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The Callsheet interviews Spud's Troye Sivan |
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Fifteen-year-old Troye Sivan is like that sweet neighbourhood kid who helps old ladies with their groceries and always brushes his teeth before bed. He’s charming, friendly and genuinely nice – all the ingredients for a child actor everyone hopes will succeed. If his growing resume is anything to go by, he’s off to a good start. The South African born singer made his acting debut in Gavin Hood’s X-men Origins: Wolverine, where he played the younger version of Hugh Jackman’s title character. More recently he bagged the title role in the film adaption of John van der Ruit’s best-selling novel, Spud, directed by Donovan Marsh. Troye describes working with the two acclaimed South African directors as the best welcome he could have had to the film industry. “South Africa is something I’m familiar with because my parents are South African and I went to a predominantly South African school before we moved to Australia. It made me feel very comfortable on the set and much less nervous. It was homey.” Despite his connection to the country, Troye still needed help with the accent and had a coach throughout filming. “I was determined to get it right because it is a South African movie and I still consider myself South African so the accent has a special place in my heart. It was the most important part of the process for me. It was hard at first but once I got the rhythms and mouth formations right it became second nature.” Getting into character was more of a challenge. “It took me a while to get into the swing of things,” he says. “It’s like meeting a new person for the first time and then learning how to be them. Like with the accent, it was difficult in the beginning, but there came a moment where it just clicked and I was like ‘Oh, so that’s what Spud’s like.’ That’s when it all started fitting into place.” What made Wolverine and Spud fun for the young actor was all the source material he had to work with. With Wolverine he had endless comic books to reference, as well as the script, and with Spud, there were the novels. Throughout filming, Troye worked closely with author John van der Ruit, who he proclaims to be completely star struck over. “I can genuinely say that I loved the first book, and even more so the second and the third. Before shooting I became close with John, which was an amazing experience for me, and then after reading the second and third I became star struck all over again.” This was nothing compared to working with legendary English actor John Cleese. “It’s the best experience any actor could ask for, especially someone like me who’s just starting out. John has been in the business for ages and that’s the career I want to create for myself,” he says. Funnily enough, he was convinced that he hadn’t got the part. “There were seven months between my audition and finding out that I got the role. It was nerve-wracking. I lost hope and thought it wasn’t going to happen.” Thankfully for the young actor, it all ended happily and he has high hopes for the film. “I hope Spud turns into a long running series like Harry Potter. I’d love to be able to work with the same group of people and grow with them.” So how does he balance intense shooting days with school? He doesn’t. “I’ve been home schooled since I was fourteen. I prefer it to regular schooling. There’s something about sitting in a classroom – it just never gelled for me.” Troye has no intentions of studying acting after he finishes school, but would rather earn a communications degree while he continues acting. “Film, TV, radio – it all appeals to me. Juggling things will keep me happy,” he says. Troye is represented by the William Morris Agency. Sally Fink | |||
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