By Dov Kornits
Set in the fictional sleepy town of Billings, Sweet River resounds with past horrors – the dark memories of a serial killer and a crashed school bus full of kids loom large and ugly – as Hana (played by British actress Lisa Kay, who has appeared on TV’s Heartbeat, Vera, DCI Banks and Indian Summers, and now calls Australia home with roles on Neighbours and Home And Away) returns to town still mourning the death of her four-year-old son. Her next-door neighbours, John (Martin Sacks) and Elenore Drake (Genevieve Lemon), are strangely cold and distant, and the townsfolk are also hostile, viewing Hana as a meddling outsider disturbing their tightly knit farming community.
Rob Carlton plays Officer Wilkins, the local cop and keeper of many of the town’s secrets. It’s another fine performance from the busy actor, whose lengthy resume includes his full-bodied, spot-on approximation of media tycoon Kerry Packer in Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo and Paper Giants: Magazine Wars, and his ripe turn as a nasty cop in Underbelly.
The best indicator of Carlton’s wide-ranging talents though is unquestionably the cable TV series, Chandon Pictures, on which he served as co-creator, writer, producer, director and leading man, unforgettably essaying the character of Tom Chandon, a pompous wannabe documentary filmmaker who runs a two-bit video production company.
“I loved doing that and, to be honest with you, that’s my high point,” says Carlton from his home in NSW Central Coast’s Avoca Beach, just back from an early. “That’s the thing I want to do next. I want to run a big drama. It’s been a while since I’ve run a show; my wife and I were bringing up twin boys for a number of years, so I wasn’t able to run a show because I was required to be part of my family conversation. I’ve been lucky though. In the intervening years of running Chandon Pictures, acting’s been very good to me.”
You’ve been acting since you were a kid.
“Yeah, that’s right. Initially, the idea was to meet girls at the local film and TV acting school on a Thursday afternoon down at Mona Vale on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Friends of mine were going down there and it just looked like a really great, fun thing to do. My parents weren’t in any way, shape or form pushing me in that direction, but it was just something that I always wanted to do. So I found out how much the classes cost, I found out when they were there and then finally I think my sister said, ‘Mum, for God’s sakes, will you take him down there?’ That was the Mona Vale Film and TV Acting School. They also ran a little agency on the side called Take One Kids. I got some auditions and then I got the jobs from those auditions. I think my first drama role was on [the TV drama] A Country Practice as a 14-year-old. Then shortly after that, I was in [the 1997 coming of age classic] The Year My Voice Broke as a 15-year-old. I think I actually did a telemovie in Year 9 when I was about 14 as well, called Joe Wilson. So I just started getting roles as a young boy.
“The reason that I’ve stayed in it, 35 years later, is because what drives me each day is this curiosity about how everything works and how other people are feeling. So none of it was ever about me being in front of people. It was about trying to figure out why that person does what they do, which is a really sustainable way of thinking about acting really. If you wake up each day and think that your job is to find out what other people do, it takes a hell of a lot of the stress out of your life. Let me tell you, my main concern is not how I’m feeling, which is pretty internal, introspective and a bit dull after a while.”
What grabbed you about Sweet River?
“I said yes to Sweet River because I’m a huge fan of [director] Justin McMillan. Justin and I made a short film together in 2018 called Gone [click here for more on that], and then when he told me that Marty Sacks was on the film too, it just became a terrific celebration. I love working with Marty. Always have. I met Marty when he was at the height of his powers, doing Blue Heelers. I was on the season finale, being the guest bad guy, and Marty made me feel so welcome. We’ve become close friends over the years. He’s up at Byron Bay and I always catch up with Marty when I’m up there. He was able to welcome us when we shot Sweet River up there. That’s his backyard.”
What was it like shooting up there?
“We stayed in Murwillumbah with all the other actors. It was one of those terrific experiences where there’s a lot of interesting people around who are really committed to telling that story. That’s why it’s really nice too. I’m a family man. I’ve got a wife and kids, and to go away and just be able to fully immerse yourself in that place while you’re up there to tell that story is a real, great joy, especially when the film is so moody and is so of its place. To be within that pocket for a number of weeks is a real joy. It all becomes part and parcel of your life at the time.”
Did you enjoy working with leading lady, Lisa Kay?
