Published 29 Apr 2011 Words by Ashley Gray Photographed by Adrian Mesko
It’s soapies’ law: for every Kylie Minogue or Ryan Kwanten, there are a thousand washed-up former stars waiting tables or selling dodgy exercise equipment on late-night TV. Rhys Wakefield won’t be one of them. Just 22, the former Home and Away actor is poised to crack the big-time with the release of 3D blockbuster Sanctum.
Billed as an action thriller, Sanctum is in many respects a coming-of-age flick — only with spooky underwater caves, sheer cliffs and a stack of shit-scary stunts. Wakefield plays Josh McGuire, the bored and frustrated son of a world-renowned cave diver. When an expedition goes haywire, he is forced to man up and face his fears.
The scenario might sound a tad well-worn, but Wakefield is not the kind of guy to waste any experience. Thanks to the movie, he learnt to scuba dive, climb cliffs, abseil face-first and hold his breath for “a minute and 21 seconds”. It was the last skill that really tested his nerve.
“There was a point when we were shooting, and they turned off the lights and it all went pitch black,” he says. “It was terrifying — especially when you’re holding your breath and your entire trust is in the safety guy. At the end of a scene, I’d put my fist out and expect to have a regulator in my hand within moments.”
It wasn’t the only time Wakefield put his trust in a guy with superior skills. Playing alongside seasoned pro Roxburgh, he became a keen student of the award-winning Aussie actor’s craft. “He’s such a relaxed guy, traditional but technical,” Wakefield says. “I got a great lesson in how to subtly manipulate the arc of a scene.”
It’s a common thread running through Wakefield’s career so far — a willingness to soak up the wisdom of industry pros. To the cynic, Home and Away might seem like a celluloid sausage factory, but for Wakefield it was an actor’s training school without peer. “I got to learn what does and doesn’t work on screen. Because the turnaround is so fast, there’s no messing around. You have to be on the ball.”
His relationship with the legendary Ray Meagher who plays Alf Stewart was pivotal. “He’s so professional — he took everything seriously and in his stride, and I respected that. It was good to see that at a young age.”
After quitting Home and Away, Wakefield’s first major movie was The Black Balloon, in which he played the brother of an autistic teenager. With Toni Collette playing his character’s mum, it was another opportunity to hone his skills in the purview of an industry stalwart. “Every take is so fresh with her,” he says. “She has her craft down like a pro, which she is.”
Now dividing his time between LA and his hometown of Sydney, Wakefield has a number of American projects in his sights and is quietly hopeful about his prospects in what is one of the most unreliable and cutthroat of industries. “I’d like to look back in 20 years and be able to say I chose every film because I really believed in it,” he muses. “I’d like to do interesting indie films mixed with big, high-paying commercial blockbusters,” he laughs. “One for you, one for me, is what they say.”
Sanctum is out on DVD soon.
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