Quotes

Occasionally, acting can be a tough profession and as much as it can hurt to not get certain roles there are always other roles, other opportunities if you persist. A willingness to embrace the variety offered by this profession is also a great motivation to continue in this career.

On stuntwork: I'm keen to a certain point, then I refer to the professionals.

On working on the Matrix sequels: Coming from a background of doing smaller Australian films, I really had to relearn to pace myself and work within a scene on The Matrix sequels. Because, if you have a week to shoot something, you might start the scene on a Monday and finish the scene on a Friday but you have to maintain the continuity of emotion. The flow of the story line may be broken in a dozen parts and I have to pick up where we left off. I have to gear myself up to get back to a head space I left behind a week ago.

I went when I was twenty-three. It wasn't tough for me because I had maturity and sensibility. I had my head on my shoulders and my feet on the ground. If you aren't ready for the huge demands made of you, you won't survive it. You really have to put your life on hold for three years. If you invest yourself in that experience you will get so much out of it. So many techniques, so many experiences which, once you've learned, you subconsciously take with you into your career from then on.

It's been a rehearsal process that has only really coalesced once we arrived in the theatre. To fully realize the show once lights, set, score and effects have all been added.

It was challenging because I hadn't done theatre for several years and I wasn't sure if I was 'match fit', as it were. But I was. It also provided the added challenge and responsibility of bringing Kingsley to life in the world premier of this terrific play. I think it's a rare privilege to be the first to perform a character, to create a character from scratch with the writer present. It was a joy to breathe life into Kingsley and I will always remain quite attached to the character.

It was a fun experience in so much as, for this particular horror movie, much of the effects were practical effects (done in the room not added later with CGI). That sort of visceral experience makes it so much easier acting in a genre like horror when you can not only see the effect but touch, smell and taste it too!

When I went to NIDA all I wanted to do was learn and I consider this the best attitude I could have had. Soak it up like a sponge. You are offered so much from NIDA. What you leave with after your time there can support and nourish you for whatever the future may hold. Make the most of your time there as it is an invaluable launching pad into the industry.

I was asked by the casting director if I would like to play a role in the film. This was not the role of Carmichael but a smaller role in the film which would have been about half a day's work. However, about 4 days before filming was to commence, I got a call from my agent telling me that the actor who was to play Carmichael had suddenly become unavailable and that Colin and Cameron would really like me to take on that role. Sometimes work is as much about having a rapport with the people you will be working with as much as it is the skill set and talent you might bring to a role.