From mummy’s boy to homecoming hero, the versatile actor is getting to grips with Arthur Miller.

When Sydney Theatre Company Artistic Director Andrew Upton told Chris Ryan that he’d written a part in his new Chekhov adaptation with him in mind, it was one of those classic double-edged sword moments. “When we had our first read through, I went ‘thanks, a cry-baby mummy’s boy, so that’s what you think of me!” Ryan laughs. The role was Sergei, the patronised, slightly ineffectual best friend of Richard Roxburgh’s Platonov and stepson to Cate Blanchett’s Anna Petrovna. Of course, that wasn’t what Upton meant at all, and Ryan’s delightfully vulnerable performance earned him a slew of fine reviews and helped earn The Present a Broadway transfer. For his latest STC role, Ryan has been given a chance to man up and is currently getting his head around another rich and rewarding piece, Arthur Miller’s classic exposé of the American Dream, All My Sons.

Ryan with Richard Roxburgh, Cate Blanchett and Susan Prior in Sydney Theatre Company’s The Present ©Lisa Tomasetti

The first of the big four – the others being Death of a...