Interview with “Force of Nature: The Dry 2” Actors, Eric Bana and Deborra-lee Furness

Full transcript of Interview with “Force of Nature: The Dry 2” Actors, Eric Bana and Deborra-lee Furness.

0:05KT: Bana, Deborra-lee Furness. Thank you so much, and welcome to the For Your Reference podcast. Thank you. Thank you. I just wanna say it is such an honor to be able to speak to both of you for many reasons across many decades, and I'm very excited to talk about Force of Nature with the both of you today. Cheers. Before I get started, I would like to say congratulations

0:24KT: to you, Eric, and the team for The Dry and the massive success that The Dry has had. And I can only imagine how much of a Force of Nature will be as well. I guess to get us started, because you are putting your shoes back into an existing role, what was it like to be able to offer new dimension to an existing character in Aaron?

0:38Eric: Oh, it was really exciting. I mean, I've never had that opportunity before to start a film where I already knew the character intimately because I'd already played him. So it was a it was a real advantage

0:52Eric: Yeah. And enabled us to sort of think about, well, what's the next level? What's the next layer? Where is he at? Where where can we take him? So it was a real a real a real thrill to be able to explore that.

1:03KT: And, Deborra-lee, in regards to Force of Nature, you embodied that completely in the role of Jill. It was so much fun to be able to watch you in that. How was it going into an existing sort of successful franchise and bringing your own character in there?

1:17Deborra: See, I never look I look at everything as its individual thing. Like, I looked at Force of Nature as its own entity. Yep. So I went in. I was drawn to and I I've I've said this. I was drawn because of the strong female ensemble cast and strong characters. And I love playing women who are, strong and who are, you know, can be role models for young girls. Yeah. And I just like that Jill was in her own power.

1:45Deborra: And Mhmm. But very real as well. Like, you know, we're all human, and we're put in this situation, and we really get to see our humanity. I love that when the mask has to come off because of the environment and the situation, and you're you're there just with your essence of who you are. So that's as an actor, that's juice.

1:56KT: Yeah. Absolutely. And I think even just being a woman in many ways, it is survival. Yeah. Whether it is out in the wilderness or sometimes in corporate spaces. That's the wilderness. Yeah. Exactly. As a woman, I was like, this is very satisfying. These dynamics are very familiar to me as well. But I guess in regards to a local production

2:22KT: and having a mix of legendary cast like yourself as well as new and upcoming talent, Sisi Stringer, Lucy Ansell, Robin McLeavy, What was it like being able to work and play in different experiences in and out of set?

2:22Deborra: Well, I loved as you said, Eric, when you cast it, when you chose everyone,

2:39Deborra: we are all so different. I mean, as as as human beings and as characters. So that alchemy was really tangible and really interesting. And I think that's was so fun to play with, because we had to navigate all our differences.

2:57KT: Yeah. And, Eric, I did notice the credits of, like, second unit director as well as producer. Was it interesting to be more involved instead of just being the lead in the film?

3:02Eric: Yeah. Look. Rob and I work really, really well together, and we we we love making films together and helping each other out. So where whatever's needed, just get in and and do it. And and the the realities of this was, you know, we just couldn't be in two places at once sometimes. So Mhmm. So it worked out well for me to do some of that second unit unit stuff and

3:26Eric: try and get as much value out of our locations as as possible.

3:30KT: And, yeah, the sprawling landscapes are in and of themselves. It's something to breathe in and to be able to digest. And I think that's the beauty of being in this country and being able to have these stories as well.

3:42KT: Deborra, heard you talk about being on set. This was not on set on set. This was out in the wild. It was brutal. What was it like?

3:42Deborra: Well, I guess there you go. No. It is. It was it was one of the hardest locations I've had to work on because Mhmm. We were literally climbing up the mountains. I was literally falling in the holes. Like, every time we say, walk up the mountain again, it was like, you got leeches, you got trees whipping you in the face, and it it was it was challenging. But I like an adventure, so like if yeah. I had a real adventure.

4:12KT: Did you because there's so much texture to Force of Nature. I guess with your sort of role, Eric, you kind of probably already knew the story. But for you, Deborra, did you know where Jill's character was going or where the characters were going? And did that help your performance, or was it knowing what was going to happen?

4:31Deborra: As I said before, Robert Connolly is very collaborative. And because of the environment, we had to sometimes think on our feet like it's pouring with rain, but we gotta shoot. And so you just gotta go with it. You know, I I I was very involved with creating Jill. Like, Robert and I worked together. So I sort of I had my plan for where she was going, but I like the fact that due to whatever's happening with the other actors or the environment, that it shifts, and that's the magic of filmmaking that you don't know.

4:59KT: Yeah. And, Eric, for you, there were parallels similar to the first Dry, parallels of the story and getting a bit more texture of Aaron's character. Did that help the emotional sort of journey for an audience?

5:10Eric: It did for me personally. Yeah. Most definitely. And I think I think what I love that that Jane did with this story was gave Aaron a real sense of guilt for Alice's plight. He really feels responsible for the predicament that she's in. And and and I think that elevates the you know, we're watching his more of his backstory as we've got dual timelines again with this film.

5:33Eric: And Jacqueline McKenzie does a great job of kind of gently both pushing me and putting me under more pressure, at the same time, kind of probing me emotionally and trying to find out more about about Aaron. Yeah, it's just amazing performance from her.

5:33KT: I wanna thank you for your time. I'll be wrapping up with our final question. We finish our reviews with a recommendation. So what would you pair with Force of Nature as a double feature? I guess you could cheat and say The Dry.

5:33Eric: But I have to say The Dry. You just go, you know, they're very easy for me. Very easy.

6:01Eric: Picnic at Hanging Rock would be bad. Yeah.

6:05Deborra: What's another mystery? White Lotus? Love it. I just actually, only because I've just finished binge watching it.

6:13Deborra: Well, I I I guess we got hours of watching a lot more saucy than ours. Yeah. Taormina. Yeah. Taormina and and the Victorian high country. Yeah. I think that could be a great next location.

6:13KT: Well, thank you so much for keeping us saucy with me today. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.