I was up a ladder painting the ceiling in my house when my agent called to ask if I knew ABBA. I said yes because my daughter Michelle who was 10, was a great fan. My agent then said, "Would you like to play their bodyguard?" They are going to shoot a movie (ABBA; the movie) about their Australian tour. I said yes. To this day after 46 years in the business, I always quote that job my favourite.

I had my first taste of acting at 14. I joined an amateur theatre company in my home town of Fareham, Hampshire. After a time in the merchant navy and three years mustering sheep and cattle in Queensland, I joined a casting agency in Sydney. I did alot of theatre work and I've been in Australia ever since. This photo ( its a picture of Agnetha signing autographs threw the wire fence a the airport with Tom standing next to her) was taken during the shooting of the film at Adelaide Airport when ABBA flew in. I'm glad that cyclone fence was there because the fans were thick on the ground it was unbelievable.

It was like footage I'd seen of the Beatles arriving in 1964. It was a kind of mass hysteria-little girls were fainting, all sorts of things. But when you are protecting the backsides of the likes of Anna and Frida, you've got to be prepared. Anna was voted at the time as having the most beautiful bum in Europe. I think it was a fair call. But I was a fan of both of them. I hope I at least looked the part in the bright red shirt, the medallions around my neck and those pants. They did not leave much to the imagination and they weren't support to. What you see is what you get.

They, the members of ABBA were such nice people, as were the whole entourage, the musos they brought with them and the other actors like Robert Hughes. I was staying at the Holiday Inn while we filmed in Stockholm, Benny would come in with Frida in the morning and sit at the piano in the cocktail lounge, then they served us breakfast and played the most beautiful classical music ..When I arrived in Stockholm they sent a stretch limo for me , and that evening I went to dinner with the director Lasse Hallstrom and his wife. Frida happened to be there with friends and she was so delightful. She got up from the other side of the restaurant and threw her arms around us both.

The next day I turned loose in an old yellow cab during rush hour because one of my four roles was an Australian taxi driver. It was all meant to be shot in Australia so later they'd just flick the negative and I'd appear to be driving on the left-hand side of the road. They had me yelling out the window stuff like "get out of the way, you raw prawn." There were some very bewildered Swedish people listening to that.

Click on image to see full sized version