When you live in a place, you're not just taking from it, you're contributing to it. In America I would never be able to make myself a person who could contribute. I wasn't interested in that society; I was interested in this society.

He appeared in Colleen Clifford's production of A Man for All Seasons before joining the Queensland Theatre Company. In 1980 Brown became known to international audiences for his performance in Breaker Morant. They married a few months after filming wrapped.