Welcome back to another Inside the Down Under Actors Studio PUB CHAT! I had a cheeky sit down with a fair dinkum legendary thespian bloke called David Wenham. It was a chance for Ozzy Man, captain of destination farked, to show his quality. Cheers and I hope ya enjoy this lo-fi series. Spit is in Aussie cinemas now btw 🍻🍻
Cheers to Chris, Foni, and the staff at Mayfair Lane, West Perth.
Cheers to Chris, Foni, and the staff at Mayfair Lane, West Perth.
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NewsTranscript
00:00I'm a fraud and I'm not that fanatical.
00:04Oh my god, that's incredible.
00:08Oh my god. Where did Aussie Man go? He's back.
00:12He's back.
00:14Go to the pub, go to the pub, go to the pub.
00:18No Australia, go to the pub, go to the pub, go to the pub.
00:22No Australia, have a beer, have a beer.
00:26Cheers Andrus. How you going you big bloody beautiful bastards? Here's me face.
00:30Welcome back to another instalment of Inside the Down Under Actors Studio.
00:34Actually being shot down under. Today's guest arguably saved
00:38Middle Earth. Don't argue. If he didn't let Sam and Frodo go, they would have been
00:42fucked. Cheers David. Thanks so much for coming to Perth.
00:46My absolute pleasure. Because we don't get many cool people here. Really?
00:50Really, like Paul McCartney skipped us. What? Pearl Jam skipped us.
00:54Which I'm a bit sour about. Who was the last cool person you had
00:58here? Well yeah, probably, probably, probably Ragnar.
01:02Yeah, but I feel like hanging out with
01:06Faramir after Ragnar is a fucking shit hot follow up mate.
01:10How was your flight? Were you good?
01:14It was alright, it was good. I've been on a few lately.
01:18All good, all good. So you're touring the country for your new film Spit
01:22just to bring my subscribers up to scratch.
01:26I've been struggling, do I call it a sequel or a spin-off?
01:30Spin-off would be the way to go I reckon. So it's a spin-off from the
01:342003 film Getting Squared and your character that you play
01:38Ronnie Spatiri, which I consider to be highly iconic.
01:42Oh, that's good. Yeah. I'm fucking squared, I'm
01:46telling you, I'm gone. That's it, I'm going to Italy to live.
01:50Huh? Yeah, I told you, remember? I traced my cousin there.
01:54It's no bullshit, hey? My uncle left us this house
01:58in his will. It's like 10,000 years old or something.
02:02Yeah, but Spit mate, do you think that they're just going to
02:06let you piss off overseas when you're on parole? Oh mate, fuck them. And did you feel like
02:10I mean, that it would become iconic back when you filmed it?
02:14No, not really. We were all just having fun really, but it's a weird one that because it didn't
02:18do terribly well at the cinema at first, but then over the last 20 years
02:22people found at first, get ready on this, VHS, which you
02:26probably don't even remember. No, I'm an 18 millennial, I'm 1986.
02:30Oh, there you go. I was 17 when Getting Squared came out. Oh okay, well you remember
02:34VHS. It's a VHS DVD and then a lot of people found it on an
02:38illegal version on YouTube. So yeah, over time it
02:42sort of developed this cult status. Yeah. And Johnny became
02:46quite well loved, I suppose. Yeah, well it was a sensational character.
02:50Like I re-watched it last night. I was just like, because I hadn't watched it for a long
02:54time, so I was just like, this film actually hits on every level. It's a good, yeah, yeah.
02:58Yeah, it really ages very well. Yeah. Yeah, like a fine wine
03:02but yeah, you look back and yeah, it's a pretty bloody good film. It's a lot harder
03:06than I thought it would be, Spit. No one wants to hire an ex-con.
03:10Mate, any bloke who can make a fancy
03:14singer like this should be in big demand. Shut up.
03:18Hey, hey, I can get you kitchen work. I know this
03:22pommy bloke, he owes me a couple. Oh, nothing dodgy, Spit. No, no, mate.
03:26This bloke's square. How did Johnny Spatieri come about?
