April 10, 2025 • 10 mins
Aussie actor Richard Roxburgh joined Clairsy & Lisa in the studio to plug his new movie The Correspondent which is the true story of Australian war correspondent Peter Greste who was imprisoned in Egypt in 2013. Richard told the guys about playing the part & how he prepared for it plus he answers the question of whether or not we'll get another series of Rake and his bizarre experience at ComicCon.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Richard Roxbrough is in the studio with us. Good morning, now,
we welcome you to the studio because you're in town
to talk about The Correspondent, which is in cinemas on Thursday.
The Correspondent is based on the incredible true story from
a bit over ten years ago now of Peter Grestor,
the journalist who was imprisoned in Egypt, and you play Peter.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yes, So what can you tell us.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
About about the film?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
It's a I mean, it's incredible, it's a it's an
amazing it was the most amazing story when it first happened.
I can remember vividly just thinking what the hell is
going on? Yeah, so it was kind of respected known correspondent,
dragged off the streets in charge with terrorism and then
imprisoned and sentenced to seven years, and so it always
(00:52):
just it was GOB's making that nobody seemed to be
able to do anything about it. So it's this kind
of kaff caesque nightmare. But the story itself, so the
film kind of focuses on his relationship, these amazing sort
of pockets of relationships that he had in prison and
the kind of wonderful weirdness of those. Yeah, as well
as the you know, the various unfolding attempts to spring
(01:15):
him out, and it's done with the lightness of touch.
There's moments of great levity. It's actually really beautiful. It's
beautiful work.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
One of my memories of that the whole time was
the involvement of his parents too. They were very involved,
which was you know, I mean it spoke to his character,
you know, just the way he was raised.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Yeah, very passionate. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
They were actually in the audience in Brisbane three nights ago.
They were almost mobbed superstars. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they really were.
So they featured in the film as well. It's it's yeah,
it's really moving Richard.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
In your job, your craft, you have to try and
yourself emotions and things you can relate to to perform
and do things. But you've never been dragged out of
a hotel room and arrested and charged in jail for
seven years. How do you go about that? That's I've
got a pass. No, look, you know, it's obviously the act.
(02:18):
The actor's job is it sort of is the act.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Of imagining and the act of kind of trying to
go there empathetically. It was a strange shoot. It was
a really hard shoot. We had a fabulous director. I
kind of isolated myself for one of a better expression.
We were filming in awful little places like the kind
of Deercommission what used to be called the Mental Asylum
(02:41):
in Balmain, and so they're really sort of not very
cheerful places, which actually helped to for me to kind
of get where I needed to get to because it's obviously,
you know, it's a very emotional piece as well, and
we had Peter. I always had Peter in my pocket
to like who I could message you know, how did
(03:04):
you feel in this moment and so on, So that
was great having his support as well.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, you have you have great form in playing real
people real well. If I may fam for a moment.
Blue Murder is to this day the best Australian television
that's ever been made. Your portrayalers Roger the Dodger was incredible.
Cley was talking about talk before, when when it's a
(03:33):
true story, do you feel extra pressure as an actor
to you know, to do it the the justice that
that it needs.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Look, you do, there's there's obviously a strange additional pressure
when in somebody, especially somebody who's very much in the
public eye, whether it's Hawk or Rogerson, who were both
kind of you know, very much in the public imagination.
I mean, people you know a way to could show
(04:01):
you his hawky when you order your dinner, and they so.
So that brings additional difficulties.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
In this particular instance, playing Peter.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
We in early discussions with the director it became clear
we didn't well, I didn't want to do an active
imitation because it doesn't it didn't serve any particular purpose.
I don't particularly look like Peter, right, and so there
were elements of his character that were useful to bring in.
He has a real kind of he's quietly spoken, he's
always the most rational, calm person in the room, and
(04:38):
so there were really useful elements, but all of the
exterior stuff was was kind of pretty pretty irrelevant.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
You must see stories like this as as an actor,
see the stories, not just this story, but many stories
as they were evolving there in it. Because this was
very much in the news, as we've mentioned, and see
id like a crack at that. It must have seen
that many of those over the years.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I guess there have been this one I would never
have imagined.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
I mean I.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Suppose, because I don't you know, I don't think nobody
would have thought, well, this actor looks a lot like
Peter grest So it was a surprise when the script arrived.
