Herald Sun
February 23, 2006
A Croc of Heat
Thanks to Judith for the article!
THE heat disappears from the air as quickly as the sun drops behind the Warburton range, but director Greg McLean needs a sheen of sweat on his actors.
Out comes the olive oil spray. Between takes, Michael Vartan, John Jarrett, Sam Worthington, Stephen Curry, Radha Mitchell, Celia Ireland and Caroline Brazier are rugged up in windbreakers, but when McLean calls action, they have to swelter (or at least give a good impression of it) through a hot Northern Territory night.
McLean's production of Rogue has finished shooting in the NT, but it's too dangerous to have the actors in this crocodile thriller too close to the water there because of, well, crocodiles, so a private lake outside Warburton has been commandeered.
Red polystyrene chunks double for the cliffs of Katherine Gorge and a floating fibreglass island 20m from shore forms the spot where a group of hapless tourists are stranded when their boat breaks down.
McLean's budget -- an estimated $27 million -- is a little more than the $1 million he scrounged to make the horror hit Wolf Creek, but that doesn't mean luxury trailers and caviar on tap for the cast and crew.
The cast's international element, Vartan (Monster-in-Law, Alias), is shivering in light pants and loafers along with everyone else.
"I conditioned myself to expect the worst," he says. "I was worried we were going to sleep in tents and that didn't thrill me because of the taipans and tiger snakes, but everything's been wonderful."
Vartan is obviously fitting in well. When Curry notices him speaking to a journalist, he yells: "Hey Michael, whaddya think of Australia?"
"It's s---house," Vartan yells back in Meryl Streep strine.
Realism is McLean's mantra. The rogue croc that terrorises the group isn't a mutant monster. It will be as big as real-life NT crocs can get. And there's little in the way of make-up.
"I couldn't care less," Vartan says. "Not having to sit in a make-up chair is a blessing. And does the make-up really make a difference?
"I'll give you an example with Monster-in-Law. I'm not going to say bad things about it because I wouldn't be here if not for that movie, but it was a very visual and plastic movie."
Rogue will be released next year.
© Herald and Weekly Times 2006
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