03:30How did you develop him? Alright, well I
03:34grew up just down the road from King's Cross that many people might know
03:38and I was there from, I lived there about 30 years and there were many Johnny
03:42Spatieris in the area. So I saw lots of Johnnies pretty much
03:46every day for 30 years. So I knew what that guy looked like. I knew what he sounded like, how
03:50he walked, how he talked. Yeah, so that was my
03:54preparation, I suppose. 30 years of just looking at people.
03:58I thought it has that feel to it where people can go, oh, I've seen someone like that.
04:02I maybe don't know someone directly, but I've seen that guy. But then I like
04:06how you flesh it out that he's got a heart of gold.
04:10You're not trying to be derogatory towards addiction
04:14and things like that. It's portrayed
04:18and the film has been made with a lot of love and affection towards
04:22Johnny. It's funny that you say that, you look at it and you think, oh, people know
04:26that character or it could be their uncle or somebody that they know. There was a guy
04:30the other night in Cairns who came along and he said, I've got to tell you, I work
04:34with a guy whose name is John Spatieri.
04:38He's a miner and he got his phone out and he said, have a look at him. And he was
04:42not dissimilar to you in the fact that he had a sort of skanky
04:46mullet down the back there. He had a cap and he wore sunglasses and the guy
04:50said he has never seen him without the
04:54cap and the sunglasses and he reckons he sleeps with him. He said that is John Spatieri.
04:58Yeah, that's it. Do you find that a lot with your acting
05:02that you are observant or pulling from
05:06real sources even if you don't know them?
05:10Yeah, I'm someone who's always been pretty
05:14curious of what's around me.
05:18Yeah, always looking. People fascinate me.
05:22I find that a lot because I've done a lot of binge watching of David Wenham films the last few days.
05:26Like Orangers and Sunshine, Killing Time
05:30which was a TV series. I try to be research.
05:34Aussie man tries to be fucking thorough mate, I promise.
05:38Seriously impressed. There's a long kind of
05:42humane thread where you're looking for very humane characters
05:46or what's, cliche terms, human condition.
05:50Where you're looking for that kind of, yeah, who is this person?
05:54And how can people relate to them?
05:58Yeah, it's true actually. Not that I consciously go about it but funny, now
06:02when it seems as though we're surrounded by quite a bit of darkness
06:06I've got to say I'm really attracted to
06:10characters that do have a good
06:14heart. Johnny Spatieri is certainly one of those people and I think
06:18this is the time for a film like Spit to show the better side
06:22of humanity actually and to laugh. It's like, you know, laugh at ourselves.
06:26International fugitive. Money launderer.
06:30Criminal mastermind.
06:34John Francis
06:38Spatieri. One scene with Gettin' Square of course that I
06:42consider iconic was the courtroom scene.
06:46Did you know that at the time where you're like, geez that's a good scene? Because you essentially
06:50turn it in a way where you end up robbing the
06:54government employees and the lawyers and everything.
07:16What's your tool to fix that up now?
07:24It felt good. I've got to say the day that we shot that it felt good.
07:28It sang. You know when a scene is going really well. It sang. It was like
07:32yeah, it was good. It was good.
07:36Yeah, and a lot of stuff that occurred in the moment, improvisational stuff
07:40and whatever. Yeah, it was good.
07:44My bus doesn't come till four. I'm going to need some lunch. I think perhaps in the circumstances
07:48the witness is entitled to be reimbursed for his luncheon expenses, Mr Dent.
07:52I'll get Mr Toole to give him another twenty dollars to cover his luncheon
07:56expenses. Did you improvise it a lot? There's a little bit there. Yeah?
08:00There's a little bit there.
08:18And then you know the chair and falling off the chair. We arrived in the courtroom
08:22and there was a different chair and chairs for me
08:26are very important because they dictate how you sit and your posture and whatever
08:30and I looked at the chair and I said it's not a very funny chair. So I went around
08:34the court, the whole court place in Southport on the Gold Coast looking for a chair
08:38that I thought would be good for Johnny to be able to play around with
08:42and eventually I found the one that we used in the film. I didn't mean to say shit, it's just that
08:46this fucking guy's getting to me. He's trying to put words into my mouth and that.
08:50Look, I'm not smart enough and I only went to junior at school.
