Three Dollars; Money talks over lunch
By BEN McEACHEN
The Advertiser
April 21, 2005


Two good mates want to chat about the Australian film industry - and a
couple of bucks, writes BEN McEACHEN.


DRESSED casually and doing well to disguise the fact they got up at dawn to
fly to Adelaide on a whirlwind national publicity tour, director Robert
Connolly and actor David Wenham are top lunch companions. With fine table
manners (Wenham pours water, Connolly inquires abour your occupation) and
perpetual conversation, the duo are solid Aussie blokes. Little wonder,
then, they were drawn to Elliot Perlman's much awarded novel, Three
Dollars.


"We're interested in telling these contemporary adult urban stories,"
explains Connolly, who worked with Wenham on The Boys  (1998) and The Bank
(2001). Met with consistent praise and substantial returns, both films
starred Wenham. Connolly produced The Boys  and made his directorial debut
with The Bank.  His producing partner, John Maynard, has also worked on
all three films.


These good mates are clear about what they want to make. Hoping Three
Dollars will find the audience that got into Lantana,  they had no
interest in attempting an ocker comedy or directly competing with
Hollywood product.


As we learn during table-top discussion, Wenham and Connolly aim to create
better films, not higher profits necessarily.


"I read it the (book) first time when I was single and didn't have a
financial worry in the world," says Connolly of Perlman's novel. Three
Dollars centres on Eddie, a nice guy facing life's complications, which
involve job loss, mortgages, a disappointed wife, Tanya, and recurring
childhood sweetheart,Amanda.


"All I was interested in was whether Eddie ended up sleeping with Amanda.
What fascinated me was the single-man approach to the story. When I read
it again, it was after The Bank.  I was married, I had a kid on the way, I
had a mortgage. I thought 'Oh my, there's this whole other emotional,
human dimension to this story'. It's a very complex, rich story."


While Connolly talks effortlessly, stubbly Wenham is more reserved. But in
between mouthfuls and supportive looks, he is happy to share his perspective.


"I echo Rob's sentiments entirely," says one of our most popular actors. "I
could also see, from a selfish point of view, Eddie being a wonderful
screen character."


Wenham has heard Eddie described as "decent" and a "hero we need",
attributes which stood out to him in a film world of more "abhorrent"
characters.


"He's a good man," Wenham declares strongly before Connolly interjects:
"And the world tests him. The film is about taking a good man and testing
him in issues of fidelity, as a husband, a father, a money provider for
the  family."


Three Dollars  will also be a solid test of Connolly and Wenham's
standing. With a solid track record behind them, they are optimistic about
putting an Australian film into a marketplace slowly recovering from
home-grown blunders.


"I feel it's important to make Australian films for Australian audiences
first," says Connolly, as Wenham nods strongly.


That attitude frames this lunchtime discussion. With both men keen to
continue living and working in Australia, despite Wenham's international
success as part of The Lord of the Rings  juggernaut, best take this
opportunity to quiz them.


Easy stuff first, then: How do we restore our film industry to its
rightful glory?


"Make better films," says Connolly simply. "The audience in this country
has thrown down the gauntlet to film-makers and said 'The films aren't
good enough; we're not going to watch them'.


"Everyone who has then thought 'We've got to make more commercial films' -
it's been a disaster."


Wenham interrupts: "What is a commercial film?" asks the self-professed
"gypsy" actor who has moved nicely between big international productions
(Van Helsing ) and small Oz gear (Better Than Sex ) since TV's SeaChange
got him noticed. "It's a lucky dip what actually makes a film successful.
If we look at our local films that have been commercially successful at
the box office, all of them had people in them that weren't famous at the
time - Toni Collette in Muriel's Wedding  and Paul Mercurio in Strictly
Ballroom.


"You couldn't actually say, prior to the film existing, 'we need that and
that' and it's going to magically make $20 million at the box office."


Connolly: "Our industry has always been at its best when it has been
pioneering, rather than trying to replicate.


"In marketing terms, the Australian film industry should find its point of
difference from America rather than trying to emulate America."


Many of the crew members on Three Dollars  had worked on Wenham/Connolly's
two previous films. The pair recommend finding artists who share similar
ideas, and then "raising the bar".


But even with earlier success, Wenham's growing fame, and luring expats O
'Connor (A.I. Artificial Intelligence ) and Wynter (TV's 24 ) back to
Australia, getting funding for Three Dollars  was still a battle. So those
behind the film extol the virtue of a carefully considered promotional
campaign, to give their film its best shot in a market dominated by
Hollywood product.


