THE LEGEND OF THE FIVE: THE JOANNE SAMUEL INTERVIEW

Since her television debut in a 1974 episode of The Box, Joanne Samuel has been one of the Australian sector’s most adored actors. Whether as ‘Jessie’, the ill-fated wife whose fate turns Max mad in Dr. George Miller’s Mad Max (1979) to being the heart and soul of 136 episodes of the primetime soap Skyways (1979-80), Samuel has exuded warmth, charm and a natural screen presence like few in the industry ever have. Jump forward 40 years, with her career in front of the camera providing a remarkable legacy, Joanne Samuel has stepped behind the lens for the first time.

Her feature film directing debut is an environmentally-themed teen adventure called The Legend of The Five. “I want to make another one and another one, to repay the industry that I have grown up in and really, really love,” Samuel told SCREEN-SPACE, with her family-friendly film in limited release for the Australian school holidays...    

“My son Jesse Ahern produced it, researching what was marketable,” Samuel says, pointing out her family film was a family affair from its inception. “We wanted to make a film (together) and I thought it was a natural progression for me to just step up and direct. I have directed theatre and a few other things, so I thought I need to just do this.”

The story of five diverse teens who are plunged into a fantasy realm to save a life-giving tree from an evil force, The Legend of The Five drew upon the great all-ages films of the 1980s. “We wanted to make a family genre film, because it’s my favourite. I love PG-, G-rated adventures,” says the director, citing The Princess Bride, Labyrinth and The Goonies as inspirations. “Jesse came up with the idea and we worked on it with writer Peter McLeod, finally rolling cameras in October 2018.” (Pictured, right; Samuel, in blue, with cast and crew)

Read the SCREEN-SPACE review of The Legend of The Five here.

Working with her cast was an extension of Joanne Samuel’s passion for inspiring young creativity; she runs the 3 Sisters Youth Theatre in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. “We do film and theatre work with the kids and they come up with their own concepts and visions,” she says, highlighting the challenge her production faced when addressing the very clued-in young modern audience. “I knew that our ‘family adventure film’ had to offer so much more. Working with the kids and having some understanding of how the modern teen thinks was a real advantage. I do so love working with them.”

The ensemble represents a broad spectrum of teenage types, as was always the intention. “We deliberately went after a diverse group,” Samuel recalls, who cast LA-based Australian actors Lauren Esposito and Lee Joel Scott opposite big-screen newcomers Gabi Sproule, Nicholas Andrianakos and Deborah An. “We wanted the kids to be as much like what kids are like today and then to transport them to this place that is like nothing they have ever imagined. Keeping them relatable to the target audience was crucial, as it allowed us to still create drama from the fantasy setting.”

If her cast has an international flavour, her location choices are very much Australian. Sweeping aerial photography of the stunning terrain captures the magnificence of the region, a landscape that has since been all but destroyed by the fires that ripped through the nation’s heartland last summer. “The location is a character. It is a magical place,” says Samuel, who has called the Blue Mountains her home for many years. “We looked at what we had at hand, and I knew the spots we had to go to.” (Pictured, right; Samuel, far right, on location durning the shoot)

Samuel knew that for her film to succeed it would have to travel, but always knew it’s heart reflected hers. “For my first film, it was important that we ticked all the boxes for our markets, both national and international,” she says, “but I love that people will know it is an Australian film. I want to tell Australian stories.”