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Your new movie Coming
Home - in a few words, what's it about?
It's about a small family unit who are struggling at home through
the Melbourne lockdowns during Covid. How did
you personally feel affected by the Covid-19 constrains and lockdowns, and
to what extent does your movie reflect your personal feelings?
I think everyone was affected differently by the lockdowns. Melbourne
was pretty tough mainly because we had one of the longest lockdowns in
the world. I suppose writing this film was a way of dealing with that
and at the same time having some release from the reality we were living in. (Other)
sources of inspirtation while writing Coming
Home? I saw an illustration of a 1950s murder mystery novel that actually
inspired the concept. Do talk about Coming
Home's approach to horror!
My approach was for it to be a gritty drama that is slightly macabre but
without overdoing the horror aspect. It does
obviously cross over into a few subgenres, but in general I think the
audience will decide for themselves. We had a lot of fun shooting the
horror aspect. What can you tell us
about your overall directorial approach to your story at hand? I go with my gut feeling and cast appropriately which wasn't easy with
this film. I approached a few actresses that I knew of who read the
script and passed on it due to obvious reasons. We must have tested
about eight actresses and had to replace the lead three times. Casting
the daughter character was also difficult, and she was replaced once as
well, but with some patience and assistance from my co-producers we
eventually found Lara Deam and Gieselle Bodycoat. You
also play one of the leads in Coming
Home - so what can you tell us about your character, what did you
draw upon to bring him to life, and have you written Scott with yourself
in mind from the get-go? Yes, Scott was always going to be played by myself as I am an actor as
well, amongst other things lol. He unfortunately gets caught up in this
rather intense situation without really meaning to. For me it was
about making him a normal average Aussie bloke who was not too caught up
in the hype of the situation, a contrast to Beth obviously.
Do talk about the rest of your
cast, and why exactly these people? Lara is a trooper and was a gem, she wanted to take on the challenge as
an actress, which you really have to admire and others wouldn't.
Gieselle had the innocence and vulnerability required and just needed a
gentle push to get her going, as this was her first film role. Her mum
coached her along as well, and Mark and
John are veterans who I've worked with before. A few words about
the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
The atmosphere on location was tense but fun, and everyone enjoyed it. I
wasn't sure how it would go due to the nature of the script, but it was
actually a hoot in some respects. Location was a stroke of luck as we
couldn't find anyone that was willing to let us use their property. The
$64-question of course, where can Coming
Home be seen? Hopefully at festivals, it's hard to predict how a film like this will
travel to be honest. Anything you can tell us about
audience and critical reception of Coming
Home? Not yet lol.
Any future projects you'd like to share? Shooting a b/w short on 16mm soon. What
got you into acting in the first place, and did you receive any formal
education on the subject? Studied acting on and off for a few years in Melbourne, became a stage
actor for a decade and eventually ended up going to LA
and had a ball. Had a few roles in some short films, tvcs, soaps and
features locally. This all stemmed from singing, playing instruments and
dancing in my childhood lol. I also became a DJ and now do a bit of
stand-up comedy as well. In recent years, youve also
taken up jobs behind the camera, just like in Coming
Home - so what prompted that move, and which side of the camera do
you feel more comfortable at? I'm a camera operator in sports broadcast and have been shooting various
content for many years. I also write my own scripts and usually edit my
own films and dabble in photography as well. I like being in front of
and behind the camera for different reasons, it has given
me an overall understanding of how a film is put together. Do talk about your
filmwork prior to Coming
Home, in whatever position!
Mostly shorts, some documentaries and a few music clips. Have two
feature screenplays on the burner and a couple of doco concepts. How would you
describe yourself as a director, and how as an actor?
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As a director fairly easy going and I trust my actors, you can't make
them act, it has to be there during the audition process. The rest will
come with a gentle push lol. Sometimes I've used non actors because they
have a quality that works for the role and that can work very well to.
As an actor I approach it as practically as possible. Just try and be
normal and apply some logic and motivation to the process. I've done
hundreds of self-tapes for professional work in recent times and most of
it was not logical lol. Actors,
filmmakers, whoever else who inspire you? Some of my favourite directors would be Hitchcock, Tarantino, Tati,
Lewis, Kubrick, De Palmer, Ripley, Raimi etc. Actors would Penn, Cain,
Crawford, Pfiffer, Davis, Oldman, Pacino, Eastwood, Bogart etc. Your favourite movies?
Some of my favourites are 2001, Alien,
The Thing, A Night
at the Opera, Mon Oncle, Dead Snow, Evil
Dead, Young Frankenstein, Goldfinger, Storm Boy,
The BIg Steal, Mad Max,
Kill Bill etc. ... and of course, films you really deplore?
A few but I give respect to them because making any film is tough. Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else? https://www.facebook.com/share/17qvHTfkiL/ Trailer:
https://youtu.be/XRxb2RV7C2g?si=lfsW0ZvOorO66Oqv Anything
else you're dying to mention and I've merely forgotten to ask? I've said enouigb lol. Thanks
for the interview!
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