Ilai Swindells: Roaring Loud With 100% Wolf

By Erin Free

Like so many young talents in Australia, Ilai Swindells doesn’t feel the need to stay in one lane. He’s an actor (with appearances in the TV series Harrow, Total Control, The Code, Redfern Now, Playing For Keeps and the groundbreaking Retrograde – screening on the ABC right now – to his credit), a comedy writer and performer (he mixed it up with comic titans Magda Szubanski, Glenn Robbins, Shane Jacobson and Stephen Curry on TV’s Open Slather), a presenter on Australia’s youth radio network Triple J, and a voice actor (the animated series Spongo, Fuzz & Jalapena). It’s that final talent that finds Ilai Swindells taking centre stage (via the sound booth) for the charming new Aussie animated family flick, 100% Wolf. Swindells lends his abundant charisma and energy to the central character of Freddy Lupin, a young man whose apparently predetermined journey as the next leader of his werewolf pack hits a snag when he transforms into a poodle instead. With a little help from street dog, Batty (Samara Weaving), Freddy learns a few life lessons on his way to the top. “The final film is so beautiful, and I was blown away by the world class animation,” Swindells tells FilmInk, and we couldn’t agree more…

How did you get involved with 100% Wolf? Was there a detailed audition process?

“The usual process: first, my agent brought me the audition for Freddie. I put samples down at the end of 2017 and then got the call mid-2018 to let me know that production was interested. By then, I was living in Melbourne working at ABC. So I flew to Sydney to the offices at Flying Bark and did the callback scenes with Alexs Stadermann and one of the producers, Alexia Gates-Foale. It was a bit of a waiting game as always, but then the next minute it was mine!”

What was your approach to the character of Freddy Lupin?

“I honestly felt that Freddie had a classic hero’s journey for all to get around, so it was exciting to work on. Even from the first glances of the animators’ drawings, he looked cool, and he had swag. I believed that in spite of all his dorkiness and mess-ups along the way he had real charisma and a likeable quality that really radiated, so I tried to make sure that the voice sounded cool, plain and simple. If you’re hearing someone speak, you can almost imagine what they’d look like in the flesh. And although I’ve never had a particularly jarring traditional ocker Aussie accent, I wanted to make sure that wasn’t ever in the delivery, because he wants to rule the world, this guy! He’s universal…he’s a prince, straight up.”

Was the animation all completed when you did your voice acting, or was there a lot of make-believe involved?

“Nope. So I came along and did a few ‘scratch’ recordings, as it were, of the whole film at Trackdown Studios in Sydney. I worked closely with Alexs, the director, on those days, and then they passed it onto the animators and the Flying Bark team, who co-animated around the performance. Then of course you record any pick-ups or dialogue changes plus a tonne of “walla” sounds, as they call it. That’s when you’re in the booth making all the action sounds that the character would make (like jumping off a cliff, screaming, bumping into someone etc), with the many variations and levels of what’s needed. It’s then banked away when the animators need it. There’s tonnes of make believe, and loaded action sequences, which requires a healthy imagination!”

Did you ever get to bounce off the other voice actors? Or were you alone in the sound booth? If the latter, is that a difficult acting process? Maintaining those energy levels etc?

“For some of the recordings, I got to bounce off a wonderful actress called Elizabeth Nabben, who voiced Batty for the scratch recordings before Samara Weaving was cast. Elizabeth is also my main booth partner in crime for the 100% Wolf TV series, which will air at a later date. She voices Batty in that. You also want it to be perfect, so naturally every take is crucial, and once again, having a healthy imagination is key.”

What was the most difficult aspect of doing voice work for the film?

“The amount of real energy and emotion needed for animation is no joke, especially when you are the lead and the story centres on your whole journey. It’s actually just as demanding as any acting role on stage or screen. You are running on the spot like a maniac, building imaginary worlds in your head from text, and spitting, huffing and puffing in there to make this world come to life. You don’t know what the final picture or even rough sketches will look like at first, so you’ve gotta go hard and really commit. It’s an exercise that I wasn’t fully prepared for before going in, which made it all the more fun and engaging. I loved the finished result, and the film is gorgeous. It’s amazing to see what makes it, like some of your improvs and stupid sounds that are just little “isms” of your own, but that can really bring to life an animated character.”

Is it always something of a surprise when you see the final version of an animated work? So much of it is obviously done in post-production…

“Yeah, 100%. The final film is so beautiful, and I was blown away by the world class animation. It’s up there with the best of anything that Pixar or Disney has put out, and it can stand up proud with the greats. The detail of the character’s faces and colours are stunning. I’ve seen it a couple times now with friends, and I’m still in awe of what they achieved, and what we managed to cook up as a production. Honestly, these films do not come along very often in Australia, and when they do, it’s something to marvel at and be proud of. Animation aside, the film’s heart and message is worldwide class, straight up.”

You have an impressive skill set! Voice work, acting, sketch comedy and presenting on Triple J! Do they all flow into one another, or are they very much separate pursuits for you?

“Thank you! Well, I believe that I’ve learnt to do a bunch of things in this industry, not only because of where my interests lie and how they change over the years, but because you have to as an artist. We are all capable of many pursuits in our careers and performing in different disciplines or mediums. So if you ever think that you’re just a one-trick-pony or a master of one, you’re wrong. That mindset is a hindrance to yourself as a performer or an artist. The one constant that flows into each other be it voice, acting, radio or whatever is myself, and my personality, and what makes me unique. Once you figure out that, no one can do you like you. You discover that it’s what sets you apart and propels you forward in all your creative pursuits. Trust.”

The performing arts have obviously been hit horribly hard by COVID-19 and its economic fallout. How have you been managing in these difficult times? Have you been locked down etc?

“Well, I have been fortunate enough to have Triple J…thankfully, the ABC was declared an essential service! That’s kicked along casually, as well as the VO work, so it’s not been too bad. I also snuck in a couple of short commercial and voice gigs before things halted, so that’s helped keep me afloat.”

What sort of future do you see for the local entertainment industry right now? How tough is it? Do we have room for a little optimism?

“We do have room for optimism. Honestly, I think that smart, ambitious, bold, polarising writing is going to be more essential, and will be craved by the local industry more than ever. Clearly, the screen funding bodies will be wanting ideas that can be made for half the cost, and with more focus on new ideas with new faces because that just seems logically to me of what is affordable right now. I feel that comedy and online content will be coming through hot, as always but more than ever. Creators who know how to stretch a dollar will move up to the front. Plus, it seems like social distancing and restrictions are already easing up and some bigger dramas are already making moves to return to normal/resume production.”

And what’s up next for you? Any projects that you can talk about?

“I’m happy to say that I just got started on a new comedy series for the ABC called Retrograde, where I’m playing a character called Ramsay. He’s one of the leads, and is joined by a sickening cast too, with Pallavi Sharda, Maria Angelico, Esther Hannaford and Nick Boshier with guest star Ronny Chieng. It’s on right now on ABC TV.”

100% Wolf is available to rent or buy on Digital & DVD now. Click here for our review. Retrograde is screening now on ABC-TV and ABC iView.