By Dov Kornits
“It’s the most intense role that I’ve had to do,” Reef Ireland tells FilmInk. “I had to go to dark places that I don’t usually have to go to.” When it comes to dark places, you can’t get much darker than Downriver’s James Levy, who we first meet as he’s exiting a juvenile detention centre, where he’s been doing hard time for his role in the drowning death of a young child several years prior. Weighed down with guilt and uncertainty about the crime (he blacked out at the time of the killing due to an epileptic seizure), and driven by a gnawing desperation to understand what happened, James heads back to the rural community on The Yarra River outside Melbourne where the tragic drowning occurred. While there, he deals with a mother (Kerry Fox) desperate to move on with her life, and his intimidating friend, Anthony (Tom Green), who was with James when the boy was killed. Coming between James and Anthony is the sensitive Damien (Charles Grounds), who sparks powerful feelings in both of them.
The role of James Levy is another strong one for young actor, Reef Ireland, who has been building a resume of daring, impressive work since his striking debut in Ana Kokkinos’ powerful ensemble drama, Blessed. A scene stealer as slouching, drug-addled teen, Bruce Board, on TV’s late and lamented Puberty Blues, Ireland has also booked regular roles on Tangle and Wentworth, alongside appearances in the films, South Solitary, Summer Coda, and Fell. Downriver, however, is Ireland’s most challenging role yet, and it came his way after he’d played the lead in Grant Scicluna’s unconventional prison-set short, The Wilding. Ireland’s performance as a lovelorn convict had duly impressed the young filmmaker, and he returned to the actor when he was casting the similarly dark Downriver. “It took a while to get into it,” Ireland says of playing James. “Luckily I knew that I had the part well before we started filming. I had three months prior to doing the film, so I started taking time to prepare. I spent time with myself trying to get to grips with the character. It’ll probably stay with me for a while…it’s probably still with me now.”
When FilmInk asks Ireland about the pressures of taking on such a demanding lead role, a knowing smile passes across the actor’s face. “I think that I put more pressure than I should have on myself,” he reveals. “Leading up to it, I didn’t know what to expect, so I put a lot of pressure on myself. But in a way, that was a good thing because it ended being nowhere near as hard as I thought it would be. I was actually over prepared for scenes that were quite easy. I was ridiculously prepared, but the work ethic that we needed with this film was immense.”
Ireland had a firm guide in Grant Scicluna, with whom he’d enjoyed working with on The Wilding. “I was lucky enough to get cast in that film, which is almost the unofficial prequel to Downriver,” Ireland explains. “We became really good friends, and it was only a few months after that that Grant told me about a film that he was doing, and he wanted me to play a similar character, but just on a bigger scale. When he asked, I just said, ‘Absolutely!’ I like working with him; he’s awesome. Grant lets you make decisions, and he trusts you. Plus, his writing is unbelievable.”
The creative relationship between Scicluna and Ireland has been a fruitful and successful one, with Downriver scoring great reviews at The Toronto Film Festival, which prompted a trip to LA for the young actor, who already has an agent in Hollywood. Ironically, all of the overseas attention actually saw Ireland heading back to his native New Zealand, where he was cast in a lead role in the prequel series to the popular Kiwi comedy drama, Outrageous Fortune. “I came to Australia when I was about seven or eight-years-old, and I learnt the Aussie accent pretty quick, but when I went back, the New Zealand accent came back again,” says Ireland, who got his unconventional first name courtesy of a board-riding dad. “I have two older siblings that have quite normal names, Luke and Nikita, and then, I don’t know, maybe my parents thought that they’d go a little bit crazy with their third child,” he laughs. “My dad’s a bit of a surfer. I think there’s a whole different story of how I got the name, but I’m so glad I did, because it’s such a cool name.”
Reef Ireland is certainly the right kind of name for someone in the entertainment industry. You could almost call it destiny. “I always – from a very young age – wanted to do performing arts,” says Ireland. “When I was in Year 8, my drama teacher’s friend was making a short film, and after about a year of doing the audition and stuff, I was cast in the lead, which was amazing. Then I signed with an agency, and it just snowballed after that. I started getting work, and really pushing myself. I was working with established, well-known actors, and they were always giving me good advice. I was taking it all in. I guess that it’s paid off because I’m pretty happy with where I’m at with my career now.”
Downriver is released in cinemas on June 16.
