Lilydale & Yarra Valley Leader
December 19, 2005
What changed actor's mind on role
AT FIRST, American actor Michael Vartan was lukewarm about acting in Rogue.
"If someone had asked me, 'do you want to go to the Australian outback to shoot a film about a man-eating crocodile?' I would have said I'd rather be dead,'' Vartan said.
But after speaking to director Greg McLean and seeing Wolf Creek, he was sold.
Vartan said he did not know Wolf Creek was a horror film before watching it.
"I had to get up out of my seat, it was so scary,'' he said.
"The actors were great and the director gave them freedom to be great.''
Vartan, best known for his work on the television series, Alias, said he liked the realism in McLean's work.
"It's so different to the traditional action/horror film,'' he said.
"I feel like we're on the verge of a new kind of action film, one with grit to it.''
Vartan said after years playing a spy, he was not hanging out to do a horror film.
"Rogue is more of a psychological thriller than a horror film. It's about how people react under extreme circumstances.''
Filming in the Northern Territory was also under extreme circumstances, with the mercury topping 51C one day.
Vartan said the intense heat would add certain nuances to the actors' performances.
Australian actress Radha Mitchell said the cast was surrounded by real crocodiles in some of the earlier scenes.
"We were constantly on the set, in the boat or on the island and dealing with live crocodiles,'' Mitchell said.
"It's a beautiful and harsh area.''
© Lilydale & Yarra Valley Leader 2005
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