'It’s been a great year': Dan Ewing reflects on life following marriage split

He recently made his return to Home And Away after a short hiatus, but make no mistake, Dan Ewing didn't return out of necessity. In fact, the in-demand actor is getting plenty more work elsewhere.

The Sydney-based actor’s latest role is in horror-adventure flick Red Billabong, a fright-fest, shot entirely on the Gold Coast in just six-and-a-half weeks.

RELATED: EXCLUSIVE Dan Ewing: "Some paparazzi are just rude bullies"
RELATED: Dan Ewing set to Return to Home And Away
RELATED: Mel Greig shoots down Dan Ewing romance rumours

Speaking to Be about his latest project, the 31-year-old also weighed in on his Summer Bay hiatus, his new part in a Hunger-Games-esque series and why he doesn’t scare easily.

“Every hour of the day is scheduled,” Dan told Be of his intense work calendar. “My publicity department and my manager do great work. I think I’m allowed to cough at some stage after this interview.”

“I’ve been very busy,” he continued. “It’s a great privilege to be busy as an actor and to be offered the diversity of characters that I’m luckily enough to have been offered for this year.

He added: “I’m not on the on the Home and Away beast full-time anymore. When they asked me to come back for a short stint, the storyline they came back was fantastic, getting the band back together, so to say.”

That’s right, lap up all of Dan’s shirtless scenes, because his next role doesn’t exactly call for firm pecs.

“The film I’m doing at the moment, Beast No More, with Jessica Tovey, [I play] an early-thirties father who is having a bit of trouble with grief and stress - so, I don’t think he’s going to be ripped…the only problem is I’m shooting scenes for Home and Away too.”

He added: “I probably didn’t need the two BBQ Meat Lovers pizzas I ate on the weekend with the litre of ice cream I had with it – but it was great fun.”

The actor, who got his chops on Aussie and Kiwi TV, added that he prefers acting in the film medium to TV drama.

“I find film, especially the stuff I’m doing at the moment, it’s just more real, and it’s nice to have that piece of work and then you’re done – it’s much more real.”

In fact, he cringes sometimes when re-watching his cheesier moments of Home and Away.

“You’ll have the director come in and say, ‘I know you hate doing this but this is the ad-break, can you wind this up a bit?’ And you’re like, ’Oh god, I’m not going to enjoy watching this bit’.”

As for his latest role in Red Billabong, Dan says it’s different to what we’re used to in horror. In fact, it’s more of an adventure flick.

“It’s very different for Australia,” he said of the film. “It’s very exciting. We’re in a new era for Australian films.

He added: “It’s a action-adventure, but there’s also a lot of heart in it – which is important – I think that’s the difference between Australian films and some of the bigger budget films.”

So, was it scary shooting a horror flick? Well, it turns out nothing really scares the Aussie actor.

“My dad used to work in an abattoir,” he explained. “When I was young, before the Olympics site (in Homebush, Sydney) was the Olympics site, they had all the abattoirs out there.

“The cliché cheesy American stuff doesn’t really [scare me]. So I grew up watching Jaws and Predator, with the build up of suspense.

“That’s something that’s very lost these days, so it’s something that [Red Billabong director] Luke [Sparke] is trying to do.”

The actor, who made his television debut alongside Roce McIver as Black Power RPM Ranger on Power Rangers R.P.M., also revealed that he still wears the spandex tights that shot him to fame in 2009.

“I’ve actually got my tights on,” he told Be. "I don’t wear the top anymore, but I like how they feel – it’s quite snug. Most jeans these days feel like spandex anyway.”

He added that the new look Power Ranger film outfits, which came under scrutiny for the intenseness of their breast armour, were intended to be practical.

“It’s a bit more military,” he said. “A bit more realistic.”

The actor has a few things in the works – including a pilot in LA, then a series of three films set to be shot on the Gold Coast and Mexico.

"It’s like an action-adventure, Hunger Games-meets-Mad Max thing,” he said of the upcoming film series. “I get to get rid of my Melbourne combover and strip it back. It’s a bit more rough-and-tumble. The scale of it will be massive for Australia, we’re really looking forward to it."

He added: “It’s been a great year. So when I have time to stop and think, it’s really nice.”

It seems things are looking up for the actor, whose career has been overshadowed lately by his personal life with his wife-of-four-years Marni Ewing.

Dan talked about those struggles this morning on The Kyle and Jackie O Show.

"It's still up in the air but I love her with all my heart," he says in the clip above.

“I was so concentrated on what I was going to do next and my ego and just being a typical male idiot Gemini".

“It’s still the biggest regret in my life,” he confessed on the show.

His management confirmed the split back in May.

The statement, which was released to New Idea, read: "Dan and Marni Ewing amicably decided to end their 3 year marriage in December, 2015 due to irreconcilable differences. The couple remain friends, and will continue to co-parent their son, Archer, who will be two in September.”

RELATED: Bonnie Sveen and Jess Mauboy team up for new show

RELATED: Former 'Home and Away' stars' surprising new role

Dan and Marni added: "We wish nothing but the best for each other and are both committed to focusing our attention on Archer".

The shock split came almost two years after the couple welcomed their first child together.

The pair have been through their fair share of ups and downs, with Marni publicly declaring she suffered a miscarriage in 2013, revealing: "I yesterday learnt that I had lost my angel. We spent all day mourning our loss... The baby I had wanted for so long had left us."

Want more celebrity, entertainment and lifestyle news? Follow Be on Facebook,Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram