Congratulations to our very own Stephen Hunter who has been confirmed for Peter Jackson's The Hobbit films.
On October 15 this year, the films were given the green light making pre-production go full steam ahead. Stephen's role of Bombur was announced shortly after and he will be joining the following ensemble cast: Martin Freeman (Bilbo Baggins), Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakensheild), Rob Kazinsky (Fili), Aidan Turner (Kili), Graham McTavish (Dwalin), John Callen (Oin), Mark Hadlow (Dori) and Peter Hambleton (Gloin).
In the Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Jackson said he was thrilled to be working with McTavish and Hadlow. He then went on to say "I am also proud to announce the casting of New Zealand actors such as Peter Hambleton, John Callen and Stephen Hunter. Fran and I know that they will bring great depth and talent to our Company of Dwarves." See full article at: www.smh.com.au
We are so proud of Stephen and the enormous amount of effort and commitment that went into his preparations for the audition.
For the past 5 years he has had personal acting instruction under Billy Milionis, studying consistently at The Actors Pulse. Leading up to this role, Stephen has been solidly auditioning and has just about landed everything he has auditioned for. Someone with his level of commitment and dedication to not only the craft of acting, but also the work involved is a rare find. Bombur in The Hobbit is a role truly well deserved.
Read about Stephen Hunter and The Hobbit production on if.com.au
An email from Stephen to Billy, Director of The Actors Pulse.
Well we start filming officially tomorrow. We won’t be on ourselves for a few more days but it is finally becoming a huge reality. I recently had the full test in make up & costume, and while I obviously can’t give out any details, it looked amazing, and the “Grown Ups” (Pete, Fran & Philippa) were really happy.
I’ve been working hard on learning as much as possible about my character – although the way they work is pretty organic. We have done work on dialect, stunt skills, horse riding and heaps of fitness. I look and feel fitter than I have for a while.
As we move on to the business end of shooting, I’m starting to reflect on the journey I have been on to get here.
Without doubt, the last 5 or so years at The Pulse have been the best training I have ever had. Not just because I have learned so many great skills that are invaluable as a professional actor. More importantly you have taught me that my work is never done. Now when I am on set rehearsing, training, doing tests, costume, make up – whatever it may be, I’m am always on the look out for what else I can do to enhance my performance. It can pretty tempting to just take the breaks and watch a DVD or go home or sleep. But after 5 years of activities and bloody doors, I can’t just sit and chew up time. I’m re-reading the script, doing research on Dwarves, working and practising dialect, doing breathing exercises, doing fitness. And of course doing all the things you taught me when needed – facts, phrases, relationships, beats etc. Even mundane things like putting all the elements of my work into a folder for easy reference, or putting things on my iphone so I can review material easier.
What I’m saying is, I no longer just sit back and think the work is over once I have the job. You have taught me to work everyday. And while some days I do just relax and get a bit lazy, it’s now habit for me to keep discovering and to work out what I’m doing, what’s at stake, what happens if I don’t get it etc. Thankfully it happens a lot quicker now, but that constant pressure in class has really paid off.
The other thing I have discovered is the importance of persistence. I was never the most talented, I didn’t have the highest scores and didn’t really win a lot of awards at prize giving. But what I can see now is that I never ever gave up. There were times I wanted to – plenty. There were times when I thought that I was shit or acting was shit or the school or teachers or other students were shit – none of that was ever true of course but when things get tough we tend to blame everyone but ourselves.
But, thankfully despite all my doubts (we all have them) I kept going. Trusting not only my wonderful teachers and fellow students – but most importantly trusting myself, my own talent and my own ability to get through the tough times and win.
And I’m glad I did, because when my dream job came along I was ready - I was match fit after all my training ( and of course from the great one on one’s from Billy – along with the amazing Dan Mor, Greg Ritchie & Taz Roc.) It wasn’t a home run audition, but it was a good audition. I knew what I had to do and I did it. You told me that not many people would have done the prep that I did for that. That’s probably true. I did one audition and got offered a role in the biggest motion picture of all time. It sounds good when I say it like that!!
So I guess I you allow me to pass on anything to my fellow actors, students, anyone who would care to listen – it’s this. Keep going. If this is what you want your life to be about, if this is your lifetime career - Keep going, enjoy the journey and don’t focus on the end result. You need to have an end game for sure, but you have to take everything in while you’re getting there and enjoy the process.
And to you my dear friend, thank you again for being who you are to me. A mentor, teacher, critic, trainer, friend. Lets keep in touch and hopefully I’ll see you over here soon. Otherwise I’ll be back in the winter for a little while.
Cheers, Stephen.
Before - Stephen Hunter dressed for his audition for The Hobbit.
After - Stephen Hunter in full costume as Bombur in The Hobbit.
