By Matthew Lowe
15 years old isn’t a very productive time for most human beings. If we aren’t ensconced in schoolwork, we’re getting into trouble or plain trying to cope with growing up. A lucky few might have a vague idea of what they want to do, while the rest of us are idling along day to day.
Nicholas Hamilton is one of the few 15-year-olds who not only knows what he wants to do, but is already doing it.
At 13, he had already won the Best Male Actor at Tropfest for his role in the short film Time. By 14, he was working on Strangerland opposite Joseph Fiennes, Hugo Weaving and Nicole Kidman.
“I auditioned for Strangerland,” he explains, “like it was just any other audition. I tried my hardest, sent it off and waited. I was then asked to go down to Sydney to meet with the director, Kim Farrant. After that it all went uphill! I really loved the Australian authenticity of the film. It told the story of a couple of sides of Australian culture really well and I think that’s something to respect in an Australian film.”
In spite of his rising profile, Hamilton confronts his future prospects with a modicum of stoicism.
“I don’t think looking to the future is realistic because anything could happen in the span of 10 years, but in an ideal world I would love to be working at a job that I love doing. Preferably still acting but if not, I’ll take what the world gives me.”
All things considered, the odds on his acting career are a good bet. This week, he will walk the red carpet at the Sundance Film Festival alongside Viggo Mortensen as one of the stars in the much awaited new film Captain Fantastic.
“I didn’t get to go to Sundance for Strangerland last year,” he says. “So I’m really excited to be going this year. I’m expecting it to be very cold, I packed a lot of warm clothes. I am so pumped and I can’t wait until I get there so I can do the two things I love most: party and watch movies.”
In his new film, Captain Fantastic, he moves from the rural badlands of outback Australia to the forests of Northern America. Captain Fantastic comes as a direct consequence of Strangerland however, with Hamilton being asked to audition before he had even finished work on the latter.
“I didn’t necessarily want to do an audition while I was on set already,” he says, “as I was busy…and to be honest, a bit lazy. But I put a tape down in our tiny motel room reading against a co-star in Strangerland, and when I arrived home about a month later, I was asked to Skype with director Matt Ross. Later that month I heard that I was cast as Rellian in Captain Fantastic!”
Explaining his role as Rellian he says: “I play one of six kids living with their father in the forests of north-west America. Once disaster strikes, our family are forced back into civilisation so it’s essentially the story of fitting back into society’s norms. Rellian is the rebel of the kids. He doesn’t want to live in the wilderness and is very stubborn about that. I don’t want to give too much away but he runs away a lot as he doesn’t believe in his father’s beliefs and virtues. It really was a fun character to play.”
On his seasoned co-star Viggo Mortensen, he has nothing but praise: “Viggo is such an amazing guy. He’s the gentlest, kindest person you’ll ever meet. All the ‘family’ members got along but I think the strongest bonds that were made were between the kids and Viggo. He would come on set every day with different books for all the kids to read. I ended up having about 10 books that I’ve never gotten around to reading. He really is a generous, amazingly kind man.”
For the cast of Strangerland, he expresses similar gratitude at what is an invaluable education: “I learned so much from Joseph Fiennes and Hugo Weaving about humility and staying down to earth. Both Joseph and Hugo would end a day’s shoot and go down to the local pub down in the surrounds of Broken Hill where we shot Strangerland, and had a drink with the locals. Whereas I learnt from Nicole a lot of the acting side.”
Taking on roles in mature films with sterling actors is one of the ways in which Nicholas is marking himself out as a serious young actor with a sound sense of judgement.
“I think that’s where I fit best,” he says. “I seem to be working on the more mature dramas and I love working on them.” He does add, however, that he would be keen to work on a comedy or a big budget blockbuster, citing as two of his heroes Will Ferrell and Amy Schumer. “But I’m patient enough to wait until that day comes,” he says. “Until then, I’ll do what makes me feel happy.”
Captain Fantastic premieres at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2016.
Photo by Amelia Dowd.
