Carlos Sanson Jr is on his way to stardom with latest movie release Sweet As

He made a name for himself in the TV series Bump but now Carlos Sanson Jr has delivered a knockout performance on the silver screen.

Carlos Sanson plays a photographer in Sweet As.

It was just a feeling he had – but Carlos Sanson Jr always knew he’d make it.

Like when the aspiring actor left his Sydney home for the bright lights of Hollywood and, after eight days in LA, landed a gig on Netflix movie Malibu Rescue. Or when he had to come home because of Covid, and auditioned for an unknown show called Bump, the surprise Stan hit which resonated with audiences so now they are holding their breath for the announcement of a fourth season.

Or when the passionate boxer won his first amateur bout by a knockout, then won his second in the same way.

Luckily that was straight after wrapping a show – perfect timing for someone who can’t go to set with a black eye.

“I get this feeling when something really feels like it’s me – and I got that feeling with Bump too,” Sanson Jr he told Insider.

“And I’ve been here (in Sydney) ever since because we just keep doing seasons, and I’m just riding this wave now – I’m going where the swell is.

“You are your thoughts – so what you think is, I believe, what comes to fruition. If you’re sitting there stressing about what’s next … then I think the universe listens to that, and that’s what it’s going to give back to you – nothing.

Carlos Sanson Jr in the new movie Sweet As.

“So for me, it’s just about like staying really positive and focusing on the work when it comes, and having faith that amazing things are ahead – which I know they are – and I don’t mean that in an arrogant way or anything.

“It’s just this warm feeling in my belly that tells me everything’s gonna work out.”

Sanson Jr’s new film, Sweet As, was released on Thursday and it’s another project he’s proud of. It’s already screened at film festivals around the world, including Toronto and Berlin, and is set in remote Pilbara country in Western Australia, where a troubled Indigenous teen finds herself abandoned after an incident with her drug-fuelled mother.

Before being sent into child protection, she’s thrown a lifeline to go on a photo safari with other at risk teens and two charismatic team leaders – enter Sanson Jr.

“It was honestly up there with probably the best two months of my life,” he says.

“I’d never been to WA … it was breathtaking and was a whole sensory overload experience for me.

“And really interesting because my character is from Nicaragua, and he comes to take at risk kids on this photography safari through the outback – but he himself has never seen the things he is photographing.

Aussie actor Carlos Sanson Jnr is a star on the rise. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“So there was a parallel there – I was just as shocked as my character was, and just as overwhelmed by the beauty and spending time out the in country. It really was what I exactly what I needed at that time in my life – there was something about it that was very healing. On set is my happy place, so I got the best of both worlds.”

He says it takes a while to get used to the freelance life, and not having a 9-5 schedule or routine every week. But, when he’s not acting, auditioning or preparing – there’s another place that brings him to life – and that’s the boxing ring. And it was the discipline of the sport that lured him in.

“There’s a real lack of structure in between (acting) jobs, and to be honest, it’s taken a little bit of adjusting for me … but I love hanging out with my friends, I love spending time with my family, I love exercising,” he says.

“I try to build as much structure in my week as I can to provide that little bit of stability in what can feel like this chaotic, beautiful life I get to live. I’ve thought a lot about why do I feel so drawn to boxing. It’s the discipline that comes with the sport that is something that I crave. I love the discipline and the repetition and the hard work that has to be put in order to get the results.”

And he’s found many parallels between what he does as an actor and what he does in the ring.

Oly (Nathalie Morris) and Santi (Carlos Sanson Jnr) in a scene from Bump.

“When you’re in the ring with another opponent, it’s like when you’re in a scene with another actor, going off what they give you, and you’re countering in the ring,” he explains.

“It’s like you’re dancing with your opponent – and you’re dancing with your scene partner and what they say to you influences how you respond to them and there’s this synergy that I find between the two crafts.

“I think is probably why I’m drawn to the sport.”

And he’s just started competing too. Last year, he had his first amateur fight – a second round knockout – and another just recently.

“It was really rewarding because it was something that I wanted to do for a while, actually, but the timing was never right … and while there are a lot of similarities with acting, there are also a lot of problems – like if I get a black eye, I can’t go on set the next day.”

Then the timing was right. And, like he does, he got a feeling it would all work out.

“When we wrapped Bump season three, there’s always this post-job kind of blues, where it’s overbusy for months, and then all of a sudden you wrap and wake up and you’ve got nothing to do,” he explains.

Carlos Sanson Jr says working on Sweet As in Western Australia was close to the best two months of his life.

“This kind of emptiness – and that’s when the head noise can come in – like, am I gonna work again? I remember the day we were wrapping, I texted my coach and was like: ‘Hey, are there any fight nights coming up?’ and he said there was one in six weeks. So I was like f--k it – sign me up.”

His rigorous training paid off and the adrenaline of sparring – and winning – he says was thrilling. And addictive.

“It’s a very similar adrenaline that I find when I’m playing a character … it’s a similar craving that that’s being fed when I box and when I act,” he says.

“And just recently, my coach got a call saying someone pulled out of a fight because of injury, and did he know anyone that would want to step in? He asked me and I was like, f--k it. I had just wrapped Paper Dolls, a show on Paramount, literally the day of the fight. I had my last day on set filming and went straight to weigh-in.

“And I won,” he laughs.

As for future work – well, he’s happily still riding the wave.

“I mean, everything’s changed now because of Covid, auditions are now happening remotely by self-tape – so I could book a job in Brussels tomorrow and be in Europe for the rest of the year,” he says.

“I think work will take me where I’m meant to be.

“I just have a feeling.”

Sweet As is in cinemas now.