To be honest, and like all actors, the first thing
I thought is, why would they choose me? Surely there's
somebody better who could who could do this role. So
(05:30):
and once you get through that and start having conversations
with the director, who who I have enormous respect for,
he's a he's a great creative lateral thinker, because a
film story is a really difficult story to tell because
you're stuck inside closed spaces.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
But his sound design and.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
He's cut the way he's cut it, it's that he's
managed to make it really suspenseful. It's quite quite brilliant.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
He directed Red Dog.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Did I mean, what did you do with that?
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Incredible. You mentioned Peter was in your pocket. Did he
have much to do with it? Did he ever go? No,
no matter, don't do it.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Like that with your face. If you're done do this,
stop doing that thing. Well, you've got too much hair. No, look,
he stayed, he stated at a respectful distance. He was
actually on set only on one day, okay, And he
sidled up to me at one point and he said,
(06:30):
is this really weird having me here? I said, no, mate, Look,
it's actually fine because I'm not trying to mimic you,
so I don't feel self conscious in that sense at all.
I'm just trying to explore as empathetically as I can
where it took you to.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, okay, I'd love to know how you feel when
you see the trailer for the first time and then
you see the actual finish film for the first time,
and how that makes it feel. Because this is a
brilliant trailer.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
It makes me feel like throwing up horrific. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Look, you know, my wife is always like, send me
the link. So I'll send a link and I'll say,
you know, I'll say to her, I got a link
to the film. I'm not watching it, and she'll go, okay,
just send it to me.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
I'll watch I'll watch it, so she reports back the Correspondence.
In cinemas on Thursday, Richard plays the journalist Peter Gresta
in that incredible story about when he was arrested and
jailed on terrorism charges in Egypt. Now, I would be
remiss of me not to ask is there any charts
that we could ever see some more rake? Or is
(07:40):
he well and truly done? Because you don't want to,
you know, drag something out that doesn't.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
No, you don't want to squeeze the absolute life out
of it. Look, I guess my feeling is I loved
it so much, and sometimes to keep trying to squeeze
something is a shame.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
No one wants you to.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
No, No, but I do. I miss I miss him.
I missed the experience, and I missed that company act.
It's like going back. It's a very unusual thing in
an actor's life to go back every year into this
kind of family environment. So I really missed that with
those with those brilliant people.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
It was a great character so so damn good and
your body of work. Now we will ask you, will
pepper you with questions about all kinds of things. But
have you I wanted to know, have you ever been
to a super and ova or a comic con? Having
played Count Dracula and that Van Helsing and seeing those
those fans of sci fi and fantasy are so.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
Rabid, you've experienced that? Yeah, I did, I love it.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Yes, they do come a costume for you they did.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Yeah, no, we did.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
We did one of those in San Diego one time,
and I did one in Sydney as well one.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Time san Diego.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
That's the off, Yes, it went. It went right off,
right in my face. I was, it's a shock to
the system.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
But God bless them. They just love it so much.
They really love that the hell out of that stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
They all come tos stuff. I went to one with
my son last year and they were there.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
John Jarrett was there going look at this.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Yeah. Yeah, it's a.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Whole sort of parallel universe of that that fandom stuff.
But you've got to say, I mean, they just they
just love it. I have a fourteen year old boy
who was so into he can tell you every single
element of the Marvel universe. Yeah, yeah, that you never
wanted to know about it, of course, but he's a passionate.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
I just have to say, we've got a lot of
things being made in Wa at the moment. I don't
know if you've noticed. We're very popular for filming stuff,
and we've got new film studios opening next year, so
we hope that you might come and take advantage of
our beautiful light, our beautiful locations. You're welcome at any time.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
I adore shooting over here. There was a there was
a really happy space of four years where I shot
four separate films.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Okay, all right, so you're familiar.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Yeah, all in the most beautiful little pockets down south
into one in Denmark, one in Albany, one in Bustleton.
I mean, it was just a privilege to be to
spend time in those pretty Yeah. It was pretty good
office to work every morning.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yeah, congratulations mate, you're a first guest in the studio
who's been early all year, so well done.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
Yeah, it is unprecedented in my life.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
So I have to thank a really crack publicity again
for that.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
There's been on your stuff.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Well, the Correspondent is in cinemas on Thursday. Looks fantastic,
which a drug sword. Has been an absolute pleasure to
have you in our studio. Thanks for coming.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
In, absolute pleasure to be here. Enjoy your break.
