Ahead of the release of Matt Okine’s new series, The Other Guy, Up For It’s Lucy Smith spoke to Okine and his co-star Harriet Dyer, sharing experiences of heartbreak, modern dating and the adventure that is working in breakfast radio.

The Stan series follows breakfast radio host (sounds a little familiar), AJ, played by Okine, as he navigates the break-up of a ten year relationship. Mixing humour with the realities of heartbreak, Okine said the series, although not entirely autobiographical, was inspired by his own break up experiences together with his time working on breakfast radio:

“The goal for me was to capture a realness about that sort of situation and part of that is showing the warts and all of what it’s like when you are going through that, and there are certain elements in that part of your life where you’re not necessarily happy with who you’ve become. You’re really acting out, you’re loose.”

“I was just drinking so much and there were a lot of ups and downs in that sort of period but I wanted to make sure that that is seen on the screen for the good and the bad, that it can be actually pretty tough.”

AJ’s best friend Stevie is played by Harriet Dyer who was excited by the opportunity to play a real, modern woman that she can relate to:

“I hadn’t read anything like it in terms of a character for a female in Australian television. These streaming platforms allow things to be a little different. They allow you to be in a woman’s role in a show but not a pair of tits… and they’re not connected through sex it’s totally platonic. It’s a bit like Elaine from Seinfeld or something – just a buddy comedy and that’s what really made me excited.”

Stream the interview in full to hear Okine and Dyer share tips to deal with heartbreak and loose stories involving throwing up in a work bin.