Rising Aussie star Levi Miller landed a starring role with Hugh Jackman in blockbuster Pan on his first try

LEVI Miller knew he’d landed something big when he landed the leading role in Pan, but it wasn’t until he faced the crazy crowds at Comic Con that he realised just how big.

RISING Aussie star Levi Miller knew he was part of something big while he was making the movie Pan.

After all, he’d had auditions on three continents (two in his hometown of Brisbane, one in Los Angeles and one in London) and beat thousands of hopefuls to land the title role in the origin story to the beloved children’s tale, Peter Pan. And he’d been the central figure in a massive production with enormous sets, a respected director in Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride and Prejudice) and A-list co-stars including Hugh Jackman and Rooney Mara.

But it wasn’t until he got to this year’s Comic Con, held in San Diego in June, that he realised just how big things could get. With Wright, Jackman and Garrett Hedlund by his side, Miller strolled on to the stage in the cavernous, 6000-capacity Hall H — which had also hosted panels for Star Wars and Batman Vs Superman — a little wide-eyed and startled, but with a grin from ear to ear.

Starring role ... Levi Miller in a scene from the movie Pan. Picture: Supplied.

“That was incredible,” he says of the fan-frenzied experience. “It’s crazy there — how much time people wait. Someone told Hugh that people had been waiting outside since 10am and he said ‘oh’. And then they said ‘that’s 10am yesterday’, so they had been waiting outside for about 26 hours. It’s insane that they are so committed but it’s great.”

All the more impressive for Levi was that Pan, which tells the story of how J.M. Barrie’s beloved character came to Neverland, was his first feature film. Oddly though, it wasn’t the first time the 12-year-old actor had played the character. Having shown an early interest in being on stage thanks to seeing his two older sisters in a dance recital, he’d entered a drama competition and won with a Peter Pan monologue about “saving the pixies”.

“I was dressed as Peter Pan,” he says, chuckling at the memory. “I was like five or six or around that age. It’s coincidence.

“I was four or five when I saw my sisters on stage dancing — I was a bit clumsy so I never got to do that onstage dancing but I got a bit jealous of them. And they were missing someone for the dance … and I said ‘I’ll do it! I’ll do it!’.

“So I went on stage — and couldn’t dance at all — and I enjoyed it and enjoyed people clapping so I joined the dancing place. They also had an agency there and I did commercials for a bit. Then I joined another agency which did auditions for films and Pan was one of them.”

Easy as you like then. Miller — polite, engaging and impressively poised for his age — waxes lyrical about his multitalented co-star and names Jackman and Harrison Ford as having careers he’d love to emulate. Although Jackman plays his on-screen nemesis, the thoroughly black-hearted pirate Blackbeard, Miller says his compatriot was nothing but helpful on set, reminding him to “have fun with it”.

Pan movie release promotion at Polly Woodside Docklands. Actors Hugh Jackman and Levi Miller walk the dock to board Polly Woodside renamed as the Jolly Roger. Picture: David Caird.

“It was lovely,” he says of the experience. “He’s an incredible actor — so well known — and I loved the Wolverine so it was very cool. We definitely became friends throughout the film and he gave me little hints along the way. He was very kind.”

Miller relocated to London with his mother, Meg, to film the big-budget blockbuster over a period of seven months. Tutors kept him up to speed with his schooling during production with the wiser-than-his-years teen adamant that “there always has to be a back-up plan” to acting. He’s also determined to avoid the pitfalls that ensnare so many child actors, declaring that his mother and two older sisters keep him grounded.

“Because of how many people have gone off the rails it’s easier to see now,” he says. “People have already done that and I have seen what happens — all that partying it’s no good.”

He says he was also fortunate to have started high school in Brisbane before the Pan marketing machine kicked into gear, splashing his face all over posters, billboards and on the big screen.

“When I started the Pan trailer had just come out, so no one had really seen it at my school yet,” he says. “So I made friends with people before they knew I was Peter Pan and that was good. I don’t think I really want to be friends with people who change their whole approach on me. It seems a bit desperate.”

Australian actor Levi Miller in a scene from the movie Blue Dog. Roadshow Films

Miller says he already has the acting bug and is determined to make a lasting career out of it. And he’s already completed work on Blue Dog, the sequel to the hugely successful Aussie family film, Red Dog. Filmed in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, and with a cast including Bryan Brown and Justine Clarke, it could hardly have been further away from the Pan experience.

“That was lots of fun working with the dog — it was so cute,” he says. “It was a different experience because London was so central — there is so much going on in London. It was definitely different to live in the middle of nowhere. You got used to it by the final weeks but the red dirt getting on the clothes got a bit hard.”

Miller will return to WA next month to start filming on Jasper Jones, the film adaptation of Craig Silvey’s award-winning coming-of-age drama, to be directed by Rachel Perkins (Bran Nue Dae).

“It’s a very good book — I recommend it,” Miller says. “It’s quite a deep story — it’s about the days when they were not too kind to Aboriginal culture and people. I play a boy who is very anti the whole racist thing — he doesn’t believe in that. It’s also around the time of the Vietnamese War and his best friend is Vietnamese. I am excited to do it because I haven’t done a really serious film yet.”

Pan opens on Thursday.

Originally published as Rising Aussie star Levi Miller landed a starring role with Hugh Jackman in blockbuster Pan on his first try