00:00Austin, so great to chat to you.
00:01Congratulations on the film and I guess welcome back to Australia.
00:05Thank you so much.
00:06I know you've spent a bit of time here filming for Elvis.
00:09How does it feel being back on Australian shores?
00:11It always feels like, it feels like coming back home.
00:14I was here for a long time and for a very particular time, you know,
00:22when COVID kicked off and then our film shut down.
00:26And I have a lot of memories here, so it always feels good being back.
00:31Benny is such a complex and nuanced character.
00:35Is there any kind of traits about him that you particularly admire?
00:39I, yeah, what do I admire?
00:43His loyalty, his fearlessness, you know, he's not afraid of pain.
00:52He's not afraid of confrontation.
00:56And, and he's such an individual, you know, he's not, he doesn't care what people think about him.
01:01He doesn't, uh, need anything from anybody.
01:05Um, yeah, it's, uh, it's empowering getting to sort of step in his head's shoes for a bit.
01:11In an interview that I watched earlier, Jeff Nichols said that, um,
01:14he had to tell you to stop smiling just to kind of get into that.
01:18He said that?
01:19Yeah, I think he's probably referring to when I was on the bike, because it was so fun being on
01:24a motorcycle.
01:25I had to continually remind myself, don't look like you're enjoying this as much as you are.
01:32And speaking of the bikes, like, how did it feel kind of riding those, you know, 1965 Harleys?
01:36It was amazing. It was incredible.
01:38And with no helmet on, you're, you're not allowed to do that in California.
01:41It was exhilarating.
01:43Was there kind of much training that you had to, to do?
01:45Yeah, I had months of, there, I, I, this image behind you, one of these guys is, is Jeff Milburn,
01:52who most of the motorcycles are his own.
01:55And he was our, uh, motorcycle stunt.
01:58He was the head of the motorcycle stunt department.
02:01And he and I, many months before we started shooting, got together and we rode every day.
02:06And there were days where we'd be on, on a motorcycle for 12 hours riding together.
02:10And, uh, and I rode so many different bikes and, and just learned all the different nuances.
02:17They each have their own personality, these old bikes.
02:19And so, uh, it was like, yeah, it was like dating all the different motorcycles, you know?
02:25Anything that surprised you about the bikes in particular?
02:27About those? Well, I mean, just, just the, with a new car or a new motorcycle,
02:33when you, when you touch the brakes, it's a smooth, you know, they, they, the brakes listen to you.
02:40With these, they don't really, they don't want to listen.
02:44So, uh, you really gotta, you gotta grip down.
02:47And there's moments where, and they don't have ABS, you know, brakes.
02:50And so you can lock up a, you can lock, lock it up.
02:54And, uh, so you gotta be more careful.
02:57Uh, the clutch doesn't really want to work.
03:00And you feel the gears clicking into place.
03:02And, but in a way you end up feeling more, uh, you know, it feels more like an extension of
03:10you
03:10because you feel every element.
03:12So that's, that's great.
03:14Uh, and, and I guess Benny's character in the film is known never to cry.
03:18Do you, do you relate to that in any way?
03:20Is, is, is that something?
03:21No, I cry more than Benny.
03:23I often find I need a good cry sometimes.
03:25When, when are the moments that we will catch you crying?
03:27When's one of the moments?
03:29I don't know.
03:30I mean, I talked about this the other day.
03:32That Adam Sandler movie Click, that made me cry a lot.
03:36Um, the movie About Time, that made me cry.
03:40Have you seen that movie?
03:41No.
03:42About Time?
03:43Oh, my God.
03:44Have you seen that movie?
03:45Nobody's seen this?
03:46That movie crushed me.
03:47It's like, oh, Bill Nighy and, uh, and Donald Gleeson, uh, and Rachel McAdams, right?
03:55And Margot Robbie.
03:57Yeah, there's so many great actors, and it's, it's wonderful.
04:00Oh, it's awesome.
04:01If, if you like a tearjerker, that one will rip your heart out.
04:04And I guess that, that type of stoicism, uh, would you say that's kind of like a strength
04:08or a, a flaw, or is it something?
04:10Stoicism?
04:11I think it, it absolutely can be a strength.
04:14The ability to be, it, it, it depends on how you use it, I guess.
04:21Because I do think vulnerability is a strength.
04:25Um, but there's, there's definitely a, uh, a benefit and a strength in being able to hold
04:33space for somebody else and not, to be able to be a mountain in the face of somebody else's
04:38extreme emotion.
04:40Um, I think that, that's an admirable trait, for sure.
04:46Tom Hardy on this film was, was incredible.
04:48Yeah, he's amazing, isn't he?
04:49He was so good to, to watch and, uh, he was so kind of mesmerizing to, to see him play
04:54Johnny.
04:54What it was like working with, with him?
04:58He is, uh, he's a dynamic, um, amazing person to work with.
05:09He's, um, as a human being, he has such a, open, deep heart.
05:18A surprising sense of humor.
05:21Like, he'll, he's, he's made me laugh more than almost anybody else in my life.
05:25He, like, when he tells a joke or he tells you a story, I have you in stitches, uh, which
05:30I wasn't expecting because, you know, he's, in, in so many of his performances, he's, he's,
05:36he's so intense and has such a, uh, um, a strength about him.
05:42And he has all that in spades, but I think that's what makes him such a dynamic actor is,
05:49is there's like this tornado of energy inside of him.
05:52And then when he channels it, it's, uh, it's, it's remarkable to witness.
05:58And his relationship with the cameras is, uh, is something to learn from for sure.
06:04Is there a particular scene, I guess, with both you and Tom that stood out to you?
06:08Yeah, I mean, there's many, but, um, the one where we're, we're all by the campfire,
06:16you know, and Michael Shannon's telling his story.
06:18And then when, when Tom and I go off, uh, and he offers me the club, right, that, that was
06:28initially, um, in Jeff's mind, that was going to be a scene where we were separated, you
06:36know, six feet apart or something.
06:38And we're having this conversation and Tom got up and then he got close and he got closer.
06:46closer and closer until he was, uh, in that, in that range where, you know, in day to day
06:55life, you don't, you don't feel that, um, that level of intimacy in a way to where you don't
07:01know if, uh, if somebody's going to headbutt you or they're going to kiss you, you know?
07:07And, and, uh, that creates this incredible, um, tension, uh, and, uh, and it was amazing,
07:16you know, to feel that and to feel his presence in that, in that way and then to, to hold
07:22that
07:22space and to push back on it and to not back down and to feel that tension and not need
07:27to
07:27necessarily do anything about it.
07:29Um, that intensity, it was, uh, that's something that, uh, Jeff and I didn't expect and that's
07:36something that Tom brought and it was incredible.
07:38For the film you were covered in, these amazing tattoos, were any of those real?
07:42I, I wish, I only have one tattoo but I, uh, I, man, I almost, I almost got that, the,
07:50I, I've got this peacock tattoo on my arm in the, in the film and, uh, when you wear them
07:55for months at a time and then you finally have to take them off, they feel, suddenly your arms
08:00feel so naked, uh, so I, and I just wore tattoos in another film as well and I, every time
08:06I think
08:07I'm going to end up with sleeves and, but, but then you have to spend so many hours in the
08:10makeup chair covering them up for other films and, and so then you got to get there three
08:15hours early to cover up your tattoos so that's the thing that's held me back from it but maybe
08:20there will come a day, I don't know.
08:23Great, thank you so much for your time today.
08:25Thank you man, nice to see you.
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