Oh shucks. Yes, Schuster's back. But not as South Africa's version of Mrs Doubtfire — the perennial funnyman has returned to the false teeth, Jack Sparrow hair and porcupine quill hat of Mr Bones.

He tells us what makes him laugh, how to avoid scandal, and why guys at petrol stations are inspiring.

My roots are in the Free State and that's where I grew up so there's no fancy stuff about me. This hype about being an actor and this glamorous world that one supposedly lives in, really isn't part of my life. I don't socialise a lot — I don't go to clubs and enjoy myself in that way.

My kids are my main priority in life and I'm a private person. I'm not the kind of guy who would talk about my mishaps and my misfortunes with my marriage and my girlfriends and stuff like that.

To fly too high in this industry is very dangerous. Your wings can be clipped so easily and then you come down to earth with a moer of a bang. So I'm always trying to think: 'This is a good effort but maybe it's not the best, but let's hope for the best.' And if it is the best, it's a helluva surprise for me. Instead of being windgat about it and saying: 'I'm such a good movie maker'. Because really I'm not. Nobody's really a good maker of comedy movies — the ideal comedy still needs to be made.

I don't want to disappoint my audience — I want to give the audience exactly what they want. That's my main mission in life — it's not always a matter of pleasing myself. It's more a matter of pleasing the audience because they're the guys that keep me alive and I can just thank them for tolerating me for so many years.

I know what the audience want because I'm one of them. I'm not elevated above South Africans. I think I walk with South Africans rather than walking on a different path alongside them. I'm there with the people, I've got my ear tuned to the ground. When I fill up my car at the petrol station I ask the okes that take my photograph on their cellphones: 'What do you want next?', 'What movie would please you next?'. I do my research not with fancy people but with die man op die straat.

I prefer visual comedy to talking movies. I was a great fan of Laurel and Hardy, the Marx brothers, Charlie Chaplin and Jerry Lewis obviously. He was just the greatest, especially in his earlier movies, like his 'Nutty Professor' which I saw when I was a young boy. And Jamie Uys was also a great idol of mine because he also preferred visual comedy and he really mastered the art of visual comedy. Visual comedy speaks to everyone and everyone can understand that. You can even turn the sound down and people will still understand it.

It was a pleasure getting back into the Mr Bones costume. And it was actually much easier for me this time around because I'd done it before. In 'Bones 1' it took me two to three weeks to find my feet as a character. I was a bit insecure and a bit bang. This time around I just did it.

I really like the character of Bones, simply because there's no frills and no fuss, like they say in that Tempest commercial. He's just a down-to-earth character and whatever he has to do he does full-on with his whole heart. I think the kids enjoy his humour, but I think there's something in Bones that speaks to all of us, otherwise the character wouldn't have been so popular.

The first one did so well I was really scared I'd do something the second time around that was going to disappoint the audience. But I don't think I have. I have given them more comedy than the first one, I've given them a stronger story, there's a nice love interest and I've even given them a little tear in the eye.