City News
THU 23 OCT 2003, Page 030
Changing face of Diver Dan
By Alison Sandy

Wenham's World

IN Gettin' Square, David Wenham is far removed from the rugged, handsome Faramir from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Sporting a black mullet, tight jeans, rubber thongs and in one scene leopard-print underwear, the Australian actor well and truly ditches his sex-symbol status to play heroin junkie Johnny Spitieri.

"I knew the sort of person I wanted him to be," Wenham said. "The physical attributes, wardrobe, hair, make-up, the way he moved and he sounded ... he's a junkie and not one of Australia's most attractive characters."

Wenham acknowledged he wasn't an actor who remained in character off-camera.

"You've got to have a life," he said.

"I would have been kicked out of every restaurant on the Gold Coast if I walked in as Johnny Spitieri."

Wenham said the decision to play Spit wasn't a deliberate defiance against the sex-symbol image he first acquired as Diver Dan in ABC's Sea Change.

"I wanted to do something that was funny and a little bit ridiculous," he said.

"It was a delicate balancing act ... we're not about making a social realistic drama - it's not patronising to people like that."

Wenham said he wanted audiences to have an empathy with Spit.

"I've known lots of Johnny Spitieris in my life ... they're not uncommon or unfamiliar in my world."

Wenham, 38, grew up in the working-class suburb of Marrickville in Sydney and although he enjoyed acting as a youngster, he doesn't appear to have had stars in his eyes growing up. He actually appears humble about his acting ability.

"I am aware of what I can do and can't do. I am aware of my limits in ability."

Despite Wenham's portrayal of a drug addict, Gettin' Square is nothing like cult drug film Trainspotting.

It does not aim to show the audience how bad drugs can be. It does not send a moral message to the audience. It is meant to entertain as only Australians can.