08:54The physical humour is something that I really
08:58enjoy doing. Yeah. It's timeless and it bloody
09:02costs badly. Yeah, you can be an
09:06international viewer and enjoy the slapstick. Yeah, that's what we hope as well.
09:10We hope it does well here at home but then we think that
09:14international audiences will be able to latch onto it and really enjoy it.
09:18Why are you in this place? Oh mate, this is a tragic case of
09:22mistaken identity.
09:26And with the scenes in Spit where you're filming with a different
09:30diverse kind of group of characters because Spit is in
09:34a detention centre. Not too many spoilers but Spit's in a detention centre or
09:38immigration centre. Yeah. Had they had much acting
09:42experience? Because I felt like you were riffing with almost real people. Yeah, a little bit of riffing.
09:46Arlo who plays Jihad
09:50or Jared in the film, he's an actor but
09:54all the characters in there are actually played by people who are refugees
09:58or who are direct offspring of refugees. They bring
10:02incredible real life experience to it but every one of them
10:06loved being in the film for one reason and that's the fact that it was a comedy.
10:10They said that they never get the opportunity to do
10:14comedy. People think they're defined as being just
10:18refugees whereas this time they said people get to see that some of us are smart
10:22some of us aren't and some of us are really really stupid and we really love the opportunity to
10:26show people that.
10:36Music
10:40Music
10:44Well a big thing as well which I think about a lot because someone like
10:48Johnny Spiteri in Get In Square and Eric Banner's Poiter and
10:52Roy and HG are all inspirations for Aussie Man. Your mullet's
10:56real as well by the way. You grew out the real mullet.
11:00Because I'm a fraud and I'm not that fanatical.
11:04Oh my god that's incredible.
11:08Where did Aussie Man go? He's back.
11:12I've got the wig on now. I've got the
11:16plugs done in Thailand.
11:20Music
11:24Music
11:28Music
11:32Ausploitation, it's been around for a long time so how do you like kind of
11:36dabbling in that? I enjoy it because it's what I grew up with really.
11:40It's the voices that I heard all around me.
11:44I grew up, the garbage man used to call me blue
11:48because I had red hair as a kid.
11:52It's all that sort of stuff. It's all those little quirky Australianisms that I just
11:56was surrounded by the whole time as a kid. It's fun I think is the other thing.
12:00I love the fact that you're keeping it alive.
12:04Yes. You're really keeping it alive and the language as well.
12:08Music
12:12Music
12:16Music
12:20Can we talk about Faramir? Sure. Fuck yes. Fazza.
12:24Because I am, Aussie Man's a bit of a bogan geek
12:28self admittedly. How was that bloody
12:32experience? It was brilliant. It was amazing.
12:36How did you go? Did you have to audition for it? I did.
12:40I can't remember what character I auditioned for originally.
12:44I think the only reason I was cast as Faramir was because
12:48I bore an incredible resemblance to Sean Bean.
12:52We both got pretty big noses. We look like we
12:56came from the same family.
13:00What was funny actually shooting that was they obviously shot
13:04Fellowship first. So I didn't come over until
13:08month six into the shooting and I didn't get to
13:12meet Sean until well after we'd wrapped all three
13:16films. So we shot the whole series
13:20Faramir never met his brother. Until later on we did pickups
13:24I don't know about. Before movie three came out I think
13:28and then we shot a scene that ended up in the
13:32extended shoot. It was like you and Boromir in the pub.
13:36Like us two. But a while ago.
13:40A lot of people's best memories during wartime is the fucking pub.
13:44Good speech.
13:48Nice and short. Leaves more time for drinking.
13:52Break out the ale. These men are thirsty.
13:56Remember today
14:00little brother. Today life is good.
14:04Do you reflect on it a lot because it's obviously so huge
14:08and the character of Faramir. I'm biased.
14:12It's the best character. He's the best character. But again there's that
14:16humane streak. He's a good man. Yeah. You're kind of dealing with
14:20the arsehole of a parent and battling with that.
14:24Faramir would have remembered his father's need.
14:28He would have brought me a kingly gift. Boromir would not have brought
14:32the ring. So do you kind of reflect on it a bit and how big that was?
14:36Sort of. And people remind you of it all the time as well.
