by Dov Kornits
“When it comes to NAIDOC week, I see it as a celebration of black identity, of black stories, of black culture, and a culture that we all share as Australians,” says actor, dancer, [ED: Play School presenter], producer and director Hunter Page-Lochard. “It’s not singular. It comes from somewhere singular, but it’s grown into something that is shared. I love dwelling in the celebration of blackness, not the trauma of it.”
Hunter is exhausted, but in the best possible way. “I just wrapped on a 10 week shoot,” he says of upcoming crime series Fortitude Valley. “It was the first time I was the main lead, so I was in 95% of it, and I was EP as well and I wrote an episode. It’s all a very big experience. But on top of that, I’m producing my own feature film at the end of the year, running my own production company. It’s all very new and my stamina is strengthening, I hope…”
You also got a Logie nomination.
“Thank you very much. That’s my first lead actor one. I’ve gotten an outstanding new talent nomination before.”
You’ve got showbiz in your veins [father, Bangarra’s former artistic director and choreographer Stephen Page, mother, former dancer Cynthia Lochard], were you always destined to be doing this?
“I think I was, unfortunately. I think just because of the space I grew up in, growing up with my father and my uncles and just being around a massive array of creatives and not just within the theatre industry, but growing up around all the filmmakers and actors, growing up with Wayne Blair, with Luke Carroll, with Leah Purcell, with Deborah Mailman, with Rachel Perkins, with Warwick Thornton, growing up with all of these people, Aaron Pedersen, it shaped me to be who I am. Dad was always trying to put the ballet shoes on me and I was always trying to go to the movies. I think there was a clear distinction of what I really wanted to do and I was fortunate enough for my dad and my mother to really nurture that and to chuck me into the deep end. I remember dad calling Aaron Pedersen one day saying, ‘Hey, this boy wants to act’. And then next minute I’m in two episodes of Water Rats at five years old. So, very, very, very, very fortunate. I’m proud to say I am a bit of a nepo.”
Tell us about the interview that you did with Rachel Perkins for Frame by Frame?
“That was a really good chat. She’s someone that I’ve looked up to, someone that I consider as a mentor to be asking me questions about my short film and my process and my beliefs and my values and my artistry was a proud moment. It made me feel like I had arrived and now I get to play and now I get to create and to really show my mentors and my audience who I am and what I want to do.”
Is it a little bit strange because Rachel has seen you grow up, as a lot of people have, in front of their eyes. Does she still treat you as a bit of a child?
“There is still a kind of nephew auntie relationship and that’s not just with her. I just worked with Wayne Blair on Fortitude Valley and he was really proud of me, seeing me in that space as an EP writer and the lead actor. And one of my first films I’d ever done was directed by Wayne [The Djarn Djarns] and the short film that me and Rachel were talking about, Closed Doors, that I directed, Wayne’s acting in it. And that was another full circle moment where I was now directing him.”
What inspires you to direct? Are you going to be focusing on that in the future?
“I love acting and I think I’ll be acting for the rest of my life, but I think ever since I’ve been little, I’ve watched my father create stories and direct and collaborate and work with some amazing people and I can’t help but be inspired by that and be shaped into being influenced by all that stuff. I’ve always had a knack or a brain to create stories and visuals. I see in visuals, I see my stories very, very detailed inside my head. I always used to say, if you could hook up an HDMI cord to my head, we could have the best movie night.”
And are the stories that you create going to be Indigenous led?
“I do want to share Indigenous stories, but I want to tell different indigenous stories. I want to include us into spaces that we’ve never been before, send a group of us to England to steal back a traditional painting and interact with the black diaspora in England and that puts us in an urban setting internationally and globally, which hasn’t been done before. That’s what I’m interested in, showcasing a modern version of Indigenous stories on a global stage that still holds a strong deeper essence of spirituality and culture, but it’s not in the foreground.”
Frame by Frame has premiered on NITV as part of NAIDOC Week, with Hunter’s episode airing on Thursday July 23 at 8:30pm on NITV and SBS On Demand.
