David Wenham: Spit movie revisits his most asked-about character, shows Aussie affection for a bogan underdog

Of all the characters David Wenham has played across his storied career, Johnny “Spit” Spitieri, from the 2003 Aussie crime comedy Gettin’ Square, is not the obvious choice to return to. The theory behind sequels is relatively straightforward — leverage the success of the original movie to tap into a ready-made audience. Even long delays don’t dissuade studios from revisiting previously lucrative IP, with recent examples including Top Gun: Maverick, Blade Runner: 2049, Twisters, Gladiator II and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. But the key here is having a successful original as the jumping-off point, and Gettin’ Square was a box-office bomb. “It’s funny, because you’re right, it didn’t do terribly well at the box office,” Wenham admits while talking to STM. Despite glowing reviews and then ascendant talent Sam Worthington at the helm, the film was a flop in Australian cinemas, barely recouping a quarter of its estimated $8 million budget. Worthington played Wattsy, a recently paroled bloke trying to get back on the straight and narrow after serving a sentence for a crime he didn’t commit. This is easier said than done when you’re in the crosshairs of a crooked cop (David Field) and a criminal kingpin (Gary Sweet), and your best mate, Spit, is a heroin addict. Though the film itself underwhelmed financially, Wenham’s performance was recognised at the AFI awards with a gong for best leading actor. More than 20 years later, Spit is back — this time sans Worthington — and though it seems like an odd project to embark on, it makes perfect sense to Wenham. “The film found a life afterwards, after the cinema release, first on VHS, then DVD, then an illegal version on YouTube,” Wenham explains. “And, strangely, this character of Johnny Spitieri is one I probably get asked about more than any other character I’ve ever played. “It’s at least every second day somebody comes up to me . . . this character that you know from years ago is still so present in people’s memory, so we knew that people had embraced the character.” As for why a hopeless junkie like Spit has endured, mullet intact, Wenham has an explanation for that, too, and it’s very much rooted in our national identity. “This is a true celebration of one of the great bogans,” the actor says. “Bogan culture has certainly filtered into the mainstream. All one has to do is turn on the AFL any day during winter, and you’ll see that it has become mainstream. The hairdos outdo Johnny. “So people have a lot of affection for him. There’s something about this country: they love the underdog, and that’s certainly what Johnny is. He is anti-authority, with good reason in his position, and I think these sort of things are Australian characteristics in a way, that we pride ourselves on.” But Spit the movie is far more than just a celebration of bogan culture, or even a crime caper — it offers a legitimately poignant take on how this country treats asylum seekers. Not what you expected to hear, right? The film opens with Johnny Spit arriving back in Australia after years hiding overseas. When he refuses to give his name to Border Force officials for fear of the aforementioned crooked cops and crime kingpins coming after him, Spit is locked up in a detention centre with a bunch of asylum seekers. Some of the best scenes of the film are Spit helping said asylum seekers assimilate into Aussie culture to improve their chances of getting a visa. Needless to say, his advice isn’t always spot on and mostly focuses on correct use of slang and picking the right nickname from a collection that includes Wazza and Trev. But jokes aside, this section of the film also carries a serious wallop in the emotional stakes, when a Middle Eastern refugee tells an immigration official about losing his entire family and being forced to give his prized heirlooms to people smugglers to get to Australia. “So what you’re saying is you jumped the queue,” the heartless official retorts. Wenham says this storyline was the impetus for making the long-awaited spin-off sequel in the first place. With Gettin’ Square writer Chris Nyst and director Jonathan Teplitzky both returning, the project was built around the detention centre sequence and the new alliances Spit makes while incarcerated. Chief among those are a burgeoning friendship with that refugee, played by Arlo Green. It allowed Wenham, Nyst and Teplitzky to lean into another reason why Johnny Spit is so beloved. “He’s the least judgmental person you’d ever come across. Doesn’t matter who you are, how much money you’ve got, the colour of your skin, your religion, what you do for a job or if you don’t work, it doesn’t matter,” Wenham says. “Spit’s just going to treat you exactly the same. And, at the end of the film, when you come out, the audience is rather buoyant and you think, ‘Wow, I wouldn’t mind being mates with Johnny Spitieri’.” After small roles in Aussie TV staples such as A Country Practice, Sons And Daughters and Blue Heelers, Wenham’s big-screen breakout came in 1998, when he played an alcoholic ex-inmate in the acclaimed drama The Boys. But what people probably best remember him from back then is playing Diver Dan in the first season of SeaChange, who will forever be known as one of Australia’s greatest screen hunks. “It was very, very bizarre, I’ve got to be honest,” Wenham laughs. “I had a contract clause that I got out (after the first season), because I went to do a film in Hawaii called Molokai, so I was away . . . and I had no idea of the effect that the show had until I arrived back some months later. “I found out that, literally, I couldn’t walk anywhere without people knowing who I was, which was very, very strange.” American director Zack Snyder, on the other hand, didn’t know Wenham when he received an audition tape from Australia for the character of Dilios, Spartan warrior and narrator for the cult historical epic 300. The actor won over Snyder and landed the gig, which prompted a little research. “I had no idea what the project was, and then I was told that it was based on this graphic novel I didn’t know anything about,” Wenham admits. “So I went to a comic shop in Sydney and, as soon as I opened it up, there was Dilios on the first page. “He was this giant of a man, huge beard, and he’s completely naked over this fire, on the very first page. I thought, ‘Jesus, what on earth have I got myself in for?’” When he finally got to talk to Snyder about the role, Wenham queried the reality of filming battle scenes in a freezing Montreal winter, clad in a very revealing toga. “Zack pissed himself. He said, ‘You don’t have to worry, it’s 100 per cent in a studio, 100 per cent green screen, so you’ll be fine’,” Wenham recalls with a laugh. He’s confident the audience will also be laughing while they watch his latest film. “To feel the audience go from, one minute, huge peals of laughter to absolute pin-drop silence and maybe the odd sniffle, and then laughter again — it’s really, really unique,” Wenham says. “It’s a project I’m very proud to have been involved with.” Spit is in cinemas from March 6. David Wenham is in Perth for screenings and Q&A sessions, including with Ben O’Shea at Hoyts Carousel at 6.45pm on March 4. Others are at Event Cinemas Innaloo on March 4 and Luna Leederville and Ace Rockingham Cinemas on March 5. Tickets on sale at movies.transmissionfilms.com.au.

David Wenham: Spit movie revisits his most asked-about character, shows Aussie affection for a bogan underdog

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