Richard Roxbrough is in the studio with us. Good morning, now,
we welcome you to the studio because you're in town
to talk about The Correspondent, which is in cinemas on Thursday.
The Correspondent is based on the incredible true story from
a bit over ten years ago now of Peter Grestor,
the journalist who was imprisoned in Egypt, and you play Peter.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yes, So what can you tell us.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
About about the film?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
It's a I mean, it's incredible, it's a it's an
amazing it was the most amazing story when it first happened.
I can remember vividly just thinking what the hell is
going on? Yeah, so it was kind of respected known correspondent,
dragged off the streets in charge with terrorism and then
imprisoned and sentenced to seven years, and so it always
(00:52):
just it was GOB's making that nobody seemed to be
able to do anything about it. So it's this kind
of kaff caesque nightmare. But the story itself, so the
film kind of focuses on his relationship, these amazing sort
of pockets of relationships that he had in prison and
the kind of wonderful weirdness of those. Yeah, as well
as the you know, the various unfolding attempts to spring
(01:15):
him out, and it's done with the lightness of touch.
There's moments of great levity. It's actually really beautiful. It's
beautiful work.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
One of my memories of that the whole time was
the involvement of his parents too. They were very involved,
which was you know, I mean it spoke to his character,
you know, just the way he was raised.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Yeah, very passionate. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
They were actually in the audience in Brisbane three nights ago.
They were almost mobbed superstars. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they really were.
So they featured in the film as well. It's it's yeah,
it's really moving Richard.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
In your job, your craft, you have to try and
yourself emotions and things you can relate to to perform
and do things. But you've never been dragged out of
a hotel room and arrested and charged in jail for
seven years. How do you go about that? That's I've
got a pass. No, look, you know, it's obviously the act.
(02:18):
The actor's job is it sort of is the act.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Of imagining and the act of kind of trying to
go there empathetically. It was a strange shoot. It was
a really hard shoot. We had a fabulous director. I
kind of isolated myself for one of a better expression.
We were filming in awful little places like the kind
of Deercommission what used to be called the Mental Asylum
(02:41):
in Balmain, and so they're really sort of not very
cheerful places, which actually helped to for me to kind
of get where I needed to get to because it's obviously,
you know, it's a very emotional piece as well, and
we had Peter. I always had Peter in my pocket
to like who I could message you know, how did
(03:04):
you feel in this moment and so on, So that
was great having his support as well.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, you have you have great form in playing real
people real well. If I may fam for a moment.
Blue Murder is to this day the best Australian television
that's ever been made. Your portrayalers Roger the Dodger was incredible.
Cley was talking about talk before, when when it's a
(03:33):
true story, do you feel extra pressure as an actor
to you know, to do it the the justice that
that it needs.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Look, you do, there's there's obviously a strange additional pressure
when in somebody, especially somebody who's very much in the
public eye, whether it's Hawk or Rogerson, who were both
kind of you know, very much in the public imagination.
I mean, people you know a way to could show
(04:01):
you his hawky when you order your dinner, and they so.
So that brings additional difficulties.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
In this particular instance, playing Peter.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
We in early discussions with the director it became clear
we didn't well, I didn't want to do an active
imitation because it doesn't it didn't serve any particular purpose.
I don't particularly look like Peter, right, and so there
were elements of his character that were useful to bring in.
He has a real kind of he's quietly spoken, he's
always the most rational, calm person in the room, and
(04:38):
so there were really useful elements, but all of the
exterior stuff was was kind of pretty pretty irrelevant.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
You must see stories like this as as an actor,
see the stories, not just this story, but many stories
as they were evolving there in it. Because this was
very much in the news, as we've mentioned, and see
id like a crack at that. It must have seen
that many of those over the years.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I guess there have been this one I would never
have imagined.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
I mean I.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Suppose, because I don't you know, I don't think nobody
would have thought, well, this actor looks a lot like
Peter grest So it was a surprise when the script arrived.
