Cousins became "a local hero" following his casting, as the show is filmed in his home city of Melbourne. Cousins developed a close bond with Ailsa Piper, who plays Ben's mother Ruth Wilkinson, and he described her as his surrogate mother. He explained, "When I got the part, everyone told me how vicious and cut-throat the TV industry was. But when I arrived at the studio on my first day, Ailsa ran up to me, gave me this huge hug and said 'Welcome!'. It was definitely a great start!"