By Dov Kornits
Aussie TV regular Luke Jacobz makes his belated big screen debut with a scene-stealing, comically charged performance in writer/director James Robert Woods’ inventive black comedy The Birthday Trip.
“My office is in Balmain, so I’ve just stepped outside,” says Aussie actor Luke Jacobz, with the sound of barking dogs audible over the phone line. “There’s a dog park right next to the office. It’s actually really nice. Watching the dogs running around is great…I love dogs.” Luke Jacobz also loves his debut feature film The Birthday Trip, with the 45-year-old actor and TV presenter brimming over with enthusiasm during our chat about the witty and highly perceptive black comedy. After acting on popular TV shows like Heartbreak High, McLeod’s Daughters, Paper Dolls and Home And Away, and pulling presenter duty on the likes of Sydney Weekender, The X Factor, The Big Arvo and more, Jacobz now takes on a new challenge with the eye-catching role of Lars Jansen in The Birthday Trip. Written and directed by veteran short filmmaker James Robert Woods, this dark-hued delight follows a group of very different couples on a weekend retreat. As the loud and coarse but ultimately well-meaning yob of the group, Luke Jacobz stakes his claim here with a truly engaging performance…
I didn’t even know actors had an office! How did you come to The Birthday Trip? Did you have a relationship with James?
“James reached out. I’ve been pretty solidly on television since about 1999, and then I moved over to the US in 2015. When I came back to Australia, it was quiet, and it was really hard to get a show. I was doing landscaping and building and shop-fitting and various other bits and pieces. I was very much working outside the industry. I had to get a full-time job though, so I actually work as a sales rep in Sydney. I sell corporate gift cards basically. That’s why I’m at the office today because unfortunately entertainment industry isn’t thriving right now. I’ve got a young family, so I have to make ends meet. That’s why I’m in the office. Anyway, yeah, James reached out to my agent, but I wanted to meet with him first. There has to be good communication. That makes everyone’s job a lot easier. And from the minute James and I started chatting, we just clicked. There was no doubt in my mind that I could easily work with James. He sent me the script, and it was just brilliant. James is an absolute wordsmith. He has the greatest vocabulary of anyone I know, and he has a wonderful way of expressing that. I committed to the project a day after reading the script.”
Had you worked on any films previously?
“No…I shot the trailer for a film about ten years prior to this. It was for a horror film. But when they set the dates out to shoot, I actually had another gig that I was working on, so I unfortunately got dropped when they shot the movie, which was a shame. So yeah, this is my first feature. It worked out very, very well. James had shot a lot of short films and he actually had a lot of experience. It was a first for both of us, but we’ve obviously both had quite a lot of experience on set. It worked out really well.”
Is there a big difference between doing TV and a low budget film like this one?
“When you’re shooting soapies or anything that’s shot in a more fast-paced way, you have to go in there, get it done, and then leave, because you’re just churning out so much content. I was very lucky though to work on McLeod’s Daughters which was shot on film. I was there for years, and it almost felt like a film set. The Birthday Trip was different because the majority of it was shot handheld…it felt really, really authentic. We were moving around on set…we weren’t locked into a particular mark. It was more free flowing, and we could take more time on scenes. Every scene, every line was given time. We were given enough freedom to play with it. It was a great shooting environment. We were able to have some fun with it. It was different going from Home And Away onto James’s film set. Home And Away is a force of its own…if you can work on a set like that, you can work on any set. With The Birthday Trip, we were able to rehearse, and we were able to be creative, and we were able to put our input into it as well. I really enjoyed it.”
James also shot the film, is that right?
“I’ve never worked with the writer, the producer, the director, and the cameraman all at once. There’s usually some kind of disconnect. When you’ve got the director as the cameraman, he’s talking to you about what we’re getting at for the camera and then he’s shooting it. It actually worked really well. I was able to have the one conversation with James and everything then was all on the same page. We weren’t then trying to convey that to someone else for them to be able to have that same vision. I would jump at the opportunity to do that again with a director/cameraman.”