14:40You're always reminded of it. Which is a really lovely thing. All of us who were involved in it
14:44it's a privilege that we were
14:48part of that incredible franchise. What drew you to the character the most?
14:52I think what you just nailed then actually. The humanity
14:56of the character. And that was one thing actually that
15:00obviously a lot of fans. It was a bit of a
15:04bone of contention. The fact that
15:08the character was fiddled with slightly. In terms of being tempted by the ring.
15:12Chance for Faramir. Captain of Gondor.
15:18To show his quality.
15:22Did you feel that pressure from the fanbase during this shoot at the time?
15:26I wasn't aware during the shoot because the fanbase wasn't aware of what was
15:30being shot. Right. There weren't leaks like there is these days.
15:34I knew it was going to be contentious. Right.
15:38Interesting. But I think you
15:42pull it off still because he's such a relatable character.
15:46Peter's whole justification for it
15:50was it can't be that powerful if it doesn't
15:54affect everybody. It has to be that powerful.
15:58So even though Faramir is already a very developed character. He's already got his
16:02moral code and everything. Still the ring is that powerful. He's got to second
16:06guess himself. That was his justification. Which is natural. He's the filmmaker.
16:10He's the king. He's the director.
16:14Yes.
16:26I wish that.
16:30I was a huge fan of Peter's films.
16:34I saw Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles and Brain Dead.
16:38That's a good combo.
16:42And I believe in Sydney the Valhalla. And I just thought absolutely
16:46insane. Who's the maniac who's making these films?
16:50That's a whopping three hit combo. Just the Sydney Brain Dead where you know the guy's got a
16:54lawnmower and he's just mowing people's heads.
16:58Brilliant.
17:02Cinema.
17:06It was brilliant. The splatter horror genre.
17:10Done on a shoestring budget.
17:14And then Heavenly Creatures he had in the mid 90's as well.
17:18And then he probably went from Heavenly Creatures to Lord of the Rings.
17:22Amazing. Really incredibly impressive director.
17:26Did it have that kind of guerrilla filmmaking style to it as well? Lord of the Rings?
17:30Sometimes but on the most
17:34incredible scale. As soon as we arrived you just went oh my god.
17:38It is epic. Massive, massive, massive machine.
17:42It seemed as though the whole country was involved in the filmmaking.
17:46I think you get that. I think whenever Aussies or anyone meets a Kiwi it's like oh are you in
17:50Lord of the Rings? I was making the whatever.
17:54He helped me with my merchandising and he was a Kiwi and he was like
17:58yeah I was an orc. So I was like you're hired. There's my brush
18:02with fame. God on you, an orc.
18:14What else is going on? You just act all the time basically.
18:18Not now. I'm doing what's called
18:22prolific.
18:26I'm doing shit acting now.
18:30What do you reckon I should do next?
18:34What do I like besides acting? I love the footy.
18:38Who do you support? Swans. I've been a Swans ambassador for a long time.
18:42I'm a Brisbane Lions fan. It's funny how quickly you can go off people isn't it?
18:46We just hit a wall. This date was going well.
18:50The final stamp on the day.
18:54What are you doing over here?
18:58We're not in Brisbane. We're in bloody Perth. My family lived in Cairns for a year.
19:02That's about as far from Brisbane as we are now. Yeah I know but all we got
19:06were the fucking Brisbane Bears games and Roger Merritt took a specky mug.
19:10Through the days of the Brisbane Bears, one man stood above all others
19:14as the face of the club, Roger Merritt.
19:18A fearless and inspirational leader.
19:22So I was like an impressionable age. I was like that's my team.
19:26And then I stuck with them through the merger.
19:30Did you go to the granny? Last year? Yeah.
19:34So did I. Different experiences.
19:38I've been to three grannies. All losing.
19:42The last one the Swans got was 05, 06
19:46Was it against the Eagles? Yes. That's satisfying being in Perth.
19:50Well it is now but I wasn't at that grand final so it's not that satisfying.
19:54It's only the upside. I think the Swans are banning me from going to the
19:58grand final from now on.
20:02Let's get Fazza back. No no no.
20:06We don't want Fazza. None of them.
20:10He's not coming. He's not coming to the footy. He curses us.
20:14Every grand final we get very loyal about our Australian football teams.
