AAA<\/p>\n
Jason Donovan says \u201ca lot of roads\u201d have led him to Randle McMurphy, the charming, unruly psychiatric patient he will play in an upcoming stage production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never worked so hard on a script in my entire life,\u201d he says, speaking from Manchester, in the midst of his run as Coach Bolton in the stage production of High School Musical. <\/p>\n
McMurphy is a departure from the parts Donovan is best known for and he swings between excitement and apprehension. He is deliberately steering clear of studying Jack Nicholson\u2019s Oscar-winning take on the character in the 1975 film, but he\u2019s delved deeply into Ken Kesey\u2019s novel. His review of the book, like most of his conversation, is candid, blunt and ends with a laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve read it. Not great on a first read. I reread it. Still f—ing \u2026 quite difficult to get your head around. [But] I sort of just threw caution to the wind. The biggest fear is fear itself. So I went, well, let\u2019s go. You know, no risk, no magic. I think it\u2019s the fear of the amount of work in it, the amount of dialogue. It\u2019s a monster.\u201d<\/p>\n
The script now resonates more on a personal level following the death of his beloved father Terence, also an actor, in July, at the age of 90<\/a>. \u201cThere\u2019s parts of my dad in this character \u2026 the craziness of this guy. I sort of channel a little bit of my father in that role. So there\u2019s a lot of roads that lead to this moment for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Though he has lived in the UK now for longer than he ever lived in Australia, Donovan\u2019s accent hasn\u2019t changed. He speaks with a mixture of deep thought, candour, poetic turns of phrase and enthusiastic swearing.<\/p>\n His conversation is liberally sprinkled with \u201cyou know?\u201d and \u201cdo you know what I mean?\u201d and when a reflection catches him off guard he happily punctuates with \u201cf—!\u201d On the atmosphere of Australia compared to his adopted home, he says: \u201cEverything [in Australia] is in focus. It\u2019s in focus. Here, it\u2019s like a Turner painting. Then: \u201cQF1 \u2013 you know I\u2019ve been on that f—ing plane back and forth more than probably most people.\u201d Later, he finishes off his carefully considered dissection of the themes of One Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest \u2013 conformity and rebellion, the danger of institutions, freedom and redefining sanity, and the impact of the story being set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War \u2013 with a self-deprecating \u201cblahdy blah\u201d.<\/p>\n He first heard whispers that this show would happen the last time he performed in Melbourne \u2013 in 2023, when he was playing Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show. This time, stepping onto the Athenaeum stage will have a different resonance, with his father having also performed at the theatre \u2013 for Breaker Morant in 1978 and Certified Male as part of the Melbourne Festival in 1999. \u201cThe whole thing has, not weight, but it\u2019s a wonderful bookend, really.\u201d<\/p>\n Set in a psychiatric institution in the early 1960s, the story follows McMurphy as he challenges authority figures holding up a broken system. \u201cMcMurphy is a trailblazer for all his flaws,\u201d says Donovan.<\/p>\n Elements of Terence Donovan will make it into his performance in November. \u201cI was very excited for my dad to see it,\u201d he says. \u201cYou know with Dad you never quite knew somewhat what version you were going to get sometimes \u2026 he was feisty, strong, [and] had a sort of controlled madness about him. He embraced life \u2013 he went for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Donovan knew that his father would be remembered for his acting. But in a career that started in 1960, his work spilled not just across the stage and screen, but into what lay underneath it all.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a great picture of my dad holding a coffin,\u201d he says. The photograph is black and white, and in it Terence Donovan is standing next to fellow actor Gerard Kennedy, the two of them leading a procession of pallbearers through the streets of Melbourne.<\/p>\n Taken in April 1975, this isn\u2019t an image of a funeral; it\u2019s a protest. Inside the coffin were rolls of film, spilling out from under the lid. The procession was made up of some of the biggest names in entertainment of the time, who had all come together to fight for mandated local content quotas to protect Australian jobs on the small screen. <\/p>\n \u201cI was pretty keen when Dad passed to make sure that he wasn\u2019t just known as the guy who did Cop Shop and Home and Away and Neighbours,\u201d says Donovan. He draws a line from the activism done in the \u201960s and \u201970s \u201clobbying successive governments to try and make sure that Australia told its own stories\u201d to the industry we have today \u2013 one that helped pave the way for his own career.