Did they post flyers at the local centrelink for "White Trash Actors wanted, willing to work for tobacco and chrome paint a bonus". You can't get that look without years of hard self abusive living. Authentic and scary.
shareA professional actor will usually take on a challenging role if offered to him/her. Many actors like to play villains because it is difficult.
sharethese folks were too real to be professional actors looking for a challenge.
shareThey are known as "actors", and when believable, they often make what is known as a "good film".
Welcome to the world of cinema.
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm2339870/
To be fair to the OP, the majority of people in this film have no other IMDb credits before this film, and a few have none after this film.
So whether these are people who are professional actors or not, there isn't much to go by on IMDb anyway to know what their situation was during the casting of this film. Perhaps they were just regular people performing in front of the camera with a natural talent to not "act" when a camera is rolling and to continue to be "real" while doing what the script says.
EDIT: The mom was a local in the area they'd be making the film, she was walking her dog when casting people approached her. She didn't know it was going to be a film she was casting for. She had no acting background, she was into sports.
The lead boy, played by Lucas Pittaway was a local. He was at the shopping center and a casting director interviewed him about the area. They later called him to come in for an audition. He has no acting background.
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKXlCjnGi-Y
thank you, i knew many of them couldn't be professional.
shareThey weren't professional actors.
Because you don't need overpaid 'professional' actors to make a good film, because acting isn't rocket surgery.
smartass
shareYeh damn right, this could have been the real people it looks so authentic. I read they basically did what you said, they just got locals to play the roles from Adelaide. Jamie doesnt say much but damn, he is realistic in some of those scenes. If these were big time actors, there would be oscar talk!
shareThe actors in this film are incredible. It's all in their facial expressions and body postures most of the time. Watch how they sit around the house, bored... just smoking or eating, lost in their own thoughts and misery. They dress rough, they are rough, and they look terrible. Their tattoos add character to them. I particular liked the ginger guy in the tracksuit. He was very menacing because he rarely spoke... just stood in the background but when he had to act, like during the scene where they torture Jamie's brother, he is brutal.
In every scene, at least one person is smoking or eating. I intend to watch this horrible, disturbing film again just for it's study of human behaviour.
I agree. I really didn't see a weak actor in this movie. Maybe because their lives were too close to that of the characters they were playing. Which isn't a comforting thought. No child should have had to endure so much of this nightmare. It was so believable it was scary and heartbreaking all together.
The worst part of this movie? Is that it is a true story.
I agree. The strength of the movie lied in its authenticity. Amazing actors. Just great job all around. Really a keeper.
shareWhat I find incredible is how much Henshall looked like the real John Bunting. You couldn't have cast anybody else in that role, he made it so real it was like he really WAS John Bunting. Not sure if that is actually a compliment...
shareI doubt the term "White Trash" is used in Australia, lol!
shareI listened to an interview with the director and the only professional actor they used was the guy who played John Bunting. The woman who played Elizabeth Harris was picked up by the director in a shopping mall, after he saw the way she walked around and her attitude towards people. She had a dog without a leash walking near a hairdresses, the hairdresser came out and told her it should be on a leash, she replied *beep* you' - the director said from this point he knew she had to play the role of Elizabeth.
I think the film was cast perfectly, so much more realistic than using your typical Hollywood actors.
Clearly whoever could mumble the least audibly got the job...
"dude i dont care i just love this movie you guys have a realy taste in movies what wrong with you"
While watching it, I kept seeing Eric Banas' portrayal of "chopper" very similar to John Bunting. 2 very charismatic guys, who had extremely darks sides to their personality. But I totally agree with everyone who said this movie benefitted from using unknown and even non actors. Great and depressing film.
share
yes, absolutely
I'm tired, Fuchs. I just wanna get up to my shack and get drunk.
[deleted]
Daniel Henshall who played John Bunting was not the only professional actor in the cast.
The is one other. Richard Green who played the cross-dressing, pedophile, homosexual Barry Yates is also a professional actor.
I watched some interviews with the cast, and Lucas Pittaway and Louise Harris were both just approached when they were shopping in public by the casting director. It seems that the casting department was canvassing the local area and trying to find untrained actors—they made fantastic choices.
share