WOLF MAN: THE JOHN JARRATT INTERVIEW

As Mick Taylor, the sociopathic serial killer of Greg Mclean’s 2005 horror hit Wolf Creek, John Jarratt spun his career off on to yet another unpredictable tangent. After roles in Picnic at Hanging Rock, Summer City, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and The Odd Angry Shot, he was one of the most recognisable stars to emerge from the 1970’s Renaissance period in Australian cinema; his profile soared during the 1980s television mini-series boom (notably, as legendary bushranger Ned Kelly in The Last Outlaw). When SCREEN-SPACE sat with him on the harbour foreshores in early 2013, he was spruiking Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, in which he had a memorable cameo. With Wolf Creek 2 nearing release, our never-before–published chat proves very enlightening… 

What does it feel like to have this resurgent profile at this stage of your career? The overseas trajectory of established Aussie stars such as yourself and Jackie Weaver is deserved but, it must be said, unexpected.

It happened to Geoff (Rush) with Shine. He was pushing 50 when all that happened. It must be a strange age to suddenly be in the world spotlight and winning Academy Awards. This business is a mixture of luck and talent. Just because you have the talent doesn’t mean you are necessarily going to get there.

Several of the name actors from that Renaissance period of Aussie films have travelled, but not everybody did…

My favourite Australian actor is bloke called John Hargreaves (pictured, right; Hargreaves, centre, with Jarratt, far left, in The Odd Angry Shot). He was working his bum off right alongside me and Mel and the like. He was great in films that didn’t go anywhere, whereas Mel had a dream run. A bloody talented man, a very, very good actor and so was Hargreaves, but Mel was in Mad Max, then Gallipoli then The Year of Living Dangerously. He just marched into (fame).

How did your role in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained materialise?

I’ve known him for many years and he just got the script to me and said, ‘I want you to play this role.’ They got a million miles behind in the schedule, so a major sequence before what you see in the film, where I give a couple of really good speeches where I told this guy off, who was to be played by (Anthony) Lapaglia, were cut. So that was a bit of a bugger. I just tried to make a meal of what I had. It was just great to be on a film with him.

Can you shed some light on Tarantino’s desire to shoot a film in Australia?

Yeah, he always mentions that, but whether he does it is another thing. He's always saying stuff like, ‘I’d love to do a film in Australia, it’d be great. I gotta do it! An all Australian crew in Australia!’ He loves Australia and I’d love for him to do an Aussie film. Simply because he knows the genres and he loves the kicking and scratching movies we make. He only shoots on Panavision, nothing on digital, so he’d make a very gritty, dirty film. I’ll keep annoying him about it.

And so, finally, we get to Wolf Creek 2 (pictured, below; Jarratt on set with director Greg Mclean). It has been a stop/start path for the much-anticipated sequel. Why has it taken so long?

We had some private funding with this dubious human being, who immediately made me think ‘Where’s the back-up plan?’ and, of course, he pulled out. And the production said we’ll fight then realised how expensive it (would be) to fight it, so they said, ‘To hell with it.’ We had our funding from Screen Australia but because of what this clown did, it delayed us to the point where they reallocated our funding for that year. So we had to reapply and get it okayed and it took until the end of the year to get it done.

Word is that director Greg McClean’s vision is more expansive, that the vastness of the outback plays a greater role…

It is more of a chase film, more of a road movie. But apart from that element, it is more of the same. It is very much a ‘Wolf Creek’ movie, that’s for sure. It is everything you expect. You are going to be exhausted by it. It is so full-on.

Looking back on your extraordinary career, from the leading man parts in The Last Outlaw and The Odd Angry Shot to the Better Homes and Gardens period to the Wolf Creek fame. What perspective do you have on your body of work?

I reckon I’ve had a dream run, had some fantastic parts and done some amazing work that I wouldn’t have done if I’d become a bloody big movie star in the States. Some of the mini-series I have done have been very gritty, very grand pieces of work. The Last Outlaw and Fields of Fire, which I think was a very underrated piece of Australian drama, were fabulous characters, so I have got absolutely no complaints. I wouldn’t mind being a millionaire, that’d be fun, but I get by. I get the equivalent of plumber’s wages, so I’m pretty well off.

Wolf Creek 2 opens February 20 in cinemas Australia wide.