<\/p>\n Though he is almost constantly working, the image we most often see of Donovan is from the late \u201980s, in stills or videos from what is still one of the most iconic moments in Australian television. In 1987, Neighbours aired an episode in which Donovan\u2019s character, Scott, married his on-screen love interest Charlene, played by Kylie Minogue.<\/p>\n Recently he\u2019s been seeing a lot of posts on Instagram where \u201cyou can put in a picture of yourself and it pumps out you in 1988 with your mullet\u2026 I just put in me in 1988. I don\u2019t need to AI it.\u201d<\/p>\n By now he\u2019s used to occupying the strange space of being a figure in pop-culture history; it\u2019s a normal part of his story that there is a band called Scott and Charlene\u2019s Wedding. \u201cI have heard about that,\u201d he says, and adds that British electronic band KLF had a single called Kylie Said to Jason.<\/p>\n Interest in his off-screen relationship with Minogue flared up again earlier this year when he took part in her Netflix documentary<\/a>. Asked if it was a difficult choice to participate, Donovan doesn\u2019t hesitate. \u201cNo,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ll tell you why it wasn\u2019t difficult \u2013 because it was her documentary \u2026 there was no third party involved.\u201d He clarifies: \u201cI wasn\u2019t telling her story for someone that might be able to misinterpret it \u2026 so I wasn\u2019t fearful of it being manipulated or misconstrued.\u201d<\/p>\n He was, however, surprised by how prominent he was in it. \u201cI was a big part of episode one. That\u2019s not a negative thing. That was a positive thing,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I didn\u2019t anticipate being probably such a big part.\u201d<\/p>\n The documentary covers the pair\u2019s years on Neighbours, and the breakdown of their relationship. In it, Donovan is very open about his feelings at the time. \u201cLove hurts, mate,\u201d he says bluntly near the close of the first episode.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe there\u2019s an element of trust with her and I, which is a good thing. I think she trusts me to be honest and, you know, I trust her,\u201d he reflects. \u201cThat\u2019s a unique bond. That\u2019s a good partnership \u2026 that even though there\u2019s many years between us since those moments, there is still a trust and a respect; a mutual respect.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, he is just as open about the grief of losing his father.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no surprise that I\u2019ve had a bumpy few months,\u201d he says. The pair were very close, walking back and forth in each other\u2019s footsteps in careers that separated and intersected across the years.<\/p>\n \u201cI was brought up by my dad,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s quite unique, particularly in the \u201970s in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n It meant that his childhood was spent in the company of creative people. \u201cIt was a nightmare!\u201d he says with a laugh. \u201cThere were wonderful highs and sort of wonderful lows. I was surrounded by actors growing up, most of them pretty negative about the work and the life, but always passionate.\u201d He pauses. \u201cThat\u2019s something that I really latched onto. That passion. I watched my dad. I went to set. I went to plays. I watched him work, probably because I didn\u2019t really have a mother figure around. So it was just him and I.\u201d<\/p>\n Donovan started acting as a child, but it was when he was cast as Scott Robinson in Neighbours that fame quickly found him and he continued on to a career that has spanned stage, screen and music, including playing Joseph in Andrew Lloyd Webber\u2019s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in London.<\/p>\n But it isn\u2019t what he imagined for himself. His sliding doors moment was enrolling at RMIT to study graphic design. \u201cI never thought I was going to become an actor because every f—ing actor around me was out of work and depressed,\u201d he says with a small smile. \u201cAll my dad\u2019s mates were like, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s a terrible business\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Donovan is more circumspect. \u201cI\u2019d love to have done a great film. Unfortunately, I made some pretty shit choices early on, and I turned down some jobs that might have gone in the direction to have had a career in film,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all want to be sometimes something we\u2019re not. I\u2019d love to have done more film work. I\u2019ve always harboured the idea of writing a great song, and I certainly tried in both those areas. And who\u2019s to say in the future that can\u2019t happen?