Travis Jeffery.
Camera IconTravis Jeffery. Credit: Supplied/David Baylis

Travis Jeffery takes Sparrow for a Spin Out in Ferguson film

Tanya MacNaughtonEastern Reporter

PREPARING to play Sparrow McGee in new Australian film Spin Out was not as challenging as some of Travis Jeffery’s previous roles.

“Sometimes you just get an instinctual feel of what they’re going to be like and reading the script that Tim Ferguson and Edwina Exton had written, it was so clear who he was,” the 2012 WAAPA graduate said.

“He’s very naïve and has a heart of gold, so I think that’s what really drew me to the role.

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“Sparrow is really different from all the stuff I’ve done before.”

This includes the 27-year-old’s work on Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken, television mini-series Gallipoli and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, due for release next year, where he played a naval officer.

Jeffery, who lives in Sydney, was in Perth ahead of CinefestOZ 2016, with Spin Out one of four finalists up for the $100,000 Film Prize.

The film will open in cinemas September 15, where audiences will get to witness one action-packed night set at a traditional country town ritual: the Bachelors and Spinsters Ball.

The mayhem provides an ideal backdrop for the central storyline, following best friends Billy and Lucy, who fight after Billy performs a dangerous car stunt and Lucy declares she is moving to the city.

“I grew up an hour and a half out of Melbourne on a farm in Healesville in the Yarra Valley, so I could really relate to a lot of stuff going on in the script,” Jeffery said.

“Although the only real B and S Ball I’ve been to was when we went to shoot some of the clips for the film credits.”

Jeffery was joined on set by actors Xavier Samuel, Morgan Griffin, Lincoln Lewis, Christie Whelan Browne and Melissa Bergland.

However, it was Ferguson and co-director Marc Gracie, who were responsible for creating the “awesome filming environment”.

“It was great working with people you’ve looked up to for so long,” he said.

“Tim is a comedic genius, so you knew you were in good hands.”