FOR local actor Louis McIntosh, Hollywood has finally beckoned, and in a big way.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The 23 year-old former Trinity Catholic College student starred as Lieutenant William Harris in the movie ‘Unbroken’, directed and produced by one of Hollywood’s most recognised actresses Angelina Jolie, and written by well-known film writers Joel and Ethan Coen.
His past roles have included as teenage bad boy Alexander Mullens on Home and Away (2011-2013) and the short film ‘Lights Out’ (2012).
He told the Post that it was a huge step up for him to go from television to film.
“Television’s very different - it’s more ‘go, go, go’ trying to pump out so many episodes a week,” Louis said.
“Whereas film, a medium which I’ve never worked in until now, was pretty hectic such as flying to the Gold Coast (where we filmed a lot of the scenes) and back on the same day just to have fittings done and to have my face measured.
“I do remember there was this huge warehouse with tables full of props laid out from the World War 2 era, from pocket watches to old cigarettes to matches.
“We got to literally go in and choose what we thought our characters would use - a particular pocket watch or photo of a wife and child.
“The thought process and the detail that has gone into the film was just incredible.
“There’s so much work - for instance we did a two day boot camp (because we were playing soldiers) - where we learnt how to march and they also brought in Japanese soldiers to teach us how they would discipline us, how a navy officer would come to attention as opposed to an Air Force officer, etc.”
The crew spent four days at the Gold Coast and then moved across to Brisbane and stayed filming there for a good three to four weeks.
They then moved down to Sydney and filmed at Cockatoo Island for another two and half weeks.
“It was just an amazing experience and I certainly learnt a lot from it,” Louis said.
He said working with Angelina Jolie was one of the best experiences of his life, and said that she became a great friend during the filming process.
“Working with Angelina, because she’s an actress herself, you could definitely see that in the filming process,” he said.
“She had a lot of patience for all of us and was always willing to sit down and have a chat about any questions we had about the film.
She was always asking for our opinion on what we thought our characters would like to wear in some instances, or items we would like to use, etc. She also had a lot of faith in us and believed we knew exactly what our characters would want because the thing was that we were playing real people who actually existed, so that was a big responsibility in itself.”
He described the relationship between his character, Lt.
William Harris and the movie’s main character, American Olympian and prisoner of war Louis Zamperini.
“Louis and William meet in the first prisoner camp, called Omori in Japan,” Louis said.
“William was the son of a general, and the thing was at Omori the prisoners were divided in different sections.
“There were officers and lieutenants and people like Louis who were famous.
“So being a general’s son, when I was captured by the Japanese I was in there with the officers and lieutenants who had, I suppose, some sort of importance.
“It’s definitely an interesting story. The movie doesn’t tell the full story of William - it focuses more on Louis - but the novel the movie is based on, does focus more on Lt Harris’ life. The book actually details what William endured throughout the war.”
Louis was also so proud to have worked with Director of Photography for the film, Roger Deakins, who has been nominated for a number of Academy Awards in the past and worked as a cinematographer on films such as the Shawshank Redemption, Skyfall, A Beautiful Mind.
“Working with Roger was such an honour and the crew were definitely an A-grade crew,” he said.
Louis attended the Sydney premiere on November 24, and has also been invited to attend the Los Angeles premiere.
“I just received the message today that I’ve been invited to the L.A. premiere, so it’s been really exciting and there’s been a big wait for the film to be launched,” he said.
“The Sydney premiere was great and we got to see the film, so that was a really special moment.”
Since filming finished, Louis has enjoyed going back out to his family’s farm and carrying out some contracted agricultural work.
“Coming back to the farm is definitely a different world, but I still enjoy that a lot as well,” he said.
“Farming is also a big passion of mine, but so is acting, so if I can keep that balance then life should be pretty good. Obviously the priority is definitely acting at the moment- I’d like to see what this film can hopefully bring opportunity wise, and we’ll see how it goes over the next little while.”
Unbroken is due to be released in cinemas in the U.S on Christmas Day and in Australian cinemas (including Lilac City Cinema) on January 15 next year.
To see the trailer and to find out more details about the film, visit www.unbrokenfilm.com.