Hot! Smash Hits
24 June 1992 by Marc Andrews
(Simon was a month short of 23 years old at the time of this article)

E Street's Simon Denny has got it all. But does he really want it all? Marc Andrews probes the mind of the man with the killer smile.

How has your life changed since you started in E Street then, "Sime”?
My life's changed in that I now earn a bit more money and a regular income. But that doesn't actually mean I have any. Heheh I also have a lot less spare time. Plus I've got a public profile and I have to be careful what I do in public now. (Gets an evil glint in his eyes and flashes that smile) I have to be well-behaved.

Is that difficult for you?
Sometimes, yeah. Heheheh Oh, no, not really. But you never know when someone might recognise you. You might be having an argument in a street with someone and then someone comes up to you and says, "You're in E Street” and you just have to watch yourself a lot more.

So do you find it can be a pain in the bum being on TV?
Yeah, and that's the truth. All of a sudden, someone will recognise you and come up to you. I was in a café the other day and a girl came up and said, "Are you Sam in E Street?” and I had to be polite because I do play Sam in E Street. Not just because he's a goodie-goodie, but because some of the fans who write letters and stuff go right out of their way to talk to you, or write to you. And it is a part of the job. You have to be polite and just do it. It freaks me out a bit, though. I get scared.”

Are you prepared to become a humungous star?
I don't think you can be prepared for it. I'll just take it as it comes. At the moment, I'm just feeling my way. I haven't gotten used to it enough yet to deal with it 'cos it's only just happening to me.

Has Bruce Samazan [another E Street hunk] given you any good advice?
Bruce is big time, isn't he? Everyone knows Bruce Samazan, don't they? Actually, I was talking to Bruce recently about this and I said to him, "It's sort of getting a bit strange, with people recognising me!” And he said, "You wait, it'll get a lot worse, mate!” Like, sometimes you just want to go down to the pub and play pool and the next thing you know you've got all these friends all of a sudden saying, "Yeah, he's a cool bloke!” and they start hanging out with you. If you weren't on television these people would keep to themselves. I guess it's something you just have to put up with, 'cos it's part of the job. It's a nice little niche at E Street though, because you don't have anyone thinking, "Oh, I'm a star” or anything like that. Everyone's in the same boat. They all get recognised. Mind you, my fan mail blew me away a bit at first.

How come?
Some of it's just… bizarre. The fans just go to so much trouble. They write little poems and some even send me drawings. One even sent me $10 so I could buy her some flowers, because she'd read in Smash Hits that I used to sell flowers.


Have you had any marriage proposals?
Naaaaaah. (Rolls his eyes) Not yet.

Is this what you thought it would be like when you first started doing E Street?
I didn't even realise when I started that once you get on the treadmill there's no turning back. The faster you run, the faster the treadmill gets.

Would you ever want to give it all up?
Certainly not for a nine-to-five job. I dunno. It came pretty easily and it could vanish twice as easily. It's very fickle. Would it worry me if it did? Aaaaah… It'd probably freak me out a bit financially, but I'd probably do what most actors do – wait on tables and wait for more auditions. Wait for the next big wave. heheheh "

What's the good side of being famous?
You're in regular work and people listen to what you say. Which can be a scary thing, but can be a powerful tool, too.

How would you rate yourself as an actor?
(Blows a rather large raspberry) Pththththththth. I'm never really satisfied with my work. Every scene I watch, I go aarrrghhh. Do I think I've improved? I hope so. heheheh Jesus, I was a nightmare when I started. My priority above all is to be a good actor. Because it's my first job, I'm sure people don't expect me to be some legend. I'm looking at E Street as a good training ground. I mean, you do so many scenes and it's a pretty quick turnover, two hours of television a week.

How long will you stay with E Street?
I don't know. I'm having fun for now and I'm enjoying it. It depends on how I go, I guess.

