Child actor Angus McLaren now a married man on TV
ANGUS McLaren's leap from child actor to prime-time TV star was quite a drastic one. "It's pretty bizarre," the 19-year-old laughs.One minute he was a fresh-faced teenager befriending mermaids in the hit children's series H20: Just Add Water and the next he was a married man in a suit facing serious financial strife in top-rating drama Packed to the Rafters.
"I had to have a bit of a think about it, being a married man. I don't really know a whole lot about that because it's not on my radar at all," he says.
McLaren, who plays the black sheep of the Rafter family, Nathan, feared adult roles would be hard to come by after making his name in children's television with shows such as H20, The Saddle Club and Silversun.
"It can be very easy to get caught in that mould (of child actor) so Rafters has been perfect to make the transition," he says.
"They'd been casting that role (of Nathan) for yonks. I think they'd even cast someone, but it fell through.
"It was certainly not a role that I expected to get. It just came out of the blue.
"I was driving down to Melbourne after wrapping the second series of H20 on the Gold Coast and I stopped over in Sydney to see some friends and did the audition just because it was convenient, and got the part. Now I'm kind of stuck there. Mum's still waiting for me to come home."
McLaren, who grew up on a dairy farm in rural Victoria, says he always knew acting was his calling.
"I don't remember a particular point where I decided I enjoyed it. I think it was always there. It just became more apparent it was something that I could possibly keep doing and hopefully make a living out of. I was never a huge academic. I wasn't bad, but my passion always seemed to be acting.
"Both my brothers were school captains so it was sort of like I had to keep up, but I didn't finish Year 12."
Not that the young performer wasn't earning his keep away from his studies, sharing the screen at the age of 12 with the likes of Eric Bana in ABC series Something in the Air.
"That was great. I remember he was on Full Frontal so he was the first person I've ever really been star-struck by," McLaren says. "He was just a really cool guy. We had quite a bit of work together and I guess he was a little bit of an inspiration. He'd just been cast in Black Hawk Down. He'd literally been on the phone to Ridley Scott on one of the days we were filming."
McLaren has remained a fan of Bana's, and particularly the Chopper star's ability to rise to the top in a tough industry.
"He sort of worked his way up. It didn't fall in his lap. He certainly worked hard for it," he says.
"I'm certainly aware that strange things can happen (to actors) and I've sort of got to enjoy it while I can. I have seen older actors who had early good breaks and didn't really go anywhere after that so I'm very conscious of not letting that happen I suppose.
"I think it's just choice (of roles), as much as it can be. You've obviously got to get offered parts."
McLaren has been trying to exert some influence in this area lately with the actor keen to snag a role in the upcoming Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit directed by Pan's Labyrinth mastermind Guillermo del Toro.
"If I could do anything I'd be a hobbit. I would be a foot of a hobbit. I don't care. I would just love to be on the set just to be a part of it," McLaren says.
"The Hobbit was one of the first books I ever read and I loved it.
"I can't imagine what (del Toro) is going to do with that book. I think it will just be an unbelievable production.
"I keep nagging my agent about it. Every time I ring up she says 'Please don't mention The Hobbit'. But that's what I'd like to do."
In the meantime, McLaren will have to settle for another fantasy series with new episodes of H2O about to start filming on the Gold Coast.
While he admits returning to children's television might appear to be a step back, he has other motives for wanting to revisit his past.
McLaren plays drums in indie rock band Ballet Imperial with H2O co-star Jamie Timony, H2O director Jeffrey Walker and friend Will Shepherd.
"Now we're all here together on the Gold Coast and we're all working on the same show, whenever we're not on set we're doing that so it's worked out really well," he says.
"We're trying to organise a couple of gigs at the moment and we've got some new demos that we're recording that I think have got potential.
"Right from an early age I was playing in a band with one of the guys I play in the band with now, so it's been our passion for a lot of years."
When it comes to whether he'd prefer to pack music arenas to the rafters or score ratings goals on television, McLaren is keeping his options open.
He's even considered how to deal with Rafters fans who show up at Ballet Imperial gigs.
"I'll just have to scowl a lot. 'Shut up Mum. Shut up Dad'," he laughs.
As far as TV families go, however, he says he couldn't have asked for better than Dave, Julie, Rachel and Ben Rafter.
"I remember the first day we got together. I think we shocked ourselves that we bonded so well," he says.
"It also just felt like we could get in there and make the show we wanted.
"It wasn't like a Home & Away where it's got a set history. There were no rules to this show. It felt creatively very free to just do what we wanted."
The gamble has paid off with the drama pulling close to 2 million viewers every week since its debut in August and a second series will go into production early next year.
"I didn't think that would happen," McLaren says.
"But it's consistently stayed up there (in the ratings) so it's sort of sinking in now that I think we're here for a long haul."
As for Nathan, McLaren says he's found a new appreciation for the ambitious young real estate agent who has kept his crippling debt hidden from his family.
"He does stand out as the one who's not quite in the clique. I didn't know if I liked that in the beginning, but now it's nice to be on the outer. It certainly gives me a bit to play with," he says.
Форум
