Meet Melbourne’s forgotten Emmy Award nominee
For a hometown boy, his Emmy nod almost went unnoticed. Meet Greig Fraser, the Melbourne cinematographer who’s shooting Hollywood blockbusters with an oh-so-Aussie attitude.
Entertainment
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Australian actors Hugh Jackman, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Hannah Gadsby and Sarah Snook stole most of the thunder when Emmy Awards nominations were recently announced.
However, also in the mix for an Emmy nod, though not in the same spotlight of the marquee stars, was a cinematographer from Mooroolbark, who studied photography at RMIT, and whose 2018-2020 resume includes Star Wars: The Mandalorian, a remake of the sci-fi classic Dune, and new Caped Crusader blockbuster, The Batman.
Meet Greig Fraser.
Fraser is nominated in an outstanding cinematography category for his work on an episode of The Mandalorian.
The series, a Star Wars spin-off, is a space western set after Return of the Jedi and before The Force Awakens.
“It’s a huge honour because we worked really hard on The Mandalorian,” Fraser said.
Fraser was first invited inside the Star Wars empire as cinematographer on the 2016 movie Rogue One, and says it was hard to contain the fanboy within.
“It’s my childhood, and it’s the childhood of a lot of my friends,” he said. “There’s pressure because a lot of people have a very strong opinion about what that film should be.
“But ultimately, when you get into it, it just becomes a drama about people. If you can strip out all the X-wings, and the Jedis, and droids … they’re good stories,” Fraser says.
“Yes, when you see a couple of X-wings being towed into position, that’s next level. It’s wild seeing that as a young fan at heart. But as DP (director of photography), you have to do your job.
Fraser grew up in Mooroolbark in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.
“I had a great upbringing,” he says. I remember quite distinctly the very, very hot summers.”
He studied at RMIT, and worked on short films before working on movies with Jane Campion and Baz Luhrmann.
His big budget film credits include Zero Dark Thirty, Lion and Vice.
Fraser said he never had a Hollywood dream.
“It was never a goal,” he adds. “I’m very proud to have grown up and learned my trade in Australia. But America … really lured me because it was a great opportunity to grow and improve.”
He says having an Aussie attitude in Hollywood is an advantage.
“Australians are very good at calling a spade a spade. There’s no beating around the bush,” Fraser says.
“Unfortunately, that can mean I’m a little bit blunt to people who are not blunt. I often need to moderate that. But it allows you to cut through the bs. Australians have a great bs monitor. We hear and feel bs real quick.”
Fraser is in London to shoot The Batman, with Robert Pattinson in the lead role.
Asked if his Star Wars-Dune-Batman trifecta signals a move to mega-budget spectacles, Fraser laughs: “I don’t have that level of self reflection, to be frank. It’s exciting as hell, right? But I don’t reflect on those questions.
“For me, nothing’s changed. It’s the same level of self motivation to try and push the boundaries.”
Emmy Award winners will be announced on September 21.