Following on from the earlier post …
With the audience hyped after seeing the premier of the surfing movie Drift, the three stars Myles Pollard, Sam Worthington and Xavier Samuel walked to the front of house and stood for the Q&A session. Worthington looked the most relaxed, a glass of white wine in hand. It was impressive to see them stay and answer a myriad of questions (10 of them have been presented here) and not skive off after only one or two. It was also interesting to get a glimpse behind the scenes, and learn a new trick about asking questions.
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| Drift, surfing movie Myles Pollard Xavier Samuel |
How to get a Hollywood Star to be in your movie?
It helps if he’s your friend of 16 years, but it has to be more than that, and clearly it was for Worthington who became very serious when he explained why he said yes.
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Drift Q&A Xavier Samuel
© 2013 The Ponder Room
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‘I hope I don’t embarrass my friend here, but the film’s about a guy wanting to achieve a dream, to do good for your family and to reach your dream. It took Myles seven years to get the film up… I admire tenacity and he has that … to reach his dream.’
How long did it take?
Pollard explained that both the budget and the actors schedules meant they didn’t have a lot of time to shoot the movie. The plan was to spend 38 days shooting. I was waiting to hear the but.
But … we finished in 32 days. How’s that for good planning.
Surf photography
Worthington began by explaining that ‘we wanted to put non-surfers into the inside of the bowl and see why we do it.’ Consequently the surfing scenes were filmed by ‘guys who film surfing competitions.’ Pollard proudly added that the team managed to capture ‘the biggest wave ever recorded in a film.’
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Drift Q&A Myles Pollard
© 2013 The Ponder Room
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In this instance 70% of the action you see in the film was undertaken by the actors. This was fine for surfers like Pollard and Worthington, but more of an issue for Samuel who grew up in Adelaide and missed the surfing bug. He explained that to get ready for the film he was taught by a 70’s surfer called ‘The Captain’.
‘They pulled me along on a jet ski … told me when to let go of the rope, and pray’.
When asked about injuries Samuels said he was ‘held under a little too long’ at one stage.
Preparing to play the roles
When Pollard approached Worthington about the film, Worthington’s reply was that he’d do it, but only if he could play the character of JB, the drifter. The reasoning being that he wanted to base the character on his uncle called Rainbow. He went on to explain that his uncle ‘probably thought Pandora in Avatar was real’, and that he also called himself Alice Rhubarb and wore a dress when he played in his band (that’s Rainbow, not Worthington just to be clear)
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Drift Q&A Myles Pollard, Sam Worthington
© 2013 The Ponder Room
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When asked how much weight he put on for the part Worthington giggled saying ‘I just relaxed.’ He also acknowledged that he was thankful for the wetsuit in the cold winters ocean, even if he ‘looked like a fat seal.’
Interestingly Samuels also acknowledged that he based his character on a family member …his brother. In terms of preparation he said that ‘when you get the costume, hair and makeup it all follows.’
The most fun
The most fun scene for the actors was when the three of them were in a dingy with a helicopter flying overhead. Worthington explained that ‘actors are always looking for the time when they forget they are making a movie, and that was it.’
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Drift Q&A Sam Worthington, Xavier Samuel
© 2013 The Ponder Room
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A lost scene
An audience member asked about a lost scene that saw the main players hallucinating after a mushroom meal. Pollard explained that it was a ‘very cinematic’ scene, but that it ‘didn’t move the story along any more so it had to be cut’. He added that he’d put it in the DVD.
When Worthington was asked how he felt about making a film that showcased surfing, Western Australia and Margaret River in particular, he sounded every bit like his character JB yelling ‘fuck’n stoked’. Which saw Pollard quickly add ‘enormously proud’, and Worthington hastily apologising for his language.
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Drift Q&A Sam Worthington
© 2013 The Ponder Room
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How much did it cost to make?
‘$7.50’, chimed Worthington, which Pollard corrected to $11million, sending a gasp through the audience. Worthington quickly picked up on this and added … ‘most of that went to Xavier, because he’s been in Twilight.’
Future roles?
Most of the questions had been directed to Worthington and the last one was about his future roles, to which he explained ‘I’m sick of the pretty boy roles … I’m happy to hand the skirt and rubber snake on to Xavier.’ Then pondering a little further he added … ‘I just like making movies. It’s about the story. I don’t do movies for my ego I do it for this (pointing to the audience)’, which got a thunderous response.
On that note the evening was wrapped and it was onto the private meet and greet in the adjoining function room, before being whisked away in a black van. It was at the function that they got to relax a little, Samuel’s even finding time to take a break … perched on a railing, legs dangling, shirt tails out, he looked every bit like his character, rather than a sort after actor. It was good to see. And the trick to getting a difficult question answered …
get a small child to ask it.
Every time a soft little voice broke through the air, you could feel the audience melt a little and the guards come down, even when they asked about money.
For more information about the movie go to http://www.driftthemovie.com/
To see the trailer and the earlier review, go to link
Drift opens on May 2nd.
4 Comments
Sounds like a great movie. Sam Worthington is a wonderful actor. One of my favourites is “Dirty Deeds” from early in his career.
I miss Perth, Margaret River and Australia in general. Looking forward to seeing this movie. Hope to be back one day soon
Ian
http://www.IanUsher.com
Agree Ian, I first saw him in Thunderstruck (another great Aussie movie). Drift is coming out in the US soon I believe. Hope you don’t feel too homesick when you watch it.
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