[MUSIC PLAYING]
I'll give you your money, OK?
I don't want any money.
What do you mean?
Well, it's not my job to collect money.
It's his job.
What's your job?
My job's to make you sorry you didn't
pay when you had the chance.
SCOTT RYAN: Mr. Inbetween's about a guy
who's stuck between two worlds.
He's a criminal.
He has a girlfriend.
He has an ex-wife.
He has a daughter.
He's in a bit of a tough situation,
because he can't really tell them what he does for a living.
That's a lot of the show, is him trying to stop these two worlds
from colliding with each other.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is Ray.
I'm 40.
Got a kid.
Divorced, work security.
He's basically a man for hire, and does
hitman work, debt collecting.
Ray is probably a bit smarter than your average criminal.
He definitely has quite a bit of rage,
but has a great ability to control it.
Whoa, hey!
Jesus, man, why don't you watch where you're going, hey?
What was that?
You heard what I said.
The more things you can relate to with this character,
the more accessible it is.
No matter what his job is, he has a good moral center.
It's just a little left of center for everyone else.
THERAPIST: Do you think that you've got an anger problem?
No.
OK.
Whether it's a movie or TV, and there's a hitman character,
we generally only see one side.
They tend to concentrate on just the violent side.
But they can also be very loyal friends, and very
caring to friends and family.
Treat me good, and I'll treat you better.
Treat me bad, I'll treat you worse.
And that kind of sums him up.
Sorry, mate, I just--
[INAUDIBLE]
[YELL]
The series came about--
I'd made a very low-budget film, which
featured the Ray Shoesmith character from Mr. Inbetween.
I met Scott in Melbourne at St Kilda Film
Festival back in 2005, and it was a fake documentary
about a hitman.
Scott had this idea to further the character in a TV series.
The whole thing was, I'm not making the show
unless Scott's playing Ray.
I just kept going to places until someone would let me
make it with Scott as the star.
SCOTT RYAN: Years later, took it to F/X, and here we are.
Bad news.
RAY: Yeah?
I had a bad week this week.
You have a bad week every week.
How long we been doing business?
You should have the money.
So 10 plus a G on top.
For what?
For collecting on the debt.
You're keeping the money.
I know.
But I shouldn't have to go and get the money
from somebody else, should I?
I think the most daunting thing out of the writing,
and the creating, and the starring--
the hardest thing for me was the acting side of it.
I'd never acted professionally.
I went to an acting class once, and the acting teacher
told me I'd never be an actor.
Before we made the show, I was driving cabs for a living,
never been on a film set.
SCOTT RYAN: So to show up on set on the first day,
and there was 50 people walking around--
I've never worked with a crew before.
You get thrown in the deep end, and you just have to swim.
NASH EDGERTON: It's been 12 years since he's
done anything like this.
I knew I had my job cut out for me.
I think he has great natural instincts.
And I set about casting people who would respond
to his style of acting, and would work with it,
and roll with it.
SCOTT RYAN: But it's pretty simple.
We don't spend a lot of time rehearsing.
That way, it sort of keeps it pretty fresh.
So is he real?
Santa's like a myth.
No, he's not, no.
Is Jesus real?
Hey, look, I never met the guy, but possibly.
Chika, who plays Brittany in the show, is my daughter.
SCOTT RYAN: I stole the idea from that scene
from Nash, the director.
He had the exact same situation with his daughter.
I told her that Santa wasn't real, and that's in the show.
And she extorts my friends for money.
Any time they swear, she asks them for $1.
To the point where I have certain friends who will come
round and just lay a twenty down and say, OK,
look, just so I can talk freely tonight,
I'm paying you in advance.
You owe me $2 now, so pay up.
You take credit card?
Nope.
What's this?
I got no cash.
OK.
But you owe me.
Better watch out, mate, she knows where you live.
It's been a pleasure making Mr. Inbetween.
Because I've been such a fan of Scott since I first met him,
and getting to bring that character
to share with other people is a real joy.
Having the opportunity to take a lot of ideas
that I've had for 30 years as a writer,
and get it in front of an audience, when for so long
it was just words on a piece of paper,
that's probably the highlight of making this show.
RAY: No, mate.
What are you doing?
[SOBBING]
The dirt's supposed to go outside the hole, pal.