Interview: Ryan Corr from Holding the Man

We caught up with Aussie actor Ryan Corr to talk about his leading role in the hugely acclaimed adaptation of Timothy Conigrave's memoir Holding the Man, as well as what it was like to play a 16-year-old again, and the film's serendipitous timing with Australia's marriage equality debate.
Check out the full article on Student Edge here: studentedge.org/article/inter...
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Transcript
Tell me, first of all, how were you introduced to Holding the Man?
Well, I was at the same drama school that Tim ended up in, and when I was there first year, Holding the Man, the play, was going on at Griffin Theatre Company. But the effect of the book and realising how far it’s reach was and how much it meant to so many people, was really felt then.
It was being talked about in my drama school. The teachers were using it as an example of really great writing and as a window into talking about this time in Australian history, and world history really, when AIDS and HIV came down and there really wasn’t anything you could do about it.
It was a very different case to what it is now.
So that was my first introduction to the story. Jump seven years later, when Neil Armfield was making the film, and Tommy Murphy who’d written the play was also writing the screenplay, that was my… I was old enough to play Tim then, and because I knew the importance of the story, I told my agent, “I’d really like to play Tim. It falls in line with what I believe in.”
So that’s when I got my hands on the book. Before the first audition and read it back to front and cried my eyes out.
When we were going through he film, that’s what I was going back to all the time and draw from. If I wanted to know what was inside Tim’s head, it was all there on paper.
Well, there’s a few difficulties for this part or I can imagine for an actor approaching it. First of all, it’s a real person; it’s a real story. He has a family, he has a legacy that you have to kind of honour.
It’s also a beloved character from a beloved book. So you have that fanbase that you need to respect as well.
And you’re also playing him from when he’s sixteen to when he’s a full grown man. So, there are a lot of obstacles for a performer.
Can you talk a bit about how you sort of approach those and if you had any hesitation once you finally secured this role?
It was difficult not to feel the pressure, just because this book meant so much to so many different people. And you’re exactly right, the responsibility became different to any other film I’d done.
It was really a case of “if the family gave us their blessing” or at the end, we came some way to represent the memory of who these boys were. That was first and foremost. That was paramount.
Once we’d done that, and got the family’s blessing, and Nick and Anna and Tim’s mother came up and said, “Thank you, you found Tim’s essence.” And Craig, came so amazing at finding John’s. So that was kind of hands off from there, which is kind of unique, you know? It often depends on box office or how commercially successful the film is. It was a different set of priorities for this film.
You describe them as boys, and at the start of the film and the book, they are absolutely that. They are teenagers. They’re 16 years old.
Now, you’re a NIDA graduate and so was Tim, and in the film, we see you doing some fairly interesting type of acting method classes. I’m curious how you take those skills and transform into a 16 year old. You’re not going back too far, only about a decade. But what can you do to act 16? I’m sure the wigs helped, but what else?
Right, well first of all, you fit a school uniform very, very differently. There were kids, we could justify, there were kids when I was 17 were fully grown men then.
Having a bit of stubble or looking more adult was okay. But for me it was a thought process. I thought at 17 I was on top of it. I knew who I was. The reality was I was still finding that out.
The wigs helped a lot. Often we’d be shooting three decades in a day. We’d sort of go in and do one long… we’d know where we were by the wigs. So we’d put the long one on and go, “Okay, we’re seventeen again.”
You’ve also got Geoffrey Rush, Anthony LaPaglia, Guy Pearce, Kerry Fox, all these great…
But I was kind of curious, what kind of acting lessons do you learn when you’re working with these legends. People who’ve had 20, 30 years more in the industry.
Yeah, all different. All different. It was very important we learnt from all of them because we worked with them at different stages of the film. But overwhelmingly we learnt that their process was very similar to us.
Having Geoffrey Rush come up to us at the start of a scene and sort of: “What do you think about… I was thinking about doing this, for this scene.”
I’m like, “You’re actually asking me?”
But how welcoming and warm that is.

[@jude6726]

bloody brilliant actor

[@prdcr]

he's such a good actor (and very handsome)

[@joaquin48dedios82]

Couldn’t stop crying towards the end...loved it.

[@laneyc5713]

He is very attractive 😯

[@molukvatten6232]

A very attractive and gifted individual

[@prdcr]

he is!!

[@jejearianator472]

ths movie absolutely touch me to tear!

[@prdcr]

he's such a good actor (and very handsome) 😍

[@CowboyJojosAdventures]

Great interview, heartwarming story about love which I had read 20 years ago when first published and brilliant film, absolutely loved it.

[@mairoo22]

Ryan you've done such wonderful job I felt like watching Tim in real life

[@jeannemattheij]

Thanks for sharing beautiful movie,...i truely see true love for these to people.💕

[@samsong24]

He is almost identical to Cody Fern :O

[@pipekarmona7696]

love him!

[@briedewayne071]

LOVE this ♥️ film. Must read the book now. & See the play...

[@sandydk6]

brilliant movie. I haven't read the book. It's going to have to happen soon.

[@andrijuliansyah4029]

Sandy De Klerk have you read the book? is it same as the movie or there is a slightly changes to the story?

[@lolawhiteeagle8933]

HARWIN STRONG HOUSE OF DRAGONS

[@mahlia3359]

i'm so ready for this movie aargh :")))

[@smolkaye1237]

mygod he's gorgeous

[@molukvatten6232]

I love him

[@medicinei677]

I love u s2 s2 From Brazil

[@suryaditaufan7285]

stop it.. keep going

[@DionneSier13]

I see you are a larrie 😏

[@suryaditaufan7285]

Dionne Sier hai :) yes i am

[@DionneSier13]

same 😏

[@suryaditaufan7285]

+Dionne Sier yey :)

[@TheEdwardforever99]

Ahahah

[@luisalberto-jv6wk]

sent to ryan corr for ever young no meat no eggs no milk

[@MissHannah2036]

Even more gorgeous when he plays a gay guy :)