Early in his career, playing bad-boy surfer Darryl “Brax” Braxton on Home and Away, Stephen Peacocke regularly attracted the description “heartthrob”. Since then, his leading-man looks and charismatic screen presence have made him one of the country’s busiest actors. The most common description of him from people who work with him is that he’s a good bloke: an actor who’s serious about his work, but doesn’t take himself too seriously; the kind of cast member who knows the crew members’ names.

Through a turbulent period for the local TV industry, the habitually humble star has been in constant demand, winning key roles in a range of drama series: Flying Doctor Service nurse Pete Emerson in RFDS (7Plus), sports reporter Rob Rickards in The Newsreader (ABC iview), and tradie Ben Chigwell in Five Bedrooms (Paramount+).

RFDS co-creator and producer Imogen Banks recalls that he was an early choice for the ensemble: “We were lucky to get him. He’s passionate about representing those stories: he knows that world. He grew up in Dubbo, spent time out in Bourke.” RFDS co-creator Ian Meadows enthuses about Peacocke’s capacity to convey Pete’s strength and sensitivity.

The Newsreader creator and producer Michael Lucas, who also cast the actor in Five Bedrooms, says of his The Newsreader character, “he’s supposed to have that laconic, blokey quality, like Paul Hogan or early Mel Gibson, and Steve radiates that. Steve was a rugby player who got injured and his backstory is similar to his character’s. He’s the only character who isn’t rabidly ambitious and I think Steve also has a conflicted relationship with fame. He doesn’t court it in any way.”

Peacocke is often cast as what he describes as “knockabout” blokes. The opportunity to tackle something different was one of the reasons he was drawn to playing Detective Dylan McKenzie in Nine crime thriller Human Error. “He’s a city fella, which I’ve never really played,” he explains. “I imagine him to be the opposite of the way that I grew up. He’s more careful about appearances than other characters: looking the part is important to him. He’s a bit of a vain sort of a rooster and he’s got an earnestness about him. He’s someone who rates himself a bit more than other people I’ve played.”

For John Edwards (Bump, Love My Way), who executive-produced Human Error with his son Dan, Peacocke’s character needed to be a police officer who also functions as “a desirable lover, competitor, friend and ally” for the central character, Detective Holly O’Rourke, played by Leeanna Walsman. The impressive cast also includes Steve Bisley, Rob Collins, Gyton Grantley, Daniela Farinacci and Matt Day.

“It’s hard not to be on Steve’s side,” says Edwards. “And Dylan seems like he’s a good guy, but he might not be. He has complexities that aren’t initially revealed. The series has a theme of human frailty, which has been a theme in a lot of my stuff. Through the series, everybody’s weaknesses are revealed and the police are not immune from shortcomings. We all live with our flaws and mess. The story is about overcoming them.”

The series uses an actual case as its starting point because Edwards says “truth’s often better and stranger than fiction”. After a scene that establishes Holly as a mother and a woman who gives short shrift to ideas that she considers suspect, she’s called to a crime scene: a woman has been gunned down outside her suburban home and her young stepson witnessed the killing. Given the circumstances, viewers might immediately be reminded of the tragic case of Jane Thurgood-Dove. As the investigation gets under way, suspicion initially falls on the woman’s family, and information to do with infidelities and covert dealings is uncovered. Then relationships involving police officers are revealed to have similar secrets.

“I was intrigued by the script,” Peacocke says. “It’s about the compounding of mistakes, how little decisions can affect things. Each of the characters makes decisions that, right or wrong, turn into other things, and it’s about how they deal with it. It’s about fallibility. I’ve often played likeable characters, Australian blokes that are pretty unassuming. But this was an opportunity to go in a different direction, and you want to keep yourself interested.”

While welcoming the challenge of trying something different, Peacocke says of his career, “I’ve never had a plan. I admire people who do: some people just know what they want. But I think as long as you read something and it’s appealing to you, if it’s good, it’s good. Probably not everything you do is going to hit a six, but you give yourself the best chance.”

Despite the impression of going with the flow and making prudent choices, Peacocke’s reflections on his early days suggest someone who has quietly pursued his calling, even though he might’ve been out-of-step with his mates from work and the footy club. He read books by respected acting coaches, worked in blue-collar jobs and did amateur theatre at night.

After studying communications at university in Newcastle, he recalls “there were 10 years of just scraping by to pay my bills. I enjoyed the physicality of the work and I enjoyed the people I worked with, but I didn’t enjoy turning up to a truck depot early in the morning to unload frozen things in my footy shorts and a T-shirt.

“It kept me fit,” he laughs. “But my mates moved on, got good jobs and had good cars. I was driving a Toyota Corolla where you could either have the headlights on or the demister, but not both at once or the whole thing would spew it.”

His break came with Home and Away and he says, “I loved that job and loved that character. It was one of the best-written characters that show has ever produced and they were top people to work with.” From there, options opened up: he got an American agent and film roles overseas: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot with Tina Fey and Margot Robbie; Me Before You with Emilia Clarke and Sam Clafin; Hercules: The Thracian Wars with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

“Most people have one or two job interviews in their lives,” he observes. “Actors are basically doing that three times a week. But it’s a great adventure. You get to travel and it might not be glamorous, but it is fortunate. You never know when you’re going to get that call from your agent saying you got it, and it’s an amazing feeling when you do get that call. You never know what the next six months might bring and I’ve been fortunate to get enough to keep going.”

Having established a successful career, he says, “One of the best things about being an actor is that you’re forced to see things from a different point of view, to see how things happen without judging them. I’m just as judgey as the next bloke and sometimes you’ve got to wade through a bit of your own stuff and think ‘well, hang on, this stuff can happen’.”

As he welcomes such experiences, he maintains a down-to-earth perspective on his profession: “Acting’s bloody hard, but it’s not hard to be on time and know your stuff and be nice to people. I worked for a decade in jobs that I didn’t enjoy, so I know when I’m doing something I love. You hear of people being a bit demanding and it surprises me. I just think everything’s done for you: you’ve got someone offering you bloody coffee every five minutes, someone organises flights, someone will take you to work if you need it.”

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Recalling his early days, he says “when I signed up with my US agents, they said the best chance that you’ve got to build a good career is to work with good writers and good directors. You’re not always fortunate enough to be able to pick and choose who you work with, but I’ve been lucky in Australia to have fallen in with some of our best.”

Those who’ve worked with him suggest that it’s more than just luck.

Human Error premieres on Nine on Wednesday (September 11) at 8.45pm, and 9Now

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