He's acted alongside Robert de Niro, but Firass Dirani is resisting Hollywood's allure despite concerns over limited openings here for non-white actors.
The Age reports
When Australian Firass Dirani was cast in big-budget action movie Killer Elite, he had no idea he would be acting alongside "the godfather of cinema" Robert De Niro.
Sydneysider Dirani, who made a name for himself playing Kings Cross nightclub owner John Ibrahim in TV's Underbelly: The Golden Mile, said it was a complete surprise to find out De Niro was in the line-up.
"We knew Jason (Statham) was involved in the picture and Clive Owen, but we never knew the godfather of cinema was going to join us," he said.
He said De Niro joined the cast just a few weeks before shooting began in Melbourne.
In Killer Elite, De Niro plays Hunter, the mentor of Danny (Statham) who is kidnapped by a renegade sheikh.
To save Hunter, the sheikh demands Danny kill the three ex-SAS soldiers who murdered his sons, so his remaining son Bakhait (Dirani) can return to Oman.
Dirani said De Niro is "inspirational to every actor on Australian TV" so to be in a scene one-on-one with him was incredible.
"For me to be sitting opposite him in a dungeon in Melbourne, threatening him and trying to manipulate him in this scene and for him to turn around and threaten me back," he said.
"I'm sitting there in this situation, dressed in a three-piece suit, thinking is this actually happening?"
He said he spent a lot of time just watching how De Niro works.
"Observing his technique, his craft and the way he approaches the character and a scene, it's like 'what have I been doing for 10 years?"' he said.
But Dirani said working with Owen and Statham was also a huge learning experience.
"Watching Jason be so meticulous with his fight choreography was kind of eye-opening," he said.
"He's a real perfectionist."
Dirani plays the sheikh's spoilt son in Killer Elite, so didn't get to do any fight scenes himself, but he said he's itching to get a role like that.
"I wasn't part of it this time around but like c'mon, bring on that physical role, gimme that martial arts," he said.
"That's my forte. I grew up, did martial arts for five years and gymnastics for I don't know how long, but that's my speciality and hopefully I can get given a chance to show off those skills."
It may not have been very physical, but Dirani's role was still challenging - he had to have an accent coach and take on a role, "so far from how I grew up as a teenager in Sydney".
While it was mainly shot in Melbourne, Dirani also flew to London, then to Wales and after 25 hours of travelling, was on set to film his big scene with Jason Statham. No pressure.
"It was five o'clock in the afternoon and we worked until four o'clock in the morning on the one scene," he said.
But he loved it, saying "it's all training".
"It's an action film, $70 million (budget), and you want to be part of it, you want to be on the world stage and what an ensemble to be part of."
Killer Elite releases nationally on February 23.
AAP
No comments:
Post a Comment