When Bob Morley returns to Australia now, he finds himself appreciating things like the birds.
“The cockatoos, the galahs, the kookaburras… It’s quite awesome, especially when you’ve got a little kid and they’re just like, ‘Wow, look at that!'” Bob tells TV WEEK from his home in Los Angeles.
Bob misses his home, Australia!
(Image: Supplied)“Having a child and coming back to where you grew up, you realise there are some quite magical things.”
Bob, who spent his childhood on a farm near Kyneton in Victoria, is dad to one-year-old Henry with wife Eliza Taylor.
Although he’s been based in the US for the past decade, having starred alongside Eliza in post-apocalyptic drama The 100 for seven seasons, he’s recently spent time back in Australia filming In Limbo, as well as the second season of Love Me.
“I love coming back to Australia,” he says. “Aussie crews are great, and it’s a great opportunity for me and my family to hang out with our families and for Henry to meet his cousins.”
Bob stars alongside Aussie star, Ryan Corr.
(Image: Supplied)For Bob, In Limbo was a show he felt he had to do as soon as he read the script. It’s a comedy drama about a man, Charlie (Ryan Corr), who’s haunted by the ghost of his best friend Nate (Bob), after Nate takes his own life.
“I’ve had my own mental health conditions and it’s something that really resonated with me,” Bob, 38, says. “I wanted to be part of telling this story and moving that conversation into the public, because I do think it’s really important.”
Bob, who first found fame as Drew Curtis in Home And Away, hadn’t done much comedy before In Limbo and admits to being “terrified”.
Bob starred on the Aussie soap, Home And Away.
(Image: Supplied)“I don’t necessarily think I’m a funny person, but Ryan was really supportive, Lucas [Taylor] had written a great script and [director] Trent O’Donnell was just like, ‘Get some confidence, man!’
“I felt vulnerable doing it, but I think that’s probably where I want to be when I’m working anyway.”
Although Bob and Ryan hadn’t met before In Limbo, Bob did know a bit about Ryan, because Eliza had worked with him on Aussie kids’ series The Sleepover Club two decades earlier.
“She was like, ‘Oh, you two will get along,’ and I was like, ‘OK, cool,'” Bob remembers.
“And then she watched [In Limbo] with me and was telling me stuff Ryan used to do when he was a 13-year-old. If we get a second season, I’m going to try to slip some of that stuff in, that’s for sure!”
“Eliza is working at the moment so I’m a stay-at-home dad.”
(Image: Supplied)Bob’s on-screen mum is played by Philippines-born actress Lena Cruz. Bob has Filipino heritage himself, and wanted to see that reflected on screen, so he spoke to In Limbo’s creator Lucas and producer Jennifer Cummins about it.
“They were like, ‘Yeah, absolutely – let’s find a Filipina actor to come in and play that role,’ and they shifted that in the script to reflect my heritage, which is really lovely. And then Lena came on to play my mother in Love Me as well, so she’s like my TV mum!
“It’s nice to be a part of better representation for people of colour in Australia.”
As well as In Limbo and Love Me, Bob recently shot the movie I’ll Be Watching in the US. In the thriller, he stars opposite Eliza, who is also the movie’s producer.
“She’s my best friend, so I love hanging out with her and performing with her,” he says. “She’s a very honest and generous performer and insanely talented.”
Right now, Bob doesn’t have another film or TV project lined up, and he’s happy that’s the case.
“Eliza is working at the moment so I’m a stay-at-home dad,” he explains.
“I’m seeing how In Limbo plays out, but I’m just being a dad and enjoying that and switching off from worrying about my next gig. It’s nice to take a bit of a break, take a breath. It’s nice to be home with them.”
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