<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n19-year-old Lucas Pittaway enjoyed an unlikely introduction to screen acting. As a full time door-to-door leaflet postman, Pittaway, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the late Heath Ledger, was scouted at his local shopping mall near Adelaide, Australia. After playing the lead in Warp X\u2019s Snowtown, where he stars as real-life murderer Jamie Vlasskias, Pittaway has pocketed an award, praise at this year\u2019s Cannes and attention from a clutch of influential new filmmakers. Wonderland<\/em> caught up with the humble, softly-spoken young talent ahead of the film\u2019s UK release next week.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Considering its murderous subject matter, how was Snowtown received in Australia? Are you excited about its UK premiere?<\/strong><\/p>\nWe knew we were treading on risky ground and there was a lot of controversy about it at the time. People were asking: \u201cShould this film have been made? What will the rest of the world make of it?\u201d Audiences were reacting to its subject matter because the murders [which took place in Pittaway\u2019s hometown in the 1990s] were just so horrific. It was all a bit too close-to-home for many, I think.<\/p>\n
How did your family react?<\/strong><\/p>\nWell, half of them haven\u2019t even seen it yet! As it stands, I have four older brothers, a younger sister, a younger brother and a mum and a dad. My mum sarcastically called it a \u201cfun Christmas film\u201d. At heart, she\u2019s proud of what I\u2019ve done. My older brother Paul was incredibly enthusiastic, too. I took my two best friends to the premiere, but they didn\u2019t like it all [laughs]. As mates, they\u2019re allowed to be honest about these things.<\/p>\n
Tell us the shopping mall scouting story\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\nYeah, it was there I got asked to audition for the part. I go to the mall every couple of days or so – it\u2019s pretty much the closest shopping centre to where the incident happened. My brother was approached by a woman who said she was interviewing people in the area about what it\u2019s like to live there. I was then interviewed by her in front of a camera and introduced to the director, who asked me whether I wanted to audition for a film they were making. I wasn\u2019t told the title of the movie beforehand, and wasn\u2019t offered a script or told to read any lines: I just had to stand in front of a camera and talk. They wanted to see to see how natural I could be in front of it, I think.<\/p>\n
What intrigued you about the role? What made you decide to accept it?<\/strong><\/p>\nFirst off, when you\u2019re offered a lead in a film at a young age, it\u2019s hard to say no. It\u2019s like nothing I\u2019ve done in the past \u2013 a new challenge – so I immediately accepted. It was filmed in the area I grew up in – I thought that if anyone was going to represent it well, it really should be me. Before it, I didn\u2019t have a career. It was a case of: this is an opportunity I want to take up. If I\u2019m any good at it, then I\u2019ll keep going.<\/p>\n
I read you made a living delivering leaflets before being offered the part…<\/strong><\/p>\nI was working for a charity \u2013 going from letterbox to letterbox leafleting and was scouted on one of my days off. Taking on a role so complex and challenging is a life-changing thing. Beforehand, I was planning on joining the army \u2013 but I soon lost my license, so that wasn\u2019t going to happen. I was biding my time until I could apply for it again, basically.<\/p>\n
You went on to win the Audience Award at the Adelaide Film Festival \u2013 how has this affected your career?<\/strong><\/p>\nWell, at that point it hadn\u2019t really started. I went to Tropfest, which is the first short film festival of the season in Australia. It was a week after the film\u2019s release, and I had a lot of positive attention from people there. Then it premiered at the Adelaide Festival \u2013 at that point I didn\u2019t have an agent and scripts weren\u2019t being thrown my way. But by the time people had had a chance to watch it in Australia, I started attracting much more interest. Anthony LaPaglia, a famous Australian actor, approached me at Cannes with lots of praise. At the time, I had no idea who he was, though!<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve a big nuclear family \u2013 themes reflected in the film. Is this what partially attracted you to the role? Were you able to draw on your own experiences for it?
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\nYeah, exactly. It was a role I could slip so easily into. I could really understand and adopt that \u2018local community\u2019 type character. It\u2019s already engrained into me.<\/p>\nWhat other projects have you been working since Snowtown? I know you worked with Vogue photographer Max Doyle for the short film ARC. What was that like?<\/strong><\/p>\nIt was great \u2013 it was beautifully shot. I got to wear Prada creepers, three-quarter length pants, vintage retro 80s jackets and things like that. I learnt how to shoot a bow and arrow as well, which was so much fun. Max was great – he\u2019s a perfectionist and puts so much effort into every shot. Snowtown was captured in a much less rigid way; the makers were open to suggestion. A couple of months ago, I worked on another short film where I played a quadriplegic [Sophie Miller\u2019s Talking to Strangers]. I had to get into the part quite heavily, and spent a couple of days in a wheelchair before shooting. My love interest in the film is played by my older brother\u2019s ex-girlfriend [laughs]. We were already good friends, so it made everything easier.<\/p>\n
Finally, and inevitably – the Heath Ledger comparison. Is it getting annoying?<\/strong><\/p>\nNo, not at all. It\u2019s my nickname where I\u2019m working now. It\u2019s always a huge complement \u2013 to be compared to someone like Heath.<\/p>\n
Snowtown opens on the 18th.<\/em><\/p>\n