20:18We do. What do you feel when you go to Melbourne? Do you go and visit Fitzroy?
20:22I did actually because they had the merch shop set up at the Fitzroy Town Hall.
20:26Does it feel like there's a connection there in Fitzroy?
20:30No. Perth and Cairns set me up for that.
20:34I took the bait there.
20:38Johnny Spit just outwitted me.
20:42I went the year before and that was Collingwood.
20:46We lost that one. That was awful.
20:50Collingwood winning is always awful.
20:54They gloated.
20:58Sydney and Brisbane are kind of friendly. No one had any beef.
21:02I did but anyway.
21:06What else do you like?
21:10I'm a bit of an arty farty now. I like art.
21:14Contemporary art.
21:18When I go away anywhere I just go and wander into art galleries.
21:22Look at pictures on walls. I like it. I enjoy it.
21:26It just makes me
21:30time alone looking at things. Gardens as well.
21:34How old are you Davo?
21:38You're at the gardening age.
21:42That's true. I did have it when I was younger.
21:46My mum used to garden.
21:50The garden was about as big as that fridge.
21:54I gave her a lot of happiness.
21:58I just love listening to her talking about the changing of the season.
22:02I enjoyed it.
22:06Do you want me to say I'm into death metal?
22:10No you don't have to. Gardening is mental.
22:14I do some hardcore gardening.
22:18I get into succulent and cacti.
22:22Cacti can do some damage.
22:26Me personally I'm being stubborn in that I'm
22:30saving that.
22:34I'm 60. I don't care about gardening.
22:38I'm 39. I'm an aging millennial.
22:42What are your interests now?
22:46I've been doing YouTube for 11 years.
22:50You become your career don't you?
22:54The environment you work in is what you become.
22:58Trying to have things outside of that that you do.
23:02Fortnite.
23:06Minecraft.
23:10Roblox.
23:14Whatever your kids are interested in as a parent.
23:18You sure wasn't the other way around.
23:26I miss I would say that.
23:30I think she was spot on.
23:44I've been cycling.
23:48That's worse than gardening.
23:52You don't put on the old one piece onesie do you?
23:56No I haven't gone full lycra yet.
24:00If my subscribers find out they'd take the piss out of me.
24:04So you don't do that?
24:08Not yet but I'm 39.
24:12Give me another year.
24:16I looked at the lycra like I flicked through the section.
24:20I'd look alright in that.
24:24How'd it feel?
24:28Not yet. It's a mountain bike.
24:32I'm just trying to lose dad bod a bit.
24:36I sold my Tesla because I was vocal about that.
24:40Because of Elon?
24:44Neo Nazis.
24:48I cracked her shits.
24:52The project didn't interview with me.
24:56Have you been conflicted?
25:00What have you done?
25:04Have you gone another electric vehicle?
25:08I've gone hybrid.
25:12Tesla won a lot of people over.
25:16It stitched us up as customers.
25:20Elon's going deep isn't he?
25:24I think it was a Nazi salute.
25:28Everyone's got their opinion.
25:32The Nazi salute's alright.
25:36Everyone's got their truth.
25:40It's their post truth era.
25:44How does it feel for you driving it?
25:48Do you feel okay in it?
25:52I did want to find one of those bumper stickers.
25:56I thought about that but after I sold it
26:00I offloaded the asset and thought the bumper sticker's probably a smarter idea.
26:04They're pretty expensive.
26:08Or get one of those personalized number plates.
26:12It's a dilemma but it takes time as well.
26:16It's a hard asset to sell because it costs a lot.
26:20It's not like I'm just ending my money subscription.
26:24Dino the used car salesman bought it for 30 grand.
26:28He likes the Nazi salute.
26:32He does. It's a good car.
26:36It's fun to drive still but I don't feel good in it anymore.
26:40It's funny that cars weave their way into your identity a bit.
26:44You do you with the Tesla.
26:48I'm not going to bully you.
26:52You should sell it.
27:06Where have I been?
27:10Five days I've been in Melbourne, then I went to Ballarat, then back to Melbourne,
27:14then went to Bendigo, then back to Melbourne,
27:18then I went to Melbourne to Hobart, back to Melbourne, then I went to Melbourne to Adelaide,
27:22Adelaide to Perth. I think all of that in the last five days.
