Rhys and some of the cast and crew of Sanctum attended Australians In Film Screening of Sanctum in LA, on the 27th. After the screening there was a Q&A!

Aussie actor Rhys Wakefield is the star of James Cameron’s latest 3D adventure, Sanctum. He chats to Cosmo’s Gyan Yankovich about the role, and leaving his Home and Away roots behind.

Did you enjoy working with James Cameron?
Yes – it was quite surreal and incredible. He is such an incredible filmmaker – the best in the world and evidently a hit at the box office. It was a pleasure to meet and work with him.

When you say “surreal” do you mean you never could have imagined working with someone like him?
Not at all. I remember seeing Titanic as a kid with my dad and thinking it was this incredibly amazing movie. Fast forward a few years and here I am. It’s really quite an out of body experience for me. A few weeks ago I saw the movie with Jim and a test audience, and it was really quite a ridiculously weird experience.

Is it strange seeing yourself on screen?
It’s always a really weird experience, it kind of feels like you shoot the whole movie again in an hour and a half. You live every little emotion that you go through as the character. You’re never entirely happy with your work, I feel like you can always learn from watching your work again.

What was it like working on an action film, compared to your other roles?
[It was] vastly different. I mean, [it was] so physical, the pre-training and pre-production of getting in shape is just incredible and I really enjoyed it. I was swimming for two hours every day for weeks and then hitting the gym, then running on the beach, then doing rock climbing. I got my scuba license for the film, too.

You went to a performing arts school – did you always know you wanted to be an actor?
It’s something I always wanted, mostly because I just really enjoyed it. I started taking acting classes because it was fun, and all my friends did it. Somewhere along the line, it became a career and I’m so grateful for that. I still look back and think, at what point did I go from being in a drama class to working in LA?

How do LA girls compare to Australian girls?
[Laughs] They’re very different actually. Aussie girls are so laid back and I’m definitely a sucker for an Aussie girl. The other night I was at a party, and I saw this beautiful girl. We started talking, and what do you know? She happened to be Australian. I was like, out of every girl in the room, I chose the Aussie one, the one I could have met back home. So yes, I love Aussie women.

Are you with anyone at the moment?
I am single and I am so happy to be single. But who knows, maybe I’ll find some summer romance.

Maybe you will…what’s the best way for a woman to get your attention?
I think it’s the sexiest thing when a girl is just comfortable and humble in her own skin. I love women who aren’t too self-conscious.

Source: Cosmopolitan Australia

FRI, 28 JANUARY 2011 AT 6:50 AM

Meet Rhys Wakefield!

The 22-year-old Aussie actor stars in Sanctum, a 3-D underwater adventure under the watch of executive producer James Cameron. Here’s what Rhys had to share about the experience with L.A. Confidential magazine:

On preparing for his role as an underwater cave explorer:“The role was incredibly physical. At one point, they had me swimming for two hours a day, doing breath holds, rock climbing, fighting and ropes training as well as keeping up with a regular gym regime.”

On the scariest part about working with James Cameron: “Doing night shoots in a big outdoor tank!”

On the best part: “Pure escapism. It was a lot of fun immersing myself – literally – in a completely foreign underwater environment. I’m excited to see how audiences react to the space, especially with the addition of 3-D.”

Also pictured inside is a shot of Rhys from V magazine, where he was named one of the stars of New Hollywood!

Source: Just Jared

Goosebumps were on the menu the day I spoke to Australian actor Rhys Wakefield. We were chatting in the same hotel I’d spoken to the late Heath Ledger in over the years. Aside from the haunting reminder of a great gone too soon, there’s the fact that you’re speaking to another young Australian actor who, at around the same age Ledger was when he made the movie, is about to tackle Hollywood (Like Ledger, he also got his start on TVs ”Home & Away”).

22 year-old Wakefield, who cut his teeth on ”Home & Away” before graduating to the big screen in the likes of ”The Black Balloon” (2008), admits he always looked up to Heath Ledger and is honoured to even been mentioned in the same breath as the ”Dark Knight” star.

“He was just an incredible actor. You could see his growth on screen”, says the actor, “He was amazing.”

Ledger’s ticket to Hollywood was Gregor Jordan’s acclaimed local thriller ”Two Hands”, Wakefield’s gaining admittance thanks to ”Sanctum”, a new James Cameron produced 3D thriller about a group of divers who become trapped in some massive sunken caves. This is the film that’s about to change the actor’s life.

“It’s my last night in Melbourne”, says Wakefield, out stumping his role in the nautical thriller. “It’s very bittersweet. It feels a little strange and sad. I’m excited though. I’ve gone to L.A before, but this is the longest amount of time I’ll have spent there.”

Wakefield’s aware that he mightn’t find as easy as Ledger did over in the states.

“People think that America is the way to go because there are so many more jobs over there. That may be true, but there are also so many more people over there”.

click to read more »

Skip to 3:53 to just see Rhys and Richard!

On January 19th there was a photocall for Sanctum in Sydney! Sorry for not posting about this before, but I´ve been quite busy with school and I´ve some problems with uploading pics. Now they´re up thought ;)

And you can also find a video of a interview they did here.