Are you a "goodie-goodie” like Constable Sam Farrell?
Sometimes. (Hesitates a tad and flashes – guess what? – his pearly whites!) Er, when I have to be I've got a pretty mellow and easy-going nature. Sometimes I get a bit uptight and a bit stressed out and take it out on myself. What do I do? I just get angry at myself. I get disappointed and mope around. You make yourself suffer for things. You torment yourself and then obviously, everyone else suffers around you because of the way you're treating yourself… but I'm generally a very happy person.” (Thank goodness for that! – Ed)

Do you enjoy playing Sam?
Yeah, I do. But every now and then I think, "Why can't he be wilder?” But that's how my character is. He's not like that. But there probably will come a time when he'll get a bit wilder. I can't tell you too much now without giving too much away, but he might just relax a bit. He's always been a bit tense, don't you think? Especially now his girlfriend is going loopy. heheheh "

Do you want to talk about your girlfriend (i.e Rebecca Rigg who plays Sam's girlfriend, Nurse Amy Preston, in E Street, coincidentally)?
I don't like to talk about our relationship but it's (clams up a bit)… y'know… that's how it is. I go out with Rebecca. We knew each other before the show and went out with each other before we both started in the show. Actually, she started in E Street two weeks after I did. Is it weird going out in real life and in the show?
It's certainly not difficult. It's good fun.

What would happen if you broke up in the show?
Well, it's just acting, it's just playing. (Shifts uncomfortably in his seat) Um, that's all I want to say about that stuff.

Oh, alright then. You don't seem to mind flashing your chest around, do you "Sime”?
Heh! This is how I am and I have to accept that. It's my chest, not yours, after all. heheheheh Besides, television is a visual thing, so people are always looking at you.

Do you work hard to keep your hunkin' good looks?
Not really. I don't go to the gym, but I did buy some hand weights recently. I'm also trying to get back into surfing a bit more now, too. I enjoy it and it's good for my soul 'cos I can get away from all the hustle and bustle and be at one with nature. It's really relaxing. When I was younger and I was surfing three or four hours a day, that's where I made most of my decisions and thought about things. You're just out there by yourself and it's very peaceful.

Do you still make most of your decisions on your surfboard?
Not necessarily on my surfboard, but in the water. heheheh I don't get out there enough now. I've got too many decisions to make.

Have you got any great dreams or goals for the future?
Yeah, I want to be happy, more than anything.

And are you happy now?
Yeah, is it the happiest I've ever been? Well, I'm never satisfied and I'm always searching for something better, you know what I mean? I'm always trying to achieve more in life. I'm always searching for something.

And what do you think it is?
Happiness. Fun. Like, I'm having fun but… I really enjoy sleep. (Sleep? –Ed) I could sleep more right now.

Do you dream a lot?
(Yawns widely) When I'm asleep I do a lot of dreaming, but I also do a fair amount of daydreaming.

What do you daydream about?
Everything. It's just constant. A lot of times I just sit down, shut my eyes and be semi-asleep, but the wheels are just going around. I can't shut my mind of. There's all these things going on inside my head, what to do and how to go about things.

Do you have any recurring dreams?
I used to have a recurring dream when I was younger. I'd woken up and I was at school and I didn't have any pants on. I had my school shirt on, my shoes and socks on but no pants, and I'd forgotten to wear my undies. (One day you're gonna get caught, eh Sime? – Ed)

Lawks! What do you think it all means?
That I'm disorganised, probably. I also had another recurring dream where I was being chased by people. I was just running and running and running across fields of wheat and I just wouldn't get tired. I had all this energy and they could never catch me. I always got away and hid. Or they'd get me cornered and I'd wake up. I also used to dream that I'd find things that were worth a lot. I'd find all these watches at the beach in the sand.

Speaking of which – are you materialistic?
Not really. I like nice things, but I don't buy them because I have to have them. I buy them because… they're there. Friends, and things like that, are much more important. If I had to, I could live in a little shed on the beach up on the North Coast, no worries. I could throw it all in and be just as happy as I am now.

Is there anything that really gets on your nerves?
Yeah, there's a lot of things, but they don't happen very often. Being misunderstood really riles me.

What about the future? What would you really like to do?
I'd like to do some theater and I'm even contemplating studying drama. What E Street has done for me is give me an opportunity to work and get an income and get a taste of acting. I had a taste of it and I love it. I want more. It's like you get a whiff of a good cake and you just want to eat it all.

If you died tomorrow, how would you like to be remembered?
Well, I enjoy life and all my friends realise and know that … um… I don't know.

"Simon Denny – he had fun!” perhaps?
Er, hopefully they'd write something a bit more eloquent than that. heheheh But yes, possibly something along those lines. But not in so few words either. heheheh