27:30What are you like doing more, TV or movies?
27:34In terms of making it, it's the same because it's the same creative process.
27:38You're not thinking about whether it's going to be seen on the screen this big or this big.
27:42It's pretty much the same.
27:46Do you find it's better doing TV to flesh out a character for longer?
27:50I watched Fake recently as well and you kept me guessing.
27:54I can't trust him immediately.
27:58I have a disgusting amount of money.
28:02Give him a chance.
28:06He might not be trying to pull the wool over our eyes.
28:10It's amazing how many women came up to me
28:14and a lot of them said we used to like you,
28:18but then they'd say exactly the same thing happened to them.
28:22So many women.
28:26Just a bloke presenting himself turns out not to be who he is.
28:30I'd love to do something not necessarily fake again,
28:34but the opportunity to explore a character over a longer period of time.
28:38Have you ever auditioned for something you wish you got?
28:42That's an interesting question.
28:46I'm sure many, many times.
28:50What they are, I can't remember.
28:54After auditions, you just let it go and leave it because you don't want to be hanging too much onto it.
28:58It's always going to be disappointing.
29:02Who's your favourite director to work with?
29:06That's a tricky one.
29:10There's been a number of directors I've worked with more than once,
29:14which is great because you form a relationship with them.
29:18Baz Luhrmann I think I've worked with four times.
29:22You're in Elvis, you're in Moulin Rouge.
29:26I've workshopped Romeo and Juliet with him.
29:30He's got a very unique style.
29:34You don't always get that with directors these days.
29:38You instantly see the style and you go, that's that person.
29:42Which is incredible to have a stamp like that.
29:46Some people don't like that style, but you know that's a Baz Luhrmann film.
29:50It's kind of the French New Wave where the director is the author of the film.
29:54But he's still very collaborative.
29:58The ethos of best idea wins.
30:02Moulin Rouge, before it was shot,
30:06we workshopped that as a little musical in his house
30:10in Sydney at Iona.
30:14Then we put a little performance in his house of Moulin Rouge for the studio executives.
30:18He brought staff in as well and said,
30:22if the cleaner comes in and has an idea about the script,
30:26he will always listen. Best idea wins.
30:30That's cool. Elvis was great.
30:34Jane Campion, New Zealand director.
30:38Top of the Lake.
30:42Garth Davies, who also was on Top of the Lake, who did Lion.
30:46So many.
30:50My favourite Aussie director is Rolf Tahir.
30:54Bad Boy Bobby, Ten Canoes.
30:58A really interesting film of his, and I don't know if people have seen it,
31:02was the only film that Miles Davis was in.
31:06Dingo, it's called.
31:10The opening of that film is one of the coolest openings of any film.
31:14Where this plane lands in the middle of nowhere in the desert
31:18and then the door opens and out steps
31:22the coolest guy on the planet at that stage.
31:26This comes down off the plane into the desert. Amazing. With his trumpet.
31:30I've been to a lot of interesting places.
31:34But I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of visiting
31:38Puna Flat.
31:42He's very good with themes.
31:46I think a lot of Aussie films try to whack in
31:50a whole bunch of themes.
31:54And I thought he was always really good at that.
31:58He'd be like, this is the theme that we're exploring.
32:02I think he did that.
32:10I worked in video stores for 8 years.
32:14I've watched everything.
32:18What are your favourite Australian films?
32:22Two Hands is up there.
32:26I think it coincides with Get In Square.
32:30Crime was comedic.
32:34Which was darkly comedic.
32:38I guess I get biased as well.
32:42Heath Ledger being a Perth boy.
32:46Rolf de Heer as well.
32:50It's incredibly fucked up.
32:54I'm going to think of more later.
32:58Steve Martin refers to those things as icebox moments.
33:02We call them the refrigerated moment.
33:06You're trying to think of it but it's not until you get home at 2am
33:10you go to open the fridge to get something.
33:16Get in the car!
33:28You know your film shit.
33:32I'm a little surprise packet.
33:36Don't write off a bogan geek.
33:40I'm with you.
33:44Down the hatch.
33:48Neither is Perth.