You’ve seen him on shows like Neighbours, Seachange and Underbelly, now actor Kevin Harrington is embracing a new role: hotelier. The 57-year-old and his wife Ann took over Quest Werribee earlier this year and have enjoyed running their own business. He tells Charlene Macaulay the full story.
You’re a born and bred westie. Tell me about your childhood.
We lived less than 200 metres from Whitten Oval and we could actually climb up a tree and look at the scoreboard. I’ve had an affinity with the Western Bulldogs my whole life. Dad played some junior footy with Teddy Whitten and our roots are really strong in the footy club. I was shocking [at playing footy]. I had a go when I was 12, but I was no good at it.
How did you get into acting?
I think through maybe being the class clown. I went to St John’s College, which is now Catholic Chisholm, and we didn’t have a drama teacher. We did a bit of public speaking, but essentially it was me being a smart alec from the back of the classroom that stirred the desire to become a performer.
Then I went to the Melbourne State College initially to do the drama teaching course and then transferred over to the VCA. I did a lot of work with the Melbourne Theatre Company and a lot of theatre for about 15 years, and then Seachange happened and that was like a seachange for me too in that, after that it was primarily camera work with a bit of theatre.
Did you ever struggle to get acting roles?
It was going great until about three years ago. I did one called Cliffy, which I played the lead role in. I played Cliffy Young, a 63-year-old potato farmer who won an ultra-marathon run between Sydney and Melbourne, and I lost 18 kilograms for that and really put myself in there. After that, I kind of felt like any other challenge would be like walking up a hill compared to climbing Mount Everest.
Is this why you and your wife Ann decided to run Quest Werribee?
I was becoming less excited and inspired by [acting], so when Ann, who was an accountant for Quest, started looking around at the possibility of buying a franchise, I threw my hat in the ring. We took over in mid-Feb and it’s fantastic, I’m loving it.
How do you find working with Ann?
I love it. We’ve got entirely different areas in the business … and we don’t bump into each other or disagree with each other.
It’s very interesting to see how formidable she is. To actually see Ann’s ability up close is really impressive, and I think she’s been pleasantly surprised that I’ve applied myself to something other than acting.
You’ve also scored a part in Channel 10’s new TV show, The Wrong Girl. Tell me more.
It’s sort of like a love triangle, and I’m the dad of one of the love interests. We’re Bulldog supporters, we live in the inner west and I literally walked to work one day in a minute. It was delightful.
Where do you go in Werribee for a coffee?
The Black Seed Cafe … it’s cool, it’s really buzzing.
