Almost 30 years on from The Castle and there’s one thing star Stephen Curry will ‘never get sick of hearing’

Exclusive: It’s been almost 30 years since iconic Aussie film The Castle made Stephen Curry a household name.

The actor and comedian, now 50, still gets stopped in the street by fans who recognise him, but he told nine.com.au he’ll never get sick of it no matter how much time passes.

Curry played Dale Kerrigan in the beloved 1997 film when he became a household name. He was just 20 years old at the time.

The stars of the film included Michael Caton, who played onscreen father Darryl Kerrigan and Eric Bana, who played Greek-Australian Con Petropoulous who married into the Kerrigan family.

The Castle was shot in August 1996 in just 11 days.

“It does not feel like 30 years,” Curry told nine.com.au.

“My wife [Naadein Crowe], she’s a classic. She goes, if people come up and say G’day in the street, she’ll often, as we walk off, she’ll often say, ‘I just cannot believe that they recognise you as that kid.’”

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“She goes, ‘look at you now’. I go, ‘well yeah!’ She goes, ‘no, you’re ageing well, but it’s 30 years,’” he said with a laugh.

Curry was plucked from relative obscurity when he got the life-changing part, having starred in a commercial a year before the film. It’s something he said he’ll always be grateful for and that he credits for projecting him onto successful career in the years since.

“If it wasn’t for, for instance, for that film, The Castle, coming my way ... and I was the only person to audition for it. They saw me in this commercial I had done the year before. It’s that’s real microcosm for me of the good fortune.”

He joked that he achieved his “bucket list” and “drop the mic” moment after appearing on a postage stamp, thanks to the classic film.

“I never thought I’d be able to lick the back of my own head,” he laughed.

“It was pretty cool and a pinch yourself moment.”

Despite all the time that has passed, Curry raved about the continual success and timelessness of the iconic film.

He said he never gets sick of getting asked about it.

“To be honest with you, people are so positive about it [the film],” he said.

“And it still has such a resonance.”

The film centres on the Kerrigan family saving their home, that is right next to airport, from developers and council.

It captured the image of the Aussie battled and cemented the Aussie spirit of rooting for the underdog.

“I think the success of the film is so much in its heart. So much of the comedy comes out of how much a family loves each other and that in itself, helps make it so timeless.

“It’s like a big, warm hug,” he added.

Curry said he still keeps in touch and has a close bond with his onscreen family, including Caton, Bana and actor Anthony Simcoe. Simcoe played Steve Kerrigan in the hit film.

Curry, Caton and Simcoe recently reunited for a fun Uber Green advertising campaign.

“I’ve got a really good relationship with Michael Caton, he’s such a lovely fellow, he’s very kind, he and his wife, Helen, are always very hospitable when I’m up in Sydney, so I go and hang out with them.

“Anthony Simcoe, who played Steve [Kerrigan], and Eric Bana and I have a dinner every year. He’s usually somewhere else. So being able to just lock him down for dinner once a year seems like a win.”

Now, the Aussie star is set to appear in Monty Python’s Spamalot, making his musical theatre debut as the character King Arthur.

“It’s so fun and so ridiculous. I mean, if it wasn’t ridiculous, there’s no way no one would have cast me in the lead, basically.

“I’ve always enjoyed a singing song, but no one has put me in a musical and the one I get is absurd as they come.”

The show will hit the stage in Melbourne at Athenaeum Theatre in September and October and Sydney in October.

So what’s his best advice for budding Aussie actors?

“I think the main one is, the best advice I ever got is, that no is the second-best answer.”

“It’s such a ridiculous career to choose... you hear ‘no’ a lot... If you see no as the second-best answer, you know it’s good, and you can move on to the next thing.”

“I might have had a couple hundred jobs over 35 years in the industry, but I would have least gone for 1,000,” he says.

Tickets are on sale now for Monty Python’s Spamalot.