In her relatively short career, Australian Lucy Fry has proved herself to be a talented and diverse actor. Her debut feature Vampire Academy may have been poorly received, but it led to roles in Warner Bros. Stephen King adaptation 11.22.63 and horror film The Darkness. Working with director Greg McLean on the latter led to her being offered the part of Eve in the television series Wolf Creek. Lucy took some time to sit down with us to talk Mick Taylor, vampires and going to dark places.
STARBURST: Did Wolf Creek come about for you directly from your work with Greg McClean on The Darkness?
Lucy Fry: Yeah, absolutely. When he was looking to cast this role he thought of me right away, I guess because he already knew my work. It was going to be a really intense shoot out in the desert and he knew I had the resilience to get through it.
Did you realise exactly what you were getting into with Wolf Creek and Mick Taylor?
I’d put off watching the films until I was working on The Darkness with Greg as the idea just scared me, it being influenced by real events, and I was terrified of Mick Taylor. When I read the script and saw it was about a victim who then turns around and stands up to him, I knew it was something I had to do.
John Jarratt is quite a character – what was it like meeting him?
You get what you get!
What is it in Eve’s character that changes, leading her into what she becomes?
I think a big part of it is in her athletics training, having worked towards going to the Olympics. She has this determination and focus that is quite extreme and more heightened than most people. When this tragedy happens to her she could so easily just be a victim but she chooses to try and take her power back. It’s such a crazy, suicidal thing she does that’s its almost out of hopelessness.
When we meet Eve she’s at a pretty low point.
She has nothing to lose or live for when her family is gone so she then just lives for revenge.
She does go to some pretty dark places. Was it difficult to get into her mindset?
Eve’s very dark, although maybe not so much at the start. Then she gets progressively more twisted in order to face this killer. It’s definitely the toughest mindset I’ve had to get into but I guess it came about quite easily . It’s quite strange, once you open that door into the shadowy side of humanity, it’s very easy to access. Watching John too, he’s so brilliant as he knows how to go there so I was learning from him while Eve was learning from Mick. What was hard, though, was getting out of it.
You’ve had some varied roles in your relatively short career; how do you choose?
It’s really exciting for me to play lots of different people. All the character’s I’ve been involved with have been so varied and have given me the chance to explore different backgrounds and voices and people. I’ve been very lucky.
Your debut film Vampire Academy received a tough time from some quarters. Since then have you made a conscious decision to avoid franchise films and just go your own way?
Vampire Academy was my first film and I was so lucky to be involved, and it did open a lot of doors for me. I’ve worked a lot with coaches since, though, and tried to ground my work a little more. I enjoy doing both television and film as they offer different things. A film to me is more like a poem, a set time, but I couldn’t have played a character like Lucy anywhere other than television as she needed time to develop.
What will we see you in next?
I don’t think I’m actually allowed to say. I’m really excited though and I think it will be announced pretty soon. It’s another mythological creature but done in a very different way. And it’s an original concept and not from a book. I’m just into the training now. I can say how excited I am but I can’t say anymore!
Wolf Creek: the TV Series is out now on DVD and Blu-ray.
