Felicity
Ward & Daniel Henshall Interview - Any Questions For Ben?
Interview with
Felicity Ward and Daniel Henshall
Stars
of Any Questions For
Ben?
For most, the idea of teaming one
of Australia's most in demand stand up comedians and one of Australia's
most feared murderers as budding newly weds seems like an odd
proposition. But for the Working Dog
team (Thank God You're
Here, The Dish), pairing Ronnie Johns
regular Felicity
Ward and AACTA winning Snowtown actor Daniel
Henshall in their latest film Any Questions
For Ben? - it's the most natural coupling in the
world.
Web Wombat Movies' Sean Lynch caught up with the delightful duo on the
eve of the premiere of the highly anticipated comedy...
You both have
an amazing chemistry that really jumps off the screen, how long did it
take for you to become so in tune with each other?
FW: Straight away! We were really
fortunate. I was smoking at the time, so we spent a lot of time smoking
outside and drinking cups of tea at rehearsal.
DH:
A lot of tea.
FW: Then I made a couple of crude jokes,
and we were in!
Dan, you came
on board for the film literally weeks after wrapping the intense Snowtown, how was
the transition into "Triathlete Guy"?
DH:
I said to them "Would you like me to lose some weight?". I think I was
already losing weight because of all of the stress and anxiety of doing
Snowtown, not
to say I wasn't having a good time, but I was smoking and not eating
right.
That said, I wanted to lose some
weight anyway because I wanted to look as different as I could. I said
I'd shave off my beard, but warned them "There's a baby under here" and
Rob said "Nah, you can keep it on!".
Felicity, how
did you find the transition from the Comedy Festival stage to film?
FW: Stage acting is very, very different
to film acting. But I think comedy performing makes your normal acting
so much better, especially sketch stuff. Because in a sketch, if you
are playing the straight person, your job is just to deliver the lines
to allow the other person to bounce off you and be hilarious.
In particular for a comedy, you need
to know when it's your turn to be funny and when it's your turn to be
the spin ball.
Are you guys
big Working
Dog fans?
DH:
Are you kidding me? They're national treasures, right?
FW:
Just think of how big Working Dog was for you as a teenager...
I think I
actually have a photo from when I was 11, and the first thing I did
when I went to MovieWorld wasn't go on a ride - it was getting a photo
in front of the "Wheelchairs and Strollers" sign (from the Shitscared
sketch).
DH:
Yes! That's actually my favourite comedy sketch of all time, mate!
So does that
daunt you on set, do you nerd out or do you keep the "I'm a
professional" face on?
FW:
I think the two of them wrestle with each other.
DH: Some
days you'd swing one way, some days you'd swing the other. The greatest
thing, it being Flick's first film, is that we both had this
wonderful nervous energy. That's something to bond over. Myself, I was
petrified, walking into their office and visually seeing the accolades
that they've won. Then meeting each of the Working Dog team in the
flesh.
When I was seven I started
watching them, so that's a lot of years I've grown up with them. They
are part of my history, I'm reminded of parts of my life through their
work. So, it's like an old friend that I've never met before - and it
took a little while to get used to it - but they were so warm and
welcoming that you're part of the family straight away.
FW: You
know when you've got a really bad hangover and you go to a job
interview - that's what it was like! [Laughs] Trying to
be professional, but you're hands a shaking, you're sweating, you can't
think of the answers! [Laughs]
Dan, with the
success of Snowtown,
how have you adapted to the somewhat immediate nature of your career
going into overdrive?
DH:
It's always longer for the person experiencing it. When it's out in the
media it's just FLASH, FLASH, FLASH, FLASH. But I've been working as an
actor for six years now, doing a bit of TV and bit of theatre, so I
guess it was a new experience to be thrown into that world. Some of it,
especially when promoting Snowtown
overseas, felt like I was stepping onto the set of Entourage.
FW: He
didn't used to click at waiters, but now... [Laughs]
How have you
dealt with it Flick, it being your first major promo tour?
FW:
We're on the Nylex sign [in Melbourne], we're on the Nylex building!
How cool is that?! I was actually just at home watching TV with my
house mate and an ad for Any
Questions For Ben came on and I was like "Hmmm... ok, I'm
less comfortable with that". Because that's an invasion into your own
home. It's different than, say, Spicks
'n ' Specks because they don't advertise really. But
having something that could pop up at any given moment in your lounge
room... Weird!
I was even on a plane recently and the ad came on, and the guy next to
me asks "What do you think this Any
Questions For Ben will be like?" and I just had to hold my
tongue and not say "Well, as a matter of fact, I'm actually in it". But
we'd been talking for about 45 minutes, so I felt I could get away with
saying it.
So you're a
talker on a plane?
FW: It
depends... I didn't instigate it! If it's a 60 minute flight, I sort of
go "Yeah, I could go a chat!"
I can't do
it, what if the conversation goes pear shaped?
DH:
Yeah, I'm with you. I don't want to have to get to know someone just in
case I want to have myself a bit of a time-out [Laughs].
FW:
Well, on a long flight, that's ok. For Snowtown he was
fancy pancin' everywhere!
DH:
I did. It was a great experience, but it was like 75 hours of flights
in four days. So there was a lot of fancy pancin'.
"Fancy
Pancin'" is a Comedy Festival show title just waiting to happen...
DH:
[Laughs]
FW: I
said it first! [Laughs]
Write that down! Write that down!
In Any Questions For Ben?
- Josh Lawson, Christian Clark and Rachel Taylor all get their gear
off, Dan sports some tight hugging lycra - did you feel like you got
screwed out of the "nude fest" on screen Felicity?
DH:
We actually shot one [a sex scene]! But it didn't make the final edit.
I don't think
that was actually part of the movie... I think you've just been tricked
into making someone's naughty home movie...
DH: [Laughs] Who
would want to see that?
FW: I
thought it was odd they were filming it on a phone!
ANY QUESTIONS FOR BEN?
IS IN CINEMAS FEBRUARY 9th 2012
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