Another movie career ends up on the scrapheap

MOVIE props are designed to be realistic, but this one from a film shot off Brisbane was so convincing it stopped traffic, and caused more than a few phone calls to police, as it was hauled to a local scrapyard.

Steve Henderson of United Scrap Metal with Willy the whale ... yet another movie star whose career ended up on the scrapheap.

HE’S not the first star whose career ended up on the scrapheap after one movie.

But at least this big boy went out with a splash.

Meet Willy the whale — three tonnes of traffic-stopping foam, steel and laytex, complete with fake barnacles and deliciously gory shark attacks wounds.

The star of locally-made movie The Shallows, Willy is so realistic that as he was being taken to his new home at a Murarrie scrapyard, concerned motorists rang police to report that someone had a dead whale on the back of a truck.

Willy the whale ... three tonnes of traffic-stopping foam, steel and rubber.

“He created a bit of a stir,” proud owner Steve Henderson, of United Scrap Metal, said.

He secured Willy from his mate Wally Carpenter, owner of Gateway Transport, who had removed it from a Tangalooma Island Resort storage shed.

The shed had been Willy’s home since filming of The Shallows finished in 2015 and as soon as Wally saw him, he knew just the bloke to offer him to.

“He knew I liked these sort of things and he rang me and said ‘do you want a whale?’,” Mr Henderson said.

“I said yes, of course. Who wouldn’t?”

The peak of Willy’s career as Blake Lively clings to his carcass while surrounded by sharks.

Movie fans might remember Willy from The Shallows, which was shot in 2015 and starred Blake Lively.

In a defining moment in cinematic history, Blake took refuge on Willy’s carcass as she escaped a pack of sharks.

Mr Carpenter said his short trip from the river to the scrapyard created a bit of a stir, with motorists craning to get a better look … and some obviously calling police.

“The police called and asked me if I had a dead whale on the back of my truck and I had to explain it was just a prop,” he laughed.

“They saw the funny side … sort of.”

Willy’s final resting place is in a Murarrie scrapyard.

Willy’s new role will be arguably more memorable as Mr Henderson plans to add him to his scrapyard collection, which already includes a helicopter parked on the roof of his shed.

But he says he could be tempted by an offer from someone wanting to take Willy off his hands.

“Everything has a price,” he smiled.

Sounds like he wouldn’t blubber about it.