Herald
Sun (
bogan's hero
Byline: BLANCHE CLARK
Glamour boy to grub. BLANCHE CLARK looks at David Wenham's new role
HOW can this zit-popping junkie in tight stonewashed jeans be the same man who
played the deliciously reticent Diver Dan in the hit ABC TV series SeaChange?
How could David Wenham be ugly?
Doesn't he realise he is shattering the fantasies of
thousands of women with
his portrayal of hapless crim Johnny ``Spit'' Spitieri in the new Australian
film
``I gave that (being a sex symbol) absolutely no thought,'' says Wenham, now
preoccupied with impending fatherhood. ``But I did have a clear picture of
what Johnny Spitieri should look like.''
That included creating a humungous zit on his lip and having its eruption
filmed up close.
In
are trying to go straight. And he steals the show, particularly in the court
scene, when his bogan babble
bamboozles three lawyers.
There's authority behind that scene. Lawyer Chris Nyst,
whose clients have
included postcard bandit Brendon Abbott and Pauline
Hanson, wrote the
screenplay.
While it's unpalatable to think Wenham could be anything like Spit, he says
there is a bit of him in all his characters, whether the untrustworthy Faramir
in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, sensitive wildlife photographer Josh
in Better Than Sex or murderous Brett Sprague in The
Boys.
But he has a soft spot for Spit.
``From the moment I saw the script, I knew Johnny was a special character. He
was a challenge.''
Wenham went on a regimen of lettuce leaves, tomatoes and no exercise to
acquire Johnny's weedy demeanour.
If you thought it was impossible for Wenham to look tragic in a pair of
leopard undies, not so.
``I lost some weight before and during the shoot. Not a ridiculous amount, but
I just made sure I was not in a good condition.
``I enjoyed not exercising, but I didn't particularly enjoy not eating well.''
Despite the diet, Wenham doesn't consider himself a
method actor.
``I think it's different strokes for different folks.
From my own experience,
I approach each project differently.''
He has no trouble switching off from roles, whether it's a four-month shoot, as
on The Lord of the Rings, or eight weeks on
``You have to switch off or I think you'd be a candidate for a psychiatric
institution.
``You have to have your own life. You put yourself in the mind-set for however
long it takes.''
While he happily talks about his work, which included confidently baring his
bod in Better Than Sex,
Wenham is determined his private life should stay
private.
Asked what preparations are under way for the arrival of his first child, with
actor and yoga teacher Kate Agnew, he replies: ``How do you prepare for
something like that?'' but doesn't elaborate.
It would be wrong to give the impression he is being difficult. It's more the
tone of someone who has told dozens of journalists his personal life is
off-limits, and wonders why they still ask.
``I'm a normal person who goes home and does normal things just like you,'' he
says.
Wenham was born in 1966 in
reject, he trained at Western Sydney Uni's Theatre
Nepean. His appearance in a
gritty student film, Tran the Man, in the early 1990s sealed his future as one
of
``The thought of making movies then didn't enter my mind. I was entrenched in
theatre, low-budget productions in churches and sheds. I enjoyed acting, I
wasn't interested in the money.''
The team behind Tran the Man, Robert Connolly and Rowan Woods, went on to make
The Boys.
Wenham has since won an AFI award for best lead actor in a TV drama for his
role in Simone De Beauvoir's Babies, a Logie for best actor in SeaChange,
a
Variety Award for film in 2000 and had a swag of AFI
nominations.
But he remains grounded.
``There are not many I look back on and say, `Oh yeah, there's nothing in
there I wouldn't change'. I'm my own worst critic.''
His role in The Lord of the Rings thrust him on to the world stage and he has
been in
Dracula adventure Van Helsing.
His next film, based on the book Three Dollars, by
Pearlman, will be shot in
``I enjoy working in LA, but I've no desire to live there.''
Instead, he'll stay here, maintaining the values he was imbued with as a
child.
``I always try to do the best I can and get better,'' he says. ``My school
motto was Conatus corona -- a crown for the trier.
That's all you can do.''