By Travis Johnson
You’ve spent years working on smaller budgeted Australian films, and now you’re suddenly in two big budget science fiction films, Ghost in the Shell and Netflix’s Okja. How have you found the transition?
I’ve been lucky, mate. I’ve been in a television show called Turn [a historical drama about the Culper Ring, Washington’s spies during the Revolutionary War] over in the States for the last four years, and it’s much bigger in scale. I’ve been slowly eating my way up the financial chain of filmmaking I suppose, so that gave me a lot of confidence. But to be honest, despite the larger number of crew and the bigger sets and pay cheque, you’re still working with a director, fellow actors, and a cameraman. So there’s a similarity from the smaller stuff to the bigger stuff. It’s a lot less, say, intimate, but that can inspire and influence larger scale things and lift you into a heightened world and reality, which both the films I’ve had to chance to work on of larger budgets have been. But I think it’s great practice to learn what you do when you can have a more intimate space – it’s a lot easier to learn the ropes. So that’s put me in great stead, working on smaller budget films in Australia.
Would you say paying your dues on low budget projects helps you in terms of discipline as you rise in the ranks, as you’re used to limited resources and time?
Not necessarily. With Snowtown we worked with a lot of first time actors and the methods we used were quite unorthodox and it was all about performance, so we had a lot of time within the constraints of the budget and the scheduling to focus on performance. It does give you a sense of discipline. You have to work the work yourself – there isn’t necessarily anyone there giving you a hand. It gives you good work ethics. I’m not sure if you have to work harder – it’s just different circumstances, I suppose. It’s much different working on something large scale – you can be much closer in terms of communication or collaboration on a small thing, as opposed to being at the end of a very long food chain on a larger thing.
On the bigger budget films you’ve worked on, have you found that the focus is still on performance as much, or is that element just one of many balls in the air on a large production?
On the TV show we’re more bound by scheduling, so you’re more bound by what you can get in a certain period of time, so performance is not always the key to the whole picture. It’s definitely a huge part of it, conveying the story as best as you can through the actor you’ve hired, but there are so many elements. It’s a period television show, so you’ve got to get the aesthetic right, you’re working with a bunch of extras, there’s only so much time to get that shot, so performance can be sacrificed at the cost of telling the story through the moving image.
I’ve been lucky on Ghost in the Shell. One of the three scenes I’m in is incredibly focused on performance, so we shot that over a number of days and I had the time to really stretch that and work that to best serve what was needed in the story. And half of my time on Ghost in the Shell was quite physical – there was stunt work and wire work when the character I play was getting his arse handed to him on a plate by Scarlett Johansson’s character. I was given five days to rehearse that and then we shot it over five days. I was very fortunate – I don’t think everyone gets that at that scale. It’s a 120 million dollar film, so I don’t think everybody gets that kind of time.
On Okja it was all about filling in the colour. The role I play in Okja isn’t very large, but it’s one of many that makes that film a unique filmgoing experience, and gives it its richness and detail. There were many conversations focused on nuance and character and the way we interacted with each other. The director [Bong Joon-ho] was incredibly meticulous and paid attention to detail in each frame and the visuals around the performers. I think I’ve just been very lucky, mate.
That’s two sci-fi films in a row – are you attracted to these kind of films?
It’s not something that I’m specifically interested in. One of them is clearly a fantasy sci-fi film – Ghost in the Shell. I wouldn’t necessarily term Okja a sci-fi film, but there are sci-fi elements in there, I suppose – there is, at the centre, a genetically modified super-pig, and that’s kind of otherworldly and weird and bonkers and wonderful. But no, not something I’m geared at – I’m just fortunate to be offered roles in those films; it’s not something I was searching out.
They’re both unique versions of sci-fi films, too, unique in themselves. I don’t think they follow the trend of superhero sci-fi mega-films that they’re turning out at the moment.
When you’re performing in a film like Ghost in the Shell, which takes place in such an elaborate imaginary world, do you feel you have to do a lot of research and preparation to understand your character in that context?
The director [Rupert Sanders] had a very clear idea of what my character meant in the world of the film, and he was able to say that to me with a lot of detail that helped my performance. He’s very generous with that and very open to conversation. And it was quite clear just from being there on set, to see how much time was being spent on creating a very unique and detailed world – I mean, the set design, the production design, the costume design, the make-up and hair design, were all wonderful and original and incredibly detailed.
So yes, but you get a sense of that very quickly when you walk on set. I’m a very interested person, so I take myself around to each department and have a cheeky perv, even if it’s not something I’m involved in or my character is involved in, just to get a sense of the magnitude and the workmanship, and an appreciation for all the artisans that made that film what it is. So that does inherently influence your overall idea and your performance.
Were you familiar with manga and anime versions of Ghost in the Shell that predate the new version?
I’d seen the anime a couple of times in my high school days and it left a pretty strong mark on me. I was amazed by the themes that were being discussed on the film. Themes like identity – what is identity, gender, the idea of AI, enhancement through technological advancements – that really did fascinate me at the time. When the audition came up I re-watched it, particularly the scenes my character is based on – my character is an amalgamation of two characters in the original manga. But I wasn’t across the depth or the amount of the original content that’s out there – the TV series that came out, or the second feature that came out. I didn’t delve into that because my character came and went in the original, so I kind of focused on the two characters he was based on.
Ghost in the Shell is out on digital release now.