MX
THU 09 OCT 2003
See Wenham change
You can hardly recognise David Wenham in his latest role in the Aussie crime caper Gettin' Square.
Wenham, widely known as the loveable rogue Diver Dan from SeaChange, makes a complete departure from eloquence and class to give us ex-con and bumbling junkie Johnny `Spit' Spitieri.
With a mullet and a costume range that doesn't extend too far beyond thongs, skin-tight jeans and leopard-skin underpants, it is as far removed from the Wenham Australian audiences are used to as you could get. And he loves it.
"He was somebody I had immediate affection for when I read the script and was a character I knew I would enjoy playing," Wenham said.
"I could really grasp the character from the writer's imagination. I could really see him, and it was just a matter of bringing him to life.
"I've come across a lot of Johnny Spitieri's in my life, and I think everyone has seen one, even if they don't know it.
"Whether they have crossed the road, or gone around him, or smiled at him, or nodded to him is another thing."
Wenham's Spitieri is as slow witted as a slack-jawed yokal, yet is remarkably adept at getting himself into positions of potential.
As much as you look at the spikey hair and leg-hugging jeans and laugh, you also can't help but feel he is someone you would like to know.
"On one level he is innocent, and some people would say a sandwich short of a picnic.
"But on another he is street smart, cunning, a weasel and a rat. And then he's a lovable rogue," Wenham said.
In the big scheme of the movie you could suggest Wenham's Spitieri is merely a bit player in a broader scenario.
That's the way the script would have it, but the life Wenham gives to `Spit' means he ends up stealing the show.
"As an actor you never go in there to steal scenes, you just go in there to do the best you can and contribute with what you have got," Wenham said.
"All I could do was be Johnny Spitieri as best I could and let everything else just fall into place. It was very strongly structured and scripted, but there are moments that did occur naturally on the day and felt right to do so."
RUSSELL GOULD