To be honest, and like all actors, the first thing
I thought is, why would they choose me? Surely there's
somebody better who could who could do this role. So
(05:30):
and once you get through that and start having conversations
with the director, who who I have enormous respect for,
he's a he's a great creative lateral thinker, because a
film story is a really difficult story to tell because
you're stuck inside closed spaces.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
But his sound design and.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
He's cut the way he's cut it, it's that he's
managed to make it really suspenseful. It's quite quite brilliant.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
He directed Red Dog.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Did I mean, what did you do with that?
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Incredible. You mentioned Peter was in your pocket. Did he
have much to do with it? Did he ever go? No,
no matter, don't do it.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Like that with your face. If you're done do this,
stop doing that thing. Well, you've got too much hair. No, look,
he stayed, he stated at a respectful distance. He was
actually on set only on one day, okay, And he
sidled up to me at one point and he said,
(06:30):
is this really weird having me here? I said, no, mate, Look,
it's actually fine because I'm not trying to mimic you,
so I don't feel self conscious in that sense at all.
I'm just trying to explore as empathetically as I can
where it took you to.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, okay, I'd love to know how you feel when
you see the trailer for the first time and then
you see the actual finish film for the first time,
and how that makes it feel. Because this is a
brilliant trailer.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
It makes me feel like throwing up horrific. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Look, you know, my wife is always like, send me
the link. So I'll send a link and I'll say,
you know, I'll say to her, I got a link
to the film. I'm not watching it, and she'll go, okay,
just send it to me.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
I'll watch I'll watch it, so she reports back the Correspondence.
In cinemas on Thursday, Richard plays the journalist Peter Gresta
in that incredible story about when he was arrested and
jailed on terrorism charges in Egypt. Now, I would be
remiss of me not to ask is there any charts
that we could ever see some more rake? Or is
(07:40):
he well and truly done? Because you don't want to,
you know, drag something out that doesn't.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
No, you don't want to squeeze the absolute life out
of it. Look, I guess my feeling is I loved
it so much, and sometimes to keep trying to squeeze
something is a shame.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
No one wants you to.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
No, No, but I do. I miss I miss him.
I missed the experience, and I missed that company act.
It's like going back. It's a very unusual thing in
an actor's life to go back every year into this
kind of family environment. So I really missed that with
those with those brilliant people.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
It was a great character so so damn good and
your body of work. Now we will ask you, will
pepper you with questions about all kinds of things. But
have you I wanted to know, have you ever been
to a super and ova or a comic con? Having
played Count Dracula and that Van Helsing and seeing those
those fans of sci fi and fantasy are so.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
Rabid, you've experienced that? Yeah, I did, I love it.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Yes, they do come a costume for you they did.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Yeah, no, we did.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
We did one of those in San Diego one time,
and I did one in Sydney as well one.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Time san Diego.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
That's the off, Yes, it went. It went right off,
right in my face. I was, it's a shock to
the system.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
But God bless them. They just love it so much.
They really love that the hell out of that stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
They all come tos stuff. I went to one with
my son last year and they were there.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
John Jarrett was there going look at this.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Yeah. Yeah, it's a.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Whole sort of parallel universe of that that fandom stuff.
But you've got to say, I mean, they just they
just love it. I have a fourteen year old boy
who was so into he can tell you every single
element of the Marvel universe. Yeah, yeah, that you never
wanted to know about it, of course, but he's a passionate.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
I just have to say, we've got a lot of
things being made in Wa at the moment. I don't
know if you've noticed. We're very popular for filming stuff,
and we've got new film studios opening next year, so
we hope that you might come and take advantage of
our beautiful light, our beautiful locations. You're welcome at any time.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
I adore shooting over here. There was a there was
a really happy space of four years where I shot
four separate films.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Okay, all right, so you're familiar.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Yeah, all in the most beautiful little pockets down south
into one in Denmark, one in Albany, one in Bustleton.
I mean, it was just a privilege to be to
spend time in those pretty Yeah. It was pretty good
office to work every morning.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yeah, congratulations mate, you're a first guest in the studio
who's been early all year, so well done.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
Yeah, it is unprecedented in my life.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
So I have to thank a really crack publicity again
for that.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
There's been on your stuff.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Well, the Correspondent is in cinemas on Thursday. Looks fantastic,
which a drug sword. Has been an absolute pleasure to
have you in our studio. Thanks for coming.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
In, absolute pleasure to be here. Enjoy your break.
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