Tell me about your character, Lars Jansen…
“He’s actually the most down to earth of all the characters. They definitely have their own opinions and their own ideas about what is right and what is wrong. But Lars is very genuine. He is quite sincere when it comes to his relationships and his work. He wants everyone to be the best and to get the best. Some of the other couples almost thrive on conflict. Their relationship is about butting heads and having arguments. Lars is a little more genuine and a little bit more empathetic. He has some confrontations, but there’s nothing that he isn’t willing to work on. He’s one of those happy-go-lucky characters. He’s obviously earning a decent amount of money and he’s able to support his wife. It’s almost like he’s comedic without trying to be. I read some lines to my wife and she said, ‘I can picture you doing that, Luke.’”
Because acting is about taking parts of yourself into the role, right?
“100%. Yeah. It was amazing with James. We’d go through the script and he said, ‘In this situation, what would you do?’ So we were able to say, ‘Yeah, I’d probably react this way.’ And James was like, ‘Great, let’s play with that on the day.’ It really worked…once we were shooting, I didn’t have to think about how I wanted to play it because it just played that way. When you’re in a scene and you naturally react without having to think about it, it flows, and you can get into a really, really lovely flow state. With Josephine Starte, who plays my partner in the film, we had very, very similar flow states. We worked together very well. It made the scenes relatable…I got to feel it and we got to have some great responses. Josephine’s a magician. She’s fabulous. I had a wonderful time with her as well as with James.”
You’re obviously proud of the work?
“I’m very proud. I invited my mum and my stepdad, my best mate, and my wife to the cast and crew screening. As we sat down, I said to my mother, ‘Mum, I need to let you know that there’s a bit of a self-intimate scene of me in a bathroom.’ And she said to me in front of everyone else, ‘Luke, I watched you grow up. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.’ I said, ‘Mum!’ Everyone around us laughed, and she had a chuckle about that too. But no, I’m really proud of it. I’ve had some very positive feedback that I wasn’t expecting. I’m sure there have been critiques too, but I’m really happy. It was a real pleasure to be Lars Jansen for those five weeks. I had a lot of fun.”
You’d probably had more experience on camera than most of the rest of the cast, right? But you were sharing the space equally?
“It was great. Everyone had a particular moment in a certain scene where they were kind of leading it…it was their moment, and it was almost like the rest of us were able to sit back and watch that while we were still part of the scene. It’s a real pleasure to be in a scene with someone when they’re firing like that. I always walk out and go, ‘How lucky am I to be working with that person?’ You never take that for granted…those moments can be few and far between. It could be one o’clock in the morning when you’re driving home, but it doesn’t matter.”
How hard is it making a living as an actor? How do you cope with the ups and downs?
“In this industry, right from the very beginning, you need a thick skin. I don’t know too many people who get every audition they go out for, you know? You’re putting yourself out there to be scrutinised from the very beginning. You have to accept the fact that you will be judged straight away. When people watch things, they’re judging you, and they’re forming an opinion of you. But I find no happier place. I’m a dad and my kids are of course number one, but to be on set, doing a scene, feels really good. I love it. There are a lot of downs in this industry, but when you have those brief moments of joy and bliss, it’s worth it. If I have to work 350 days of the year so that I can do 10 days on a set, then I would do it. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but I love working with other people. I love working with other artists and being surprised at what they bring to the table. I love to be shocked. That fuels me. But yeah, it’s a hard industry. There are many times when you’re really strapped and you think, ‘Should I be doing this? Should I just give up?’ And then you get that one scene where you go, ‘No, I’d happily wait another couple of years to do that again.’ It’s very exciting. I’m doing a play later in the year, which is great. Most of the stuff I’ve done is in front of the camera…this is the first on-stage thing I’ve done for many years. When those opportunities come, you take them. If there’s a second Birthday Trip, I’d happily work with James and the rest of the cast again. It was a wonderful experience.”
The Birthday Trip will screen at The Hayden Orpheum on June 25 at 6:30pm followed by a live Q&A with stars Sapphire Blossom, Ben Gerrard, Annelise Hall, Luke Jacobz and David Quirk, hosted by Rob Carlton (Paper Giants, White Lotus). Click here to purchase tickets and for all screening information.
The Birthday Trip will release in cinemas on July 30.
