He’s been a fixture on our screens for the past three decades, but it’s still hard to believe that eternally-youthful actor Peter Phelps is preparing to celebrate a major personal milestone – his fiftieth birthday on September 20.
Currently filming series three of Nine’s high-octane drama Rescue: Special Ops, Peter confesses he initially approached the big day with a little trepidation.
“But then,” he says, “I thought ‘Nah, I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do. I’ve travelled the world, and now I have two beautiful daughters. In terms of work, I’ve gone from playing the young romantic lead to the grizzled veteran – seemingly overnight! But I’m in a great place. An era has passed and a new one is starting.”
So exactly how will Peter be marking his turn of half a century?
“I was going to have a huge celebration, and then I decided to scale it down and thought ‘I’ll probably have something a little bit closer to home’,” he reveals.
Clearly, Peter, a devoted parent with his long-time partner Donna to girls Aja Blue, seven, and Polly, four, wouldn’t trade the joys of family life for anything in the world.
“We’re very hands-on parents,” he says. “I help them with their homework and I’m teaching them all about the ocean and swimming. It’s great and so natural and easy to do. It’s an extraordinary thing to see a human being grow up before your eyes.”
And Peter certainly isn’t showing any signs of slowing down himself. As well as performing action scenes as often as possible in Rescue: Special Ops, he’s fitter than ever thanks to regular time in the water.
“I’m even taking up new sports,” he reveals. “Stand-up surfboard paddling is my latest. I’m probably in better shape than I was 20 years ago. There’s no partying anymore. I’m on a very healthy route at the moment.”
Would Peter, who bared his six-pack back in the early Nineties as one of the lifeguards in the hit US series Baywatch, still consider taking his gear off for the cameras these days?
“Well, it would have to be in context with the script, but there would be no gratuitous nude scenes for me,” he laughs.
Peter’s career highs:
It’s been 30 years since Peter Phelps first hit our screens with an ongoing role in the early-Eighties soap The Restless Years.
Acting parts followed in Sons and Daughters, A Country Practice, The Flying Doctors, G.P. and, of course, Stingers – in which he played the Logie-winning lead role of Peter Church from 1998 until 2004.
Since then, Peter’s been front-and-centre in All Saints, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities and now Rescue: Special Ops, along with many other big-screen and TV productions.
“Being employed for this long and still being employable is the highlight,” smiles Peter. “I always just devote myself to the job at hand.”
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