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Actor up to his elbows in method madness

BRETT Tucker is setting a new benchmark in method acting.

The 32-year-old prepped for his role as vet Dave Brewer on McLeod’s Daughters by accompanying real-life vet Peter Jones on his rounds.

“He was doing blood tests on a cow and he had to investigate one internally because it had had a stillborn calf,” Tucker says.

“So he whacked on this glove and just cocked his head over and said ‘do you want a go’, and I said ‘yeh, okay, bloody oath’.

“I got the glove on and he gave me a few tips how to get your way in there and away we went.

“I was on the phone immediately just letting the boys know, if they needed any checking, I was qualified.”

Tucker has recently moved to Adelaide from Melbourne, where he grew up in the Yarra Valley. Since settling into a two-bedroom North Adelaide apartment he has been playing tourist with girlfriend Sally, visiting the Fleurieu Peninsula and Barossa Valley. “We did the main wineries so I know where to take friends when they come and visit, if they come and visit,” he says.

Handy on a football field, a trip to Victor Harbor last weekend has inspired Brett to revisit his surfing days.

“I used to surf a bit when I was younger and then ended up swapping it for snowboarding,” he says.

“But unfortunately there’s no snow over here so I’m going to have to go back to surfing.” Tucker, who has worked alongside Naomi Watts in The Outsider and Benjamin Bratt in the yet-to-be released The Great Raid is relishing the change in scenery—and pace.

July 08, 2004
Adelaide Confidential, The Advertiser