Three different actors played the lovable younger sibling Bronson in the iconic Australian TV show Round the Twist. Two of them continued in show business, but the first disappeared from the public eye ... until now.

Rodney McLennan wasn't easy to track down.

He has no website, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn and his Facebook page is not in his real name.

Apart from a couple of paragraphs from the 2001 Round the Twist website, only speculation existed about his fate.

But after a search Background Briefing would be proud of, we found him.

When I called into his house in Brisbane he described our conversation as "exceptionally bizarre" because he had always tried his best to keep a low profile. This was his first radio interview.

"Part of that would have been from the overall experience of being a child actor," he said.

"I decided I didn't want to be in the limelight."

McLennan remembers having genuine input into Bronson's personality when the character first came to life in 1989. That was a long time ago, but the experience has followed him his entire life.

"Everywhere I go for some reason or another people find out, usually from friends of friends," he said.

"Or I might start a new job in a different city and within three days the entire office knows about it.

"Just a couple of weeks ago I was working somewhere and I had staff who were born eight years after it was filmed who were all excited about the fact I had this story, and I was like: 'How is this relevant?'"

McLennan had several acting gigs before and after Round the Twist. Despite having a tutor on set during the TV jobs, he feels he got behind at school.

"I struggled with it and found it very emotionally challenging. I missed fundamentals of maths so I avoided maths and that just perpetuated into high school."

The second Bronson: Jeffery Walker continues to work in the film and TV industry in Australia, the US and the UK. ( ACTF/ABC RN: Mike Williams )

When McLennan became a teenager the roles just stopped coming.

"I was no longer a cute kid. I stopped meeting the preconceived notions of what they were looking for," he said.

His story is a common one, that many child actors have to deal with after initial success.

"That was my identity: being an actor and being something special," he said.

"Then when the work wasn't there anymore and I was back to being a normal kid, what do I do now? How do I feed that part of me that wants that attention?"

After leaving school early he ran off the rails. In attempt to swing things back, he joined the army as a rifleman.

It was a radical shift for a young man who grew up loving drama and the art of theatre.

"If you look at it from an emotional perspective, acting requires you to be very much in touch with your emotions while service in the military, particularly in combat related roles, was the complete opposite," he said.

The third Bronson: Mathew Waters now lives in the UK, where he works in film and musical theatre. ( ACTF/Paul Byram )

After he returned from a tour of East Timor, things had changed.

"I couldn't get back in touch with that [emotional] side," he said.

"I had no interest in pursuing [acting] as a hobby or professionally.

"I don't regret it at all. I can't see it as an industry I want to work in. I wanted the stability of a regular type job."

After he returned he left the army and got a job as a triple zero call taker and police dispatcher. The sensitivities around these jobs reinforced his desire for privacy.

But with his friends and family to remind him of how unique and funny it is, he will never escape from Bronson.

His wife Corrine refuses to let him throw out fan mail he received from around the world.

"I'm glad I had the opportunity and experience," he said.

I played Rodney the classic Round the Twist theme song to see what memories it evoked, but he didn't need to hear it.

It is just so common — and besides, his kids watch the DVDs all the time.

Listen to the full episode of RN's brand new podcast The Real Thing now.