Michael Caton KING OF THE CASTLE!

It's been 25 years since the hit Aussie film stole our hearts

- Jenny Brown

One fateful phone call was all it took. Almost overnight, out-of-work actor Michael Caton became Australia's best-loved movie larrikin, and nobody was more surprised than the man himself.

Michael was scratching a living as a handyman 25 years ago when he was contacted to play The Castle's knockabout hero Darryl Kerrigan. Cast as a last-minute replacement for another performer, the rest is history - plum roles, awards and instant recognition.

Back then, if anybody had foretold Michael's starry future he wouldn't have believed it. Borrowing a line from underdog Darryl, he probably would have said, "Tell'im he's dreaming!"

One day Michael “couldn't get arrested” when it came to stage or screen gigs. The next he was hot property, like the top-rating real estate show he later went on to host.

“I'd be out of the industry by now if it wasn't for The Castle," the 78-year-old ruefully admits. “I'd been doing handyman stuff, anything to earn a crust.

At one stage I didn't have an acting job for 12 months. For the first time, I couldn't see light at the end of the tunnel.

"Prior to The Castle I was like the old lounge in the corner, you know, a bit dusty and faded...jaded. That's how I always describe it. And all of a sudden it opened up again. Everything just radically changed."

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