Jane Campion gave Clayton Jacobson the role of his life in Top of the Lake: China Girl
CLAYTON Jacobson, brother of Kenny star Shane Jacobson, became a resident of Bondi while filming Top of the Lake: China Girl.
Wentworth Courier
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CLAYTON Jacobson, who with his brother Shane made the 2006 hit film Kenny about portaloos, usually lives in Melbourne. But for six months filming Top of the Lake: China Girl, the actor, director and writer was a resident of Bondi.
The second series of director Jane Campion’s TV show has moved the action from New Zealand to Sydney, still starring US actor Elisabeth Moss as police detective Robin Griffin, with Nicole Kidman and Gwendoline Christie of Game of Thrones fame.
Before landing the role of Detective Sergeant Adrian Butler, Clayton was mainly a director and writer. He first got to know Campion when he edited the trailer for her 1993 Oscar-winning film The Piano, and she asked him to audition for the first Top of the Lake series.
“I wasn’t able to do it, and I’m so grateful, because the part offered to me in this season is so much more substantial,” Clayton said.
Was he nervous? “Of course! I would have been really worried if I wasn’t,” he said. “Nearly all my scenes are with Elisabeth and Gwendoline, so every day was like the main event for me.”
The series is shot all over Sydney, much of it at Bondi where a is body washed up on the beach.
Filming there was fantastic, Clayton said, including a scene in the lifeguard tower. “It was active while we were in it … we were standing there preparing to play scenes while life guards were in there doing their job, so we were working around each other.”
He also lived at the beach during filming. “Sydney was my second home. I had to lose a bit of weight, so was frequenting all the exercise clubs,” he said. “But I couldn’t pass up going to Hurricane’s Grill now and then.”
Moving from behind the camera to be an actor gave him other opportunities: “It’s like being a spy on set, seeing how other directors work.”
What struck him about Campion was the complexity of the characters she creates. “Every single emotion that is available to you as a human being gets exercised.”
It also gave him the confidence to take on another acting role. More than 10 years after Kenny, the Jacobson brothers are about to appear in another film together, directed by Clayton. Due out next year, Sibling Rivalry is about two brothers scheming to knock off their stepfather to secure their inheritance.
“It’s a lot darker than Kenny, I think it will shock some people,” Clayton said. “But hopefully they’ll have a couple of laughs too.
Top of the Lake: China Girl is screening on Foxtel, Sundays at 8.30pm.
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