CALLAN
MCAULIFFE
Callan McAuliffe, 19 From Sydney, Australia Lives in Los Angeles, CA Photograhy by Jeff Forney
Callan McAuliffe, the nineteen-year-old Australian actor from such films as the 2013 hit The Great Gatsby, Rob Reiner’s Flipped, and sci-fi flick I Am Number has mapped an unconventional road to success, and it started in a definitively unglamorous way. “I wanted to buy a dog and I didn’t have any pocket money.” This led him to apply for work at a modeling agency in Sydney, and from there, even he seems a bit surprised. “There’s so many different factors that come together to give me these opportunities…it’s definitely difficult to predict how it’s all going to happen, but I’ve just been very fortunate.” 2009 brought Callan his first character role after extensive auditions and “grueling callbacks” during a visit to Los Angeles, which secured him a part in Reiner’s Flipped. It was here that he began to develop his passion for acting. Though he admits that initially it all seemed so easy, he misjudged the nature of the industry. “I figured ‘Oh, I’ve done this film, I’m a movie star, I’m set for life…’ during that shoot I developed a real passion for it.” The grind of numerous unsuccessful auditions that followed, though, brought him down to earth with a more balanced understanding of the industry he’s involved in. “You know, there’s always somebody who is doing more work than you.” The actors he admires have been a major influence in defining his understanding of acting. “Robert Downey Jr. gives a fantastic performance but you don’t think, ‘Well, this is pretentious!’ His end goal is to entertain people… I love what he does, because he does great performances in really entertaining movies.” Callan knows it is a learning process, but believes he can improve his work without necessarily getting advice from other actors - just being around the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio or Sir Ben Kingsley is enough. “It’s like a subconscious education because you watch people and something that you’ve seen may pop up in a performance later.” He’s aware of his good fortune, but also the risks of being a relatively young actor, especially in today’s world of hypermedia, or, as he refers to it, the “age of permanent damage.” As he sees it, “being an immature person is a lot more dangerous these days just because of how much power your words have with the internet. When something goes wrong, it’s on the internet forever.” This mindset keeps him in thoughtful control of his performances and their impact. Callan is currently working with Samuel L. Jackson in a remake of the Japanese anime film Kite, due out this year, and—not one to forget the dogs—serves as youth ambassador for California NPO Wolf Connection.
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