Did You Spot The Cosmic Psychos Frontman In The New Ned Kelly Film?

Stan dropped their new film True History Of The Kelly Gang last week and if you pay attention while watching, you'll spot a cameo from a legendary Aussie musician.

Cosmic Psychos' Ross Knight has made a surprise appearance in the Justin Kurzel-directed film, playing the role of boxing match umpire James Saunders. 

The scene, which takes place about 40 minutes into the film, sees Knight's character declare Ned Kelly - played by George MacKay - the winner of a boxing match. 

Speaking with The Music, Knight said the experience was "great". 

"There was a request in and I don't know if it was from Justin - from the director - or someone," said Knight of how he became involved in the production.

"They got a few musos in from all over the place, just for a bit of a difference and look, I was only involved in it for one day, but it was unreal. It was really good for a farmer to go wandering down there and just stand there with my mouth wide open watching how the whole production worked. 

"It was great. And they were buggered. I think it might have been the last day of shooting so they'd been out for weeks and weeks and weeks if not months and months and months and it was just amazing to see how they all worked and how well it worked."

So how did he transform for the role?

"Well, they didn't have to touch my make-up," he laughs. "I had to look like a scruffy old boxing coach. They actually sat me in the chair and went, 'You know what? I think you're about right.' They just told me to stay scruffy, well I do that pretty well and did that."

"I went with a few of the stunt people, went 'round onto the set, which was in this big old mansion in Elsternwick, some great big old building there for the fight scene. I got to meet all the main characters, sat down and had a yack with them and it was really good. It was really good."

The plan for Knight changed quickly though, with a last-minute script edit.

"Originally, they gave me about 30 words, there was a speaking part," he shared. "I haven't seen the movie by the way, I've only seen a little screenshot someone showed me.

"But I had to talk to Ned, young Ned, and give him some money, but I practised my 30 words, I had about six months to practise my 30 words. And then I get there and Justin goes, 'Now what we're gonna do, we're gonna throw some other stuff in there that wasn't in the script,' and I'm like, 'Oh, bloody hell.'

"Sort of the same scene but just completely different. But I was rehearsing my lines, which was basically all I had to say was 'look your next fight's on Tuesday' and then Ned says, 'I'll quit.' I basically tell him to get nicked and stormed out of the room. 

"That was sort of basically in a nutshell what I had to do but then Justin said, 'Let's throw a few more lines in that didn't make the script,' and I'm like, 'Oh, bloody hell, how am I gonna go with this?' But I reckon I nailed it once, but then I nailed it and Ned forgot his lines and then we had to do it all again so that was me cooked, well and dusted."

MacKay, Keenan and Cave with Essie Davis (who played Ellen Kelly) at The Gasometer

Knight isn't the only musician to make an appearance though, with New Zealand artist Marlon Williams taking on the role of Kelly's nearly-stepfather, George King, while Baker Boy (real name Danzal Baker) played Tracker Tom and Nick Cave's son Earl Cave played Kelly's younger brother Dan.

Music played a huge role in the creation of the film, with Kurzel tasking the four key Kelly Gang members (MacKay, Cave, Sean Keenan and Louis Hewison, who played Joe Byrne and Steve Hart respectively) to form a band and play a show at The Gasometer Hotel in Melbourne. 

The group rehearsed over a two-week period, writing a total of eight songs which they performed as Fleshlight at the venue, dressed in their Kelly Gang attire. 

"It went off and no one knew that they were part of the film," said Kurzel of the performance. "It was just this new hot band in Melbourne and they were fantastic."

"The very next day we walked on set and they were the Kelly Gang. You could tell immediately in the way they hung off each other, the way they laughed, the way they defended themselves if someone new walked on set. 

"There was just a natural dynamic that happened with being in a band that galvanised them in a way that I would never have been able to get them there if we were doing acting exercises."

True History Of The Kelly Gang is out on Stan now.

Australia is burning. To donate to the Fire Relief Fund for First Nations Communities follow the link here.