Animal Kingdom's Wild Young Things speak!

Editorial

Citysearch: First of all, congratulations on the film. It's a pretty good film -
Sullivan Stapleton: What do you mean a pretty good film? It's a f***ing awesome film!
Ha, yes it is! With a great ensemble cast, and it's been in development for quite a while. What time did you both come on board, so to speak, and how?
SS: I think about October 2008, I auditioned, and I auditioned for a cop. And I said no at that stage; I didn't want to go in for a cop. Most of the roles had been cast - with Sydney actors, I might add. I didn't really want to play an extra on a Melbourne film. Then I found out the cast, and I thought, well, I'm not working. I'll get off the building site and go and be a cop for a day. So I went in and meet Dave (Michod, writer-director), and he was great. He didn't know which cop I was going to play, so we started playing around. We did bad cop, good cop, nice cop, mean cop, and had a lot of fun doing that. And then I got the call back to go in for one of the brothers, Craig. We went to a café, and the casting agent ordered a smoked salmon salad, and it went past my face, and I said 'Don't eat that.' She said, 'No, it's fine', and I said again 'don't eat it, it's off'. I said, send it back. So I grabbed the waiter, and said 'This is off'; he said 'I don't think so,' but he smelt it, and said 'I'm sorry, I'll get another'. So I found out later after we'd left that Dave had said 'We've found our Craig'.
James Frecheville: I'd heard about it in news clippings, like 'Guy Pearce is in a new film', and then 'Guy Pearce, Joel Edgerton and Jackie Weaver', but didn't think too much about it. Then a teacher told me about the open call audition at school, and I tested for it. Sully read for two of my call backs. And I remember sitting in this casting agency, and there was a man testing for an ad sitting on the casting couch, and then we hear this primal scream come from the other room, and we just looked at each other. Then I went in, and Sully was reading for me. When I found out I got the part, the first thing I asked was if he got cast too, because I could just hear from the other room. And I thought, 'Man, that guy's gonna be good.'

What was it about the script that interested you most? Was it its Melbourne-ness? The story of a criminal family?
SS: It was such a well-written script. We've said this before, and we'll be saying it all day, the script that we read is what you see on screen. We didn't change it, it needed no work. Dave did a fantastic job, so from Day 1, reading that, I didn't care if I was going to play a cop, or an extra in the background, I wanted to be part of it.
JF: I think it was the first script I'd read; I've read a whole bunch since then, and some screenwriting books, so I've got a much better understanding of the art of screenwriting. I read it again a few weeks ago, to compare it with some of the stuff I've read, and it hit me how good it was, and how much drivel there is out there. I remember reading it twice back-to-back because I didn't quite get it, but that's also about knowing how to read a script.
SS: It's such a great story; it's not your typical violent, drug addict crazy boy story. It's about this family, who have flaws. They might to do bad things, but they're vulnerable kids. Which is why I did it.

So was there a sense of family on the set and in production? Sully, given you're the 'seasoned veteran', and James, this is your first feature, was there a sense of being 'shown the ropes'?
JF: It was baptism by fire. Nothing was really spelt out; it was like 'Shut up. Watch. Learn.' And I learnt quickly, and I made heaps of mistakes, but I'm glad that I did, because otherwise I wouldn't have learnt a whole lot of crucial stuff. My inexperience in the film environment reflected on everyone else's experience.
SS: We had a ball shooting it, and it's nice to be back, have the family back together.
JF: It's funny, in the day we've spent with each other since getting back to the hotel, everyone's right back where we were when we were shooting. Luke and Ben are bickering with each other, but there's a lot of love.

So when did you shoot it?
SS: It was February /March last year… no, March/April.
JF: No, it was February.

What did you guys do to prepare for your roles? Did you research things like the Walsh Street killings? Sullivan, did you have a strict gym regime? Because you're topless for much of the film, and looking pretty buff.
SS: Thanks! No, I did lose some weight for it, mainly to reflect his drug addict lifestyle; didn't do too much research into the drugs side of things. But we did a lot of work, not so much on the script, but on our relationships with each other and within the family, which was really nice, we did that for a couple of weeks. Which was a luxury, but a necessity with this, because essentially it's about this family.
JF: I developed a few character mannerisms, like avoiding eye contact at all costs, and a slack jaw, lots of mumbling and slouching. One thing David and I worked out was that most of what Josh says should end with an upward inflection, so that even a statement is a question, because he's so uncertain. And David gave me a couple of analogies, which he'd spit out at me when we were shooting. Instead of saying, 'This is where Josh is at this point', he'd say 'You're in a cage full of lions. Go.' So any time there was tension in the family, I'd just freeze.

And how was Jackie Weaver on set? Was she the Big Mama on the set?
SS: Oh yeah. How could she not be?
JF: We love her.
SS: She's the boss.

And that's one of the great things about her performance as well. It's almost a little uncomfortable that she kisses you on the mouth for so long. She's really nice, but -
SS: There's a little bit of ickyness.
Yes, but you know she's in full control.

What is it about this film - and Australian films in general - that makes it stand out?
SS: Gritty dramas, telling stories with an honesty and a truthfulness that gives it some weight.
JF: I think the best thing about this film is how many layers of audiences it can reach. It's got a love story, a family, the hierarchy, and guns and cops for people that are into that sort of thing. It's so multi-faceted, that anyone can walk in and appreciate it.
SS: And I think everyone will appreciate it. We keep saying it, but it's a story that shows the ins and outs of a family, and whether they do bad things or not, it is about this family at its core, and it shows them for all they're worth. And it's said with honesty.

Animal Kingdom opens nationally June 3, 2010.

Read our interview with Ben Mendelsohn and find out what we thought of the movie.

Tim Hunter, Citysearch