Q&A: Stuart Beattie, 47, screenwriter, director

Screenwriter Stuart Beattie reveals Johnny Depp’s most famous role was originally for Hugh Jackman.

Stuart Beattie. Picture: Steve Baccon

Johnny Depp has made Jack Sparrow his own, but is it true you wrote that part in Pirates of the Caribbean with Hugh Jackman in mind? I was pitching Hugh for the role because I was trying to get people to pay attention to him. He and I went to the same high school [Sydney’s Knox Grammar] and I’d seen him perform and I thought he was a vastly talented guy. But nobody had any idea who he was in Hollywood, so I was just trying to help him out.

You wrote scripts for films including Collateral, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra and Australia, and then directed as well as wrote Tomorrow, When the War Began and I, Frankenstein. How did you find directing? It wasn’t a big leap because I’d been on so many sets of films I’d written, and I’d worked really closely with amazing directors like Baz Luhrmann, Michael Mann and James Mangold, so it felt very natural. I directed two films and then I had to pull back and just concentrate on writing. Directing is such a 24/7 job and I had two young boys and I wanted to be there for them.

When did you decide you wanted to make movies? From Star Wars onwards I was hooked; I’d see five movies in a day and think nothing of it. But [as for wanting to make movies] it wasn’t until I was 14 and a friend invited me to a private screening of Ghostbusters. When the film ended, for the first time I sat and watched the credits and after a while I asked him, “Who are all these people?” It hadn’t ever occurred to me that that was a job you could do.

You wrote the script for Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan in just four weeks. Was it a story you knew well? I learnt about the battle in high school and the story was one I always wanted to tell. It feels like it’s long overdue that we examine Australia’s involvement in Vietnam. Many Australians don’t even know we were there. It’s sad these guys never had the recognition that they deserved or acknowledgment of their sacrifice. A lot went over there and a lot died, a lot were wounded, and the ones who came back carried the scars for the rest of their lives.

Is the streak of insubordination that runs through the film peculiar to Australia? You can’t imagine it happening in the British or US army, can you? It’s a very Australian thing to say, “I don’t care what the guy in charge says — my mates are in trouble and I’ve got to help them.” We made none of that up.

How important is research? You’ve got to understand the world you’re creating in order to tell a story. My mum was a Latin teacher and she pointed out to me that the words author, authority and authentic all have the same Latin root. If you want to be an author and you want to write authentically, you have to be an authority on the subject.

You’ve written a film called Last Man Standing about Olympic speed skater Steven Bradbury. Did you learn anything new? I think the film will redefine what it means to “do a Bradbury”. It really means to devote yourself to something and never give up against the most impossible odds. His win wasn’t luck at all. Steve’s story is absolutely incredible and if there’s one thing I’ve learnt in 30 years of screenwriting, it’s that when you see a good story, grab it.

Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan opens in cinemas on August 8