Going In Blind

It's relevant to anyone but perhaps especially so for actors, who often have to adopt a new skill set with each new role they take on. There's the moment of elation when you've landed a plum job, followed quickly by a realisation that you now actually have to do that job. And as Oliver Ackland, star of the new Australian sport drama, Blinder, recalls with a laugh, that realisation was “I've got to learn to play footy! And that was just for starters.”

In the film, directed by Summer Coda's Richard Gray, Ackland – whose credits include the ABC miniseries, The Slap, and the underrated teen thriller, Wasted On The Young – plays Tommy Dunn, in his younger years a star player for the Torquay Tigers, an amateur Australian Rules football team. But his involvement in a sex-and-drugs scandal derailed the possibility of a pro career, and Tommy spent the next ten years in the States. When the Tigers' beloved coach dies, Tommy returns to his coastal hometown to pay his respects... and finally come to terms with the past. 

“It's this odd coming-of-age story in a way,” says Ackland. “I liked the fact that there's this ten-year age gap in there, so Tommy starts off as this carefree guy who's sort of playing by his own set of rules. He's a bit wayward, really, and he then turns a corner and starts putting everything into his football. Then there are scenes ten years on, after the scandal, where he's comes back to Torquay for his community, his family and himself, just trying to put the pieces back together. That whole ten-year gap in the story, playing both sides of that, and the fact that there was this shift in him made it appealing.”

Sydney-based Ackland admits that learning the ins and outs of Aussie Rules was a challenge, especially when he and co-stars Angus Sampson, Bob Morley and Josh Helman were put through an eight-week boot camp by former AFL star (and Blinder producer) Glenn Archer prior to filming. On top of that, six weeks of shooting the film's dramatic scenes were topped off with three weeks of footy at the tail end.

“Playing a physical role like Tommy was appealing to me but it was a steep learning curve,” laughs Ackland. “They realised, though, that having us simply playing footy was the best way to shoot those scenes. We also had guys who play club footy week in week out in the film, and they were not backing off. So there were a few injuries along the way.”

Much of Blinder was filmed in the Victorian coastal town of Torquay, and the local ambiance gave the film's cast and crew a chance to add a little realism. “We did get to stick our heads in the local footy club's change rooms and the training sessions, so we got a feel for that. And just the town on top of that – we were there for maybe a week before we started, so we hung out and listened and learned. Communities like that tend to be tight-knit, with everyone knowing everyone, and here everyone wanted to help out. Sometimes you'll find people feel they're owed something when you're filming in their area but with this one everyone wanted to chip in.”