House Husbands - Sweet breaks mould

Gary Sweet.

Veteran Australian actor Gary Sweet is convinced he's finally broken free of being typecast on both stage and screen.

It's taken him more than 30 years, though, to convince directors there is more to his acting ability than being a tough guy on TV and comic roles in theatre productions.

For some reason it's never been the other way around until he started appearing on TV drama House Husbands.

The series has had such an impact on Sweet's career that for the first time in his life he was cast in a dramatic role on stage. He was to appear alongside Terminator star Jai Courtney in Of Mice and Men in Perth in December but the show has just been axed because of poor ticket sales.

Yet the demise of the stage play still gives Sweet reason to believe he will be cast in more dramatic stage roles.

"On television I'm generally cast in dramas and on stage I only get cast in comedies," Sweet said.

"I was doing my first drama this year, Of Mice and Men, which would have been the first time I had been cast on stage in a drama."

For Sweet, House Husbands is the best of both worlds.

The lighter moments allow him to play to the comic side of his talent, while the heavier scenes bring him back to the drama he was so used to performing in shows such as Blue Heelers and Police Rescue.

TV profile
Who: Gary Sweet
What: House Husbands
Where and when: One, 8.30 tonight.

- AAP