Retired NRL great Willie Mason on the surprise career change that ‘fell in his lap’

The new Aussie action comedy series Sunny Nights enlists a couple of Hollywood heavyweights as its leads – but it’s a homegrown hero who might garner the most buzz when the series debuts.

NRL great Willie Mason makes his acting debut in the show, which debuts on Stan on Boxing Day. The eight-part series follow an American brother-sister duo, Martin (SNL legend Will Forte) and Vicki Marvin (The Good Place scene stealer D’Arcy Carden), who relocate to Sydney to establish a spray tan business – but get themselves tangled up with all sorts of dodgy characters in the city’s criminal underworld.

Mason plays one of those characters, and when news.com.au visited the set in Western Sydney on a punishingly hot day late last year, we found the sporting legend still grappling with the reality of life as a working actor.

“I didn’t even say a f**king word! Just: Get out of a car 18 times and walk to there,” an incredulous Mason said after filming take after take of one brief scene.

The 45-year-old said he’d harboured no secret urges to try acting, and needed some convincing from director Trent O’Donnell when a family friend on the production team suggested he could be a good fit to play underworld heavy Terry Torres. His initial response, he confessed, was to say no.

“I didn’t have any aspirations to be an actor until this landed in my lap. But it’s not a small part, and I was touched by Trent having this vote of confidence in me – he really went out on a limb for me, and had to vouch for me over in the US,” Mason said.

He said it was O’Donnell’s belief in him that made him decide to give it a shot – and like any good pro athlete, if he was going to do it, he wanted to do it well.

He credits fellow Kiwi, actress Rachel House, for making him feel comfortable in his acting debut. House also stars in Sunny Nights, and had become Mason’s defacto acting teacher while they worked together.

“She’s pretty blunt … that’s the sort of demeanour that you need to have,” he said.

He shared one example to demonstrate how much of a novice he was at on-set life: He’d turned down several offers a coffee during his first days of filming, thinking it would require someone to make a special visit to a cafe just to fetch him a latte.

“I was like, ‘I don’t need a coffee that bad.’ Without experience being on a set, you don’t realise how it’s all set up – there’s a coffee machine right behind us,” he said with a laugh.

“I thought I would be at the bottom of the pecking order as a newcomer, but everyone’s been so nice.”

Mason’s second-ever scene was alongside the show’s two American leads, Forte and Corden, two bona fide TV comedy stars with a slew of Emmy, SAG and Critics’ Choice Award nominations between them for past projects. He said there was no ego to be found in the US leads: “God damn, how nice and supportive can you be?”

Shortly after, I got my own audience with Forte and Carden and learned for myself what Mason was talking about. The pair appeared practically giddy at having been given the chance to relocate to Australia for several months of filming.

“[Travel] is such a fun part of our job. Not that it’s easy, especially when you have two young kids like Will does. But travelling to Australia would normally be for like a week, and you try to fit everything in, and we’ll be here for three months,” said Carden.

“It is absolutely one of the best parts of this job. We just take it for granted and it’s easy to complain about, but it’s f**king great.”

The other perk of this particular job: Forte and Carden were excited to work together for the first time. Both accomplished TV comedy performers, each with strong backgrounds in improv, the pair soon learned how strange it was their paths had never crossed before.

“My mum lives about a one-and-half minute drive from where she grew up. Isn’t that weird?” said Forte.

Carden said she and Forte had enough friends in common that she was able to do her homework and make sure she was committing to spending three months on the other side of the world with the right person.

“When I told people that I was going to Australia with Will, every single person, I heard zero bad things. Everybody said he was the best.

“And now,” she said, turning to her co-star, “working with you, I could cry. People I really like, love and respect you – and now I know exactly why.”

Sunny Nights debuts on Stan on Boxing Day.