While US films being made on our shores are drawing most attention
in the aftermath of the Eucalyptus disaster, Connolly believes film-makers
in Australia are becoming more discerning, and we will see bolder, more
ambitious films.


One such movie should be The Proposition, a dark Australian "western"
written by Nick Cave. Starring British actors Ray Winstone and Emily
Watson, as well as Guy Pearce and David Gulpilil, Wenham recently
completed filming his part in the hotly anticipated drama.


"I'll leave you in suspense," says Wenham, giving nothing away. "Surprise
is the best way to be. I haven't seen it but I think it will distinguish
itself as something we have never seen from this part of the world before
-in a very good way."



Snippet from an interview with Robert Connolly in the Queensland "Courier
Mail," April 23, byline Rod Chester.  (contributed by MeaningofHaste)


"Connolly is a Hitchcock fan, and made references to him in "The Bank." In
"Three Dollars," the tribute comes through in an update of the famous
"North by Northwest" scene in which Gary Grant is chased by a crop duster
plane. When it came to filming Wenham running in front of a helicopter,
things nearly went wrong. 'We thought we'd killed him,' Connolly says.


The stunt pilot was supposed to bank off when he came within 10 meters of
the actor, Instead, he kept gong to make the shot more realistic. 'David
said there was a point when he was running and looking back over his
shoulder where he, as Dvid Wenham, not just the character, was going,
'"Oh, my God, it's getting really close." '


When the shot was over, the helicopter flew off but the actor remained
motionless on the ground. 'David just lay there,' he says. 'There was this
silence before everyone started running across the field. He got up, came
over to me and said, "OK, your turn." '


From variety.com, Oct. 24, 2000:
DAVID WENHAM
By Mark Woods


Hometown: Sydney


Where you might have seen him: As a pyromaniac in Miramax's "Cosi"


Upcoming roles: "The Lord of the Rings," "Moulin Rouge"


What others say about him: "He's made an interesting choice as an actor by
being strategic about the roles he wants to play," says producer-director
Robert Connolly ("The Boys"). "He's offered a lot of work and only does a
fraction of it."


SYDNEY - His strikingly individual looks may not have yet sent Middle
America swooning, but 35-year-old theater actor David Wenham is on his
way, having become a household name Down Under as Diver Dan, the
absentminded love interest of Sigrid Thornton in pubcaster ABC's hit
Granada drama "SeaChange."


Audiences Stateside will likely first see Wenham in his Australian Film
Institute Award-nominated role in Jonathan Teplitzky's adult comedy
"Better Than Sex," which became one of the increasingly rare breed of
Aussie films to score a substantial U.S. sale after it was picked up at
the Cannes Intl. Film Festival by Goldwyn.


After that will come the release of Baz Luhrmann's much anticipated Fox
period piece "Moulin Rouge" and then New Line's "Lord of the Rings"
trilogy, which is filming in New Zealand with Wenham in the major role of
human lord Faramir. Also on Wenham's international slate is Milcho
Nanchesvsky's "Dust," which filmed in New York and Macedonia.


After being encouraged by teachers to act as a constructive outlet for
disruptive youthful energies, Wenham earned a theater degree before
working his way onto soaps and, eventually, getting work with some of
Australia's leading theatrical companies.


These troupes included Neil Armfield's Belvoir Street Theater, whose
alumni include Geoffrey Rush and Cate Blanchett. Indeed, working on
Belvoir's production of "Cosi" in 1992 led to a role in Miramax's 1995
production of the play with helmer Mark Joffe, while Wenham also had a
leading role in Peter Duncan's 1997 Columbia TriStar film "A Little Bit of
Soul," opposite Rush and Frances O'Connor.


"The stage is important to me," Wenham says, having last year returned to
Sydney boards for Matthew Warchaus' production of "Art." "It helps an
actor's work on film as well. Like anything, it's good to have a balanced
diet."


His critical bigscreen breakthrough also had its origins on the stage with
Rowan Woods' unrelentingly gritty 1997 film "The Boys," in which Wenham
played a psychotically violent jailbird, reprising a role he first played
in the Griffin Theater Co.'s 1991 production.