\u201d he reflects. \u201cMy dad always talked about versatility as a performer, and that\u2019s something that I\u2019ve really taken on board in my life \u2026 it\u2019s a wonderful, full life when you get to make a living out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1984, while he was still in school, he auditioned for Neighbours and was offered the part of Danny Ramsay. His teachers encouraged him to drop out and take the role. \u201cI asked Dad, and Dad said, \u2018You\u2019re crazy. Finish school\u2019.\u201d So he turned it down. \u201cIt killed me!\u201d he exclaims.<\/p>\n The slight anguish of what he said no to still feels fresh in his voice. \u201cThat money each week, which wasn\u2019t a lot, but it was big in those days \u2013 and those cab dockets out to Nunawading\u2026\u201d Instead, Donovan finished school, and Neighbours, which was on Channel Seven, tanked<\/a>. When Channel Ten picked it up, he got a phone call for a different role and didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n He points again to his father\u2019s advocacy for more local content, which meant that by the time he got to Neighbours, both he and Minogue had solid acting resumes even though they were still in their teens.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hit the ground running,\u201d he says. \u201cWe are all beneficiaries of that \u2026 indirectly, probably shows like Neighbours and Home and Away wouldn\u2019t have existed. Films like Priscilla, Muriel\u2019s Wedding.\u201d He pauses. \u201cThe pool of talent \u2026 there\u2019s an indirect nod to the work my Dad did in the \u201970s to make sure we stood tall and proud as Australians and not become the puppet of America and just cheaper imports.\u201d<\/p>\n Though he doesn\u2019t live in Australia any more, every time Donovan mentions coming back to Melbourne he refers to it as a homecoming. While he is looking forward to taking on one of his most challenging roles to date, the loss of his father means that both the show and all that lies around it look different to what he had imagined.<\/p>\n \u201cComing home was originally about being able to spend time with him,\u201d he says. \u201cHe was an avid Age reader every day \u2026 I know how much he probably would have loved to have seen this article at his breakfast table with his latte and his toast,\u201d Donovan says quietly.<\/p>\n \u201cI see this as an opportunity for me to really show what I\u2019m capable of and what I\u2019m good at,\u201d he says. At his very core, Donovan says, he\u2019s an actor. \u201cWhich is something I inherited from my dad. This is a moment since what\u2019s happened for me to really embody his spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n One Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest is at Melbourne\u2019s Athenaeum Theatre from November 13 to December 6.<\/p>\n![\"Boer](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/b367951cd4159a7841c401caab6fe472a069d748.jpeg\")
Boer War veteran Captain Hugh Woolf and Terence Donovan at the Athenaeum during the season of Breaker Morant in 1978.Age Archives<\/p>\n![\"Gerard](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/a8cd0f84325ed76dd8b8cba28eb8ea355e7cb69b.jpeg\")
Gerard Kennedy and Terence Donovan (front) and other cast members of Homicide\u00a0and Division 4\u00a0march through the centre of Melbourne in 1970 to demand local content quotas.<\/p>\n![\"Kylie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ff32a1902602f5c2ee023f7c85edd626c2b0fb27.jpeg\")
Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan as Charlene and Scott in Neighbours.<\/p>\n![\"Kylie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ca83f4ea3e98189bbd6c96c2463d6f0897ff585a.jpeg\")
Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan at the launch of her Netflix documentary series in London.John Phillips\/Getty Images for Netflix<\/p>\n![\"Jason](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/24e47ada78ce284918f642e875c6c4df6eb3e136799196aeab5da54b536f435c.jpeg\")
Jason and Terence Donovan.Jason Donovan<\/p>\n![\"Jason](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/60f16aa941c7d784f2f5b355c95806395c16aee5.jpeg\")
Jason Donovan as Frank N Furter in the 2023 Australian production of The Rocky Horror Show.Nikki Short<\/p>\n