Unfinished business
During the course of this interview actor/writer William McInnes goes for a walk, buys coffee and is nearly hit by a truck - all while talking to Ruth Hessey about bathroom fixtures, being inspired by a dog and feeling crazy
There is no reason why an interview needs to mean either party stops doing a million other things at the same time. William McInnes is taking a stroll across his patch of Melbourne - West Footscray - to grab a coffee, mobile in hand.
"My wife's been making a film," he says of director Sarah Watts, currently working on My Year Without Sex, "so I've been home with the kids."
If McInnes sounds a bit crazy over the course of the next 20 minutes, it could be the sleep-deprived, slightly manic manner the parents of young children often adopt as a coping mechanism. He says, for instance, that the most fascinating person on the set of his latest film, Unfinished Sky was the dog, Milo.
"It was very interesting watching him in the rushes," he confesses, "because everyone else was trying bells and whistles, and he was just licking his dick. You know, being a dog. He really inspired me, because actors always worry they're not giving enough, but having Milo as a co-star helped me put the handbrake on."
In the past, McInnes has claimed that the only way he got work as an actor was for Watts, originally an award-winning animator (Small Treasures), to write him a role in what became the critically acclaimed Look Both Ways in 2005, her directorial debut. This is stretching it a bit. A SeaChange alumnus, McInnes has played regular roles in other Australian television series such as A Country Practice and Blue Heelers, as well as appearing in feature films such as Broken Highway, Dirty Deeds, Kokoda, and now Unfinished Sky.
"I can't complain if people don't take me seriously as an artist," he quips as the roar of trucks muffles his voice. "Honestly, some people mail the same thing in each week. I feel like saying, ‘blow it out your arse!' I'm never comfortable playing a type. It's more interesting to add bits and pieces."
McInnes' penchant for surprise in his work means "I just can't help myself chucking a Roger Moore occasionally, or I might run down the stairs as a Thunderbird. I did a part in a film once that was supposed to be a ‘big opportunity', and someone said, ‘Can you do it like John Pertwee?' [the fifth incarnation of Dr Who], and I did and the crew thought I was a hero!"
When he talks about working with director Peter Duncan on Unfinished Sky, McInnes is not quite so nonchalant. "I don't ruin the film, which is one thing," he says. "And Monic Hendrickx is terrific."In the film, Dutch actress Hendrickx plays an illegal immigrant on the run from an abusive employer. McInnes is John Waldren, a farmer who has withdrawn from human interaction since the death of his wife. When the strange, bruised woman, speaking no English, arrives on his remote property, his whole life is turned inside out.
To the suggestion that Waldren represents an old school Australian male tradition of taciturn misanthropy, McInnes protests. "It's just as prevalent in the city. I think it's more about what sorts of lies you tell yourself, to create excuses. It's easier than facing up to what you've done with your life."