“She’s amazing. She’s in every scene. I acknowledge the artistry of our heads of department, and our director Justin, and the script, but inside all of that, the heartbeat of any film is the humans portrayed, and Lisa was extraordinary, day in, day out. She was playing a character that was absolutely on the edge, and in many cases, over the edge with regards to how her character was feeling. Lisa was so engaged in every moment. She was an absolute joy to work with. In a film like this, done on the fly, you’ve got to have your wits about you. As a person playing a support role, you arrive and you’re serving the scene. It’s really important that I serve my character and that I remain true to that, but effectively you’re dancing around the totem pole, which was Lisa’s character. She provided this energy every single time she arrived. There’s a compassion about her. Between those words ‘action’ and ‘cut’, you leap off the cliff, and you’re locking eyes with the people that have jumped off that same cliff with you. When one of those sets of eyes belongs to Lisa, it’s an absolute joy, every day.”
You play a cop in Sweet River and also a cop in 2018’s Emu Runner…are you being typecast, Rob?
“Let’s not box myself into that position. Each of these characters of course is entirely different, even though they might wear the same uniform. I played a detective [Neville “Scully” Scullion] in Underbelly, but he was a little less on the good side of the law. He started as a detective and became a criminal. Normally, my characters start out as criminals and go straight. Although in Sweet River, while I’m playing the policeman, I think I’ve got that sort of face that I may have been cast so that people think I’m the bad guy for a while. I’m the professional red herring!”
Out of interest, now that you’ve played all these cops, do you ever do any research? Do you have cop friends?
“I do, absolutely. I’m the audiobook narrator for Gary Jubelin’s I Catch Killers: The Life And Many Deaths Of A Homicide Detective. It’s the number one true crime book out at the moment. Gary and I have since become very, very close friends. We spent a lot of time together. So, getting an insight into what it costs a cop to serve the community has been a large part of my conversation base for a number of years now.”
They’re a bit like a little club, aren’t they? Their circle of friends are usually other cops…
“Yeah, that’s right. There are very few people who truly understand what the life of a cop is like. It’s a devastatingly difficult job. You’re only ever really interacting with the bits of society where things have gone wrong. In that way, it’s like a politician. People give politicians a tough time, but politicians only exist where people disagree. That’s the political space. Obviously, with police, by and large, where someone is breaking the peace, somebody is breaking the law or where a tragedy has occurred, where something hasn’t gone right, that is where our police officers work. So if you’re facing that day in, day out, there’s an accrual of anxiety and discomfort. The mental health toll is huge. So it makes sense that they then reach out to others, at least if not to talk, to be with those that know what that can feel like.”
What was your approach to playing your character in Sweet River?
“What I really was trying to do with my character was honour his truth, and honour the truth of the happenings in this town. He’s been hanging on by the edge of his fingernails trying to keep people safe and happy, while acknowledging that there have been things going on that are so far outside the realms of his understanding. So, as a result of that, the police officer that you see isn’t quite as neat around the edges as you’d hope. Of course, he’s not the lead character, so you’re not doing cartwheels out there, you know?”
Australia’s in a bit of a boom now with a lot of production – both local and international – happening here. Are you going for those kinds of things?
“Yes and no. There are amazing filmmakers coming out to Australia. There are a number of roles in those larger shows that might not quite fit into my schedule; some of the smaller roles. Obviously, it’s really exciting to be around those amazing filmmakers, but they’re not always the right project at the right time. With those big films, you’ve got to block out big periods of your diary for a smaller role. That might not necessarily suit me, but it’s absolutely fantastic to have those things going on and creating something of a buzz. My hope is that with the new streamers coming out here, we’ll be making more Australian stories that we can export to the world. That’s really the space that I’m looking at playing in. I’m developing a couple of TV shows at the moment that I think have international appeal, but are largely Australian stories. I’m collaborating with a number of different production companies here and overseas.”
It’s a very Australian attitude…if you were in LA, for instance, everything would have to be about the work, whereas you’ve managed to have a life…
“Yeah, that’s right. The Movie Network Channels, who I will be forever in their debt, wanted a third season of Chandon Pictures. We were going along fantastically well. We were selling each season to about 20 territories around the world and it was making people money. But my boys were about three-years-old, and so to be a show runner is to leave home basically for six months. I know where my strengths are, and that is to be relaxed and connected to my family for the long-term, so it was an easy decision in the end. If it was in LA, then the work would come first…there are a lot of stressed out people over there, and a lot of people that have been putting the wrong priorities first. So hopefully I’ll be able to get back into that show running space because that’s my passion. I’m fit and healthy and well. There’s no reason why we can’t get back there. My boys are about to finish school now, so we’re just about ready to hit the go button on a couple of things.”
Sweet River is screening now on Netflix. Click here for our interview with Sweet River star Lisa Kay.
