The Australian film industry is slowly but surely carving out its own place in the world.
In recent years we’ve seen major blockbusters such as Thor: Ragnarok, The Fall Guy and Anyone But You filmed in Australian cities.
And Australian-Malaysian actor, Remy Hii tells 9Honey that there’s a reason Hollywood is visiting Australia more and more often.
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“I think you see a lot of ingenuity,” he explains. “We are often working with smaller budgets than you’d get in Hollywood… We know how to get a lot done with very little.”
As the push to see more diversity in film and TV gets stronger, Hii explains that producers have even more reason to be looking at local Australian talent and filming locations.
“One of our biggest strengths as a nation is our diversity,” he says. “We have come to Australia from all over the world, and our First Nations peoples are one of the earth’s oldest cultures. We have so many incredible stories to tell here, and I think we have to keep being fearless in our attempts to tell them.”
Hii, who has starred in major projects such as Crazy Rich Asians and Wellmania, is one of the many Aussies who have managed to make it big in Hollywood.
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Before heading to the states he did his fair share of work here in Australia appearing on shows such as H2O: Just Add Water and Neighours, and he partially credits that work for his success.
As Hii explains Australian sets are often working with smaller budgets and expected to go head-to-head with content made in Hollywood.
He says that’s part of the reason we’re seeing so many Aussies making it big in the states. “I really think a large part of the success of Australian actors comes down to the fact that we come to work prepared and ready to hit the mark in 2 or 3 takes.”
And while the star has worked alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest names such as Tom Holland, Jake Gyllenhall and Vanessa Hudgens, he says it was meeting Troy Baker that got him really starstruck.
Baker is the voice actor behind Joel in the video game The Last Of Us, a character portrayed by Pedro Pascal in the TV show adaptation.
“I really geeked out on that one,” Hii says. “If you’ve played the game, you’ll know what I mean.”
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But even among Hollywood’s biggest and brightest stars, Hii says there’s nothing that beats working alongside fellow Aussies.
He explains that there’s a real sense of camaraderie between Aussies in Hollywood, having worked alongside Angourie Rice on Spider-Man: Far From Home and Chris Pang in Crazy Rich Asians.
“[It’s] always nice to know who has the Vegemite hookup when you’re filming overseas!”
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