Posted by greenfairy68 at imdb.com. She attended the HIFF seminar
conducted by David on Oct. 29, 2004 in Honolulu.  Here's her report:


The moderator would ask a question and David would answer. Kinda went
through his first movies and worked their way up to present day.
Personal history: I should mention that David said he was brought up poor
but had a happy childhood. Youngest of 7 kids. No one else in show
business. It was a multicultural suburb of Sydney with 80 different
nationalities, predominantly Greek, Italian and Lebanese. He said the
neighborhood is now predominantly Vietnamese. His choice of vocation was
always supported by his parents. He told of a little memory of his dad
going to, what I interpret it as a library sale, and bringing back two
cartons of books on plays and dramas and David just devouring everything.
For Xmas, his parents would save up to give him theater tickets.


He applied to NIDA (Ntl Institute of Dramatic Art) but was rejected so
went to study at University of Western Sydney which was underfunded in the
acting dept. so they had to do everything in a "shed". He said he really
learned a lot because there were no fancy resources and they all had to
rely heavily upon their imaginations. He was glad he attended that school.
He has "no other skills" on which to fall back if the acting thing did not
work out. He said he would like to be a gardener if not.


When asked if he would like to direct, he said, almost without hesitation,
that he likes everything to be perfect in his films. Not only the acting
but the sound, lighting, etc, but he was not about to give an unsolicited
opinion to anyone regarding these things so he get frustrated at times. He
is a "frustrated director in an actor's body." and yes, "I would LOVE to
direct."


Someone asked who was the most important person to the actor, next to the
director. He replied that the Third Director (actors, pardon my ignorance)
was the most important person because they could send messages from you to
the director. Then there is the costumer and the makeup artist. He is so
meticulous about makeup and wardrobe. He took the wardrobe person with him
to find "new" costumes for his movie "Gettin' Square" because he had in
mind how his character should dress and saw nothing in the wardrobe which
he felt was appropriate. He got several items from the children's dept.
and women's jeans from a thrift store. Then he spoke about the zit he had
created on his face for this part and how he and the makeup artist rigged
it to "pop" but it was cut from the movie.


When asked about acting techniques, he didn't say he used one exclusively.
He said some actors, like Peter O'Toole loved a lot of rehearsal. While
some liked to be more spontaneous and do a minimum of rehearsal. He comes
from a theatrical background so he does like a bit of rehearsal but
doesn't want to kill the spontaneity. Sex and emotional scenes are
especially hard to rehearse, he said.


Asked about what he wants a director to do with him on set, his reply was
that he needed criticism. Constructive criticism. Doesn't want a director
to "talk too much". Just tell him what he wants, i.e. slow the pace or
quicken the pace and let him go. Don't give him a 10 page dissertation
because it kills the mood. Same with the costumer and makeup person. If
there is nothing to fix, don't fidget with him because it is distracting
and breaks his concentation.


His main advice to actors was to Listen and Think. In other words, don't
always just follow the script. Listen carefully to what your fellow actors
are saying and react, think, accordingly.


His films:   They started with "The Boys". Asking him to set up the clip
and he did and warned us before it started that the language was "strong".
In other words, alot of swearing. This was the beginning of the techincal
problems. First the sound came on and then it didn't and didn't and
didn't. They kept trying for awhile and eventually moved on to another
clip.  He did say that this movie was "cast" around the house in the
movie. It was shot in a real house the shots were very tight and close coz
there wasn't much room to move.


Went on to Father "Damien" where he talked about Molokai, the island where
this was filmed and the leper colony that still exists, 36 living members.
(He went back to visit them during this trip.) He spoke of the difficulty
in acting with prostetics on your face. How you have to really exaggerate
facial movements to make them show. He did not care for it. But he had to
age in the film to 54 years. He was 33 when he filmed it and so was Father
Damien when he first came to Hawaii.


He spoke of the Flemish accent he had to learn and had no dialect coach on
set and said that was ridiculous and so they got him somebody who just
happened to be from Belgium. He said he had a good ear and was able to
pick it up pretty quickly. There were several well known actors, Peter
O'Toole and I forget who else and they asked him if he felt intimidated. I
don't recall what he said but I don't think he did but he did appreciate
their abilities.


He was asked how he was able to play older characters or characters very
different from himself and he said that is what he like to do best. He
enjoys doing someone as far away from his real personality as possible. He
feels more comfortable than when its close to home. I think it's easier
for him to be more objective this way. He said he is basically a shy
person and it's hard for him to make the first move socially.


