of weird getting a phone call from Dawson in America! They were all great in that cast. Kevin Connolly was like a big brother and took me under his wing. In fact, we went to every ice hockey game that was playing, and the girls on the show made me feel at home too.
Among your many roles, there’s also been Home and Away, 800 Words, House Husbands, Underbelly, Sea Patrol, Halifax, Crownies and The Doctor Blake Mysteries. Has there been a favourite?
Wentworth has been my favourite drama. Every role is incredibly pivotal, but you’re usually helping the lead to steer the ship. Even though Wentworth is an ensemble piece with everyone sharing the load, for the last couple of episodes of that particular season, I got to steer the ship, because I was the villain. It was an experience I hadn’t had before and I really enjoyed the power! (Laughing).
“I totally see how tradies would be an attraction to a gay bloke.”
Rick Donald on the US sitcom Friends with Better Lives
There’s also a very popular performance of yours that has over 400K views on YouTube – the Wonder Man Libra Invisible Pads commercial, where your girlfriend’s parents catch you dancing around wearing er, feminine pads!
Oh yes! People seem to have forgotten about that now, but for a while I couldn’t go anywhere without it coming up. What’s funny is that my friends who have know me since then, will suddenly click and say, “Hang on … that was you!” If I went out on the town for a drink with friends, people would come up and ask me to reenact it. But I never did because I knew it would never be as good!
On that note, what’s your irresistible dance floor song?
Another One Bites the Dust, by Queen.
What? That’s so straight! No dancing around to ABBA with pads stuck to your head?
(Laughing) No, I’m actually a shocking dancer, and shy away from all that.
Rick Donald in ‘that’ notorious commercial!
Who has been your biggest inspiration in the acting profession?
Ricky Gervais has had a pretty massive impact on me, mainly from the standpoint of his ability to tell stories. He really can’t do any wrong. He’s so funny and very bold in his choices about what is not necessarily considered the right thing to say or do. When he hosts the Golden Globes, he just doesn’t give a shit. He’s an inspiration!
Do you have a grooming tip?
I’m actually pretty lazy! My beard’s always pretty rough and my eyebrows are absolutely shocking. But there’s one thing I’ve done over the past twelve months that I would definitely recommend. I started to notice a couple of hairs coming out of my ears, so I bought one of those ear and nose trimmers. If you have hair coming out of your ears during your thirties, you’ll instantly look sixty-five!
Frankie Wood wouldn’t care about that though?
Frankie would be more concerned about trimming his pubes, because he thinks that makes ‘it’ look longer. In episode two he even gets his arse waxed. We took all the cameras into an actual waxing place, and it was brutal! I’d never had anything waxed in my life and thought it was going to be one strip at a time, but no, it went off like a machine gun!
On the beach are you boardies or budgies?
Boardies! I don’t have the confidence for budgies. But Frankie would be budgies one hundred per cent.
And with underwear, are your briefs, fitted boxers or freeballs?
I’m a fitted trunks guy, but Frankie would wear briefs, as in the pale blue, hole-ridden Aussie jocks!
Australia’s Sexiest Tradie screens on 7mate & 7plus
Follow Rick on Instagram @rickdonaldd
