Own the rights?
'Speaking Out', ABC Local Radio Sunday 29 January 2006, 9.30pmhttp://www.abc.net.au/ message/ radio/ speaking/ speakout_29012006_2856.ramRAN – inspired by the experiences of Chapman's sister Peta who worked as an RAN in the TS.Penny Chapman: Greg Apps went on a 3 month journey through the Torres Strait and to mainland communities of TS Islanders (Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns). He sought out an acting liaison, then that person put the word out to come and meet Greg. Greg didn't screen test people; he met them and had a conversation with them, which he videotaped. He asked them to bring along sad stories and happy stories. From those tapes we got an idea of who might be good performers. Then he did screen tests.Were there a few "Russ's", or was Charles Passi the first choice? There were a number of good auditions but for various reasons they weren't quite "there". In the end, it was very close to shoot, I said to Greg, "mate, I think you're going to have to go on a special trip to find Russ, because without Russ we don't have a series". Greg was sitting in the office of the Chairman of the Torres Strait Regional Authority (Pastor Pedro Stephen), trying to persuade him to try out for the role, and Charles, who was working with the TSRA, was sitting in with them, and Pedro said to Charles, "why don't you try out for this, Charles?" Several people had tried to talk him into it, but he was resistant. Greg finally got him into a videotaped conversation and that's when I got a phone call from Greg saying "I've found Russ, I've found Russ". When I saw the test I realised, yes, he had it.You had a few discussions with Charles during the shoot because he found it uncomfortable playing Russ.It must have been a couple of weeks in and I realised that Russ was looking very uncomfortable. So we had a chat, and he said, "this is really hard. I have to tell you that the kind of character I'm playing, I don't approve of". He'd gotten to the stage (most actors do) where he was trying to differentiate who he was and who he was playing. Charles' role is so unlike his own personal character that we had to have several conversations about dissociating yourself and distancing yourself from who you're playing, and relying very much on observation.How did you choose Masig? That was the first island I'd gone to, because my sister had worked there as a remote area nurse for three years, but that wasn't why we chose it. The writers spent a lot of time talking to various members of the community while we were there doing research, and they also went to Iama Island and spent a lot of time there. In the end we chose it because it didn't look like anywhere else you might have been able to film on the mainland. Many of the western islands, of course, have the same topography as the mainland.You'd scouted a few other locations? We'd been to a lot of locations, and there were some very beautiful islands. Mabuag is incredibly beautiful. Mer is an extraordinarily handsome place, and so is Erub. We came very very close to filming on Iama, which is a little volcanic outcrop in the central islands. But in the end it got down to the fact that the Chairman of Masig Island was very keen to have us, and I think the Chairman of Iama (Walter Mackie) wasn't quite sure how much trouble we'd be, I suspect. But in the end it was also the look of it.
You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.
You may add a new episode for this TV series by clicking the 'add episode' button