There is the death bed scene in Damien where the director wanted it to be
shot in natural lighting. So he came out of makeup, no rehearsal time
because they had to get the lighting before it disappeared. It was a 5
minute scene and they did it in one take!


Then I think they finally got the sound to work for "The Boys" and they
made more comments on it.


"Better Than Sex" was next. Evidentally this film is difficult to get
ahold of in the US. (I tried here at Tower and Blockbuster, no luck. The
commentator mentioned this and said we had to buy it off ebay to see it.
Spliffychick recommended this to me as well as "The Boys".)  He said,
again, this was "90 minutes of bedroom gymnastics". They showed a G rated
clip and he looked mighty fine.


Then they jumped to "Getting Square" where he talked about the location of
the film at the King's Cross area where he sat and watched all these
characters and soaked them in. He is very detailed. He watches how they
walk, how drug addicts breathe, how someone's toes turn outwards, etc. He
also spent sometime in the prison doing research there.


Finally, they saved LOTR for last. The commentator asked for a show of
hands to see how many actors were in the audience. I'd say about half.
Then asked for a show of hands how many people had NOT seen LOTR and no
one raised their hands.


David said he was one of the last principal characters to show up on set.
The others had already been filming for about a year. Sean Bean's scenes
had finished 6 mos. earlier so he never even met him before he had to do
his part but all Boromir's rushes were available to him so he would know
how to react. Did not have much rehearsal before he had to shoot. (Kinda
like Viggo, huh? Get off the plane and start whacking off Orc heads!)


Spoke of technology and Gollum and how wonderful Andy Serkis was and this
new type of acting to nothing in front of you but little bits of tape so
you knew where Gollum's ear was, etc. (I have not heard any actor who
likes the green screen.) He did not go into much further detail. I think
he's probably been asked all this a quizillion times already)


Oh yeah, when he first reads a script, he can tell within a few pages
whether or not this script has potential or not. When he does decide on a
part, he takes long walks and talks to himself. I think, taking mental
notes, letting those stored up characters in his head come out, thinks
alot. He stresses thinking and imagination all the time.


About MY question: "You are in my favorite favorite favorite movie." (He
looked puzzled.) (I think he was thinking I was going to say LOTR) "Moulin
Rouge." (Big smile.) "Please tell us what it was like to be in that
movie?"
He said that he was offered several roles but took the part of Audrey.
Unfortunately a lot was cut. (DAMN those editors!!) He said Baz Luhrman
was a great director but really super hyper! (He starts shaking his hands
like he's really nervous. The audience was laughing.)


He was sporting a strawberry-blondish beard and moustache for the next
movie he will be doing. It is an "epic period drama", I think set in the
19th century called The Proposition. ( I can't wait! I love epics and
period pieces.) He said the last time he grew a beard and moustache, he
was also in Hawaii filming Father Damien. He wore a long sleeved white
shirt with green dots here and there. The cuffs were unbuttoned, as were
the first two or three buttons down the front; black pants, black shoes
and I think a silver watch. His hair was blond and a nice length. He would
push his bangs back several times while he was speaking. He also caressed
his beard a few times while talking. A habit I notice a lot of men doing
when they are growing out their beards. He sat in a director's chair and
spoke calmly and professionally with humor and sincerity.


So basically, that's about all I remember or wrote in my notes. He did say
with his parting comments that he WOULD be BACK! He wants to do a real
workshop, not just a "conversation" with David.  He had to rush off
because he had to go back to his hotel to pack and catch a plane back to
Queensland. Then he said he'd have to spend the night somewhere and catch
another plane to some small inthemiddleofnowhere place to begin filming
immediately. He said it would take quite a bit of acting to not appear
tired! He's been here for 11 days and been part of the film jury, judging
films, promoting, etc.  I think he was pleased and happy with the results
of his stay here. We really appreciate him taking the time to do these
events for us.


I learned so much about acting, David, actors in general. It was very
interesting and so generous of him to share. There's no date set yet, as
far as I know but does anyone want to come to Hawaii for the next one?
Oh yeah, after the show, he disappeared behind the curtain. We went
outside and walked around the building and saw him loading up his things
into the commentator's car. We waved and said "Thank you!!" and watched
him go. He waved back and said goodbye. And he acknowledged the lei which
my friend sent backstage. (I forgot mine at home in the fridge!!!)