Don't you hate it when that happens - you are in the shower and the phone rings. Sigh.
Cue mad dash for the towel, dripping feet padding into the lounge to reach the handset before it rings off.
We make it. Phew! 'Hello, Sammy? It's Jason." As in Donovan.
Better a household name and star of stage and screen than a cold caller trying to persuade us we need new double-glazing, right?
On Tuesday (May 5) Jason will return to the stage of MK Theatre, as maverick Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue, the man responsible for helping King George VI to overcome his crippling stammer.
"This is a part I have been waiting to play for many years," Jason starts, "The bar is pretty high in terms of trying to achieve something really great...hopefully I have."
The Kings Speech is a piece of drama, with not a single showy sing-a-long in sight.
It's another remarkable stage turn for Jason who was last seen here in Priscilla Queen of the Desert.
His role in the glitzy, glam, high slap production was a million miles removed from this current character.
But though Jason's stage resume is filled with musical success, first and foremost he is an actor.
"To a lot of people this is a new frontier for me, but acting really is in my body, that's where I started and that's where I feel most comfortable.
"I do not miss singing one bit, not one bit...I am a far more anxious singer than I am actor."
Jason's role as the throat-slitting demon barber in Sweeney Todd was one of those memorable 'singing roles'.
His performance was razor-sharp. Nearly 10 years on, we still have a soft spot for the blade-happy character he brought to the role.
"That was a big leap for me and was a very grown up role to have played.
"Traditionally that part is played by a big singer, and I'm not a big singer. I have a voice, but I am not a musical theatre opera singer, and traditionally Sweeney Todd needs to have that depth."
He pauses. "...I bring an honest interpretation of what I see, with good tools to back it up. That's all I can really say."
Working with Jason must be a director's dream, and not only because having his name attached to a production ensures brisk business at the box office. He is also an attentive perfectionist when it comes to his work. So, on day one of rehearsals?
"I make sure I know the play backwards, I am not someone that leaves any of that to chance," he shares.
"That's just how I work, I am quite fastidious about making sure I know my words and I've done a bunch of research on the character which is important.
"I think being off the page helps a lot because you start to act from day one, so by the time you get to the performance stage you are really on it, as it were."
And moreso, it's a safeguard: "If you are well prepared, then even if sometimes things go wrong, the body kicks in without you even having to think about it," he says, giving a laugh.
"I don't know how that works, but it's a sort of parallel that runs."
By his own admission, Jason is an anxious performer: ''...and being the person I am, and the face I am, there is expectations.
"I think as performers there is always an element of anxiety with what we do.
"It is one thing working in a television studio, it's another getting up at the palladium in front of 3000 people to sing Any Dream Will Do without a lot of musical theatre training.
"I think I've probably become a little bit more confident in the last 10 years," he continues, "I have kids, I have got family, you have got to go out there and push, and say 'look at me.'
"Also let's not forget that when I was in Neighbours, at that point, anything I would do got instant attention.
That dreaded N word - is must be a source of irritation to have to constantly relive something that happened so long ago.
"I understand it, and I am proud of it and very grateful for it, but it doesn't encompass my world as much as it encompasses the world of people who were emotionally attached to that, and therefore speaking to me means a rekindling of their childhood.
"I get it, but I moved on a long time ago..."
Jason Donovan is still a household name, but these days the magnifying glass has been put away. Forced to play out his youth and personal battles in public, in 2015, things are simple, calmer. Any regrets?
"I do feel it is a curse and a blessing to have this name, but I certainly wouldn't swap what I've done for anything, I wouldn't do it any different way," he says.
"...you can't. I am proud of the work that I have done, and the person I am, and the ups and the downs.
He laughs: "I would like to work less though..."
While we chat, in the background Jason's children are at play, his mother-in-law is assisting with the childcare duties.
He is in Sheffield with The Kings Speech, while his wife is in New York, taking in a Broadway opening Finding Neverland.
No disrespect to Sheffield, but Broadway Vs the land of steel?
Someone clearly bagged the better deal, and I suggest it wasn't you.
"I know...who's won that fight?" he laughs, "But I think it's great that she's had the chance to go there."
Strangely, for someone who seems to be constantly on tour, Jason says he doesn't much relish the job.
"I'm not a massive fan of touring, although I seem to do it all the time. I know how to do it well now and I certainly have ways of doing it - I like to stay in decent accommodation and all that stuff.
"The one thing about touring is it gives me an opportunity to get on with my job and business so when I am at home I'm a Dad and husband."
Before we leave him to get back to the business of being Dad, he gives us the obligatory show plug: "It's a great piece of entertainment. It is not just a play and you will get that when you see it.
"It is educational, it is funny, it is moving, it is about friendship, about fear, and there is something in there for everyone.
"I do quality. If people take tickets, hopefully they know that they are going to get a decent show.
"I would be very surprised if people didn't walk away going 'That is one of the more interesting nights at the theatre I have had in a long time.'
The Kings Speech, MK Theatre until Saturday, May 9.
Tickets, ranging from £10 to £29.50, are on sale from the box office.
Call 0844 871 7652 or go online at www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes
Words: Sammy Jones
