As the star of the Hugh Jackman blockbuster Pan and upcoming prequel to the hit Australian movie, Red Dog, Levi Miller is used to seeing himself on the big screen.
But the spotlight for the 13-year-old actor has switched to an art gallery wall after his portrait by Springwood photographer David Darcy was selected in the National Photographic Portrait Prize.
Currently on exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra until June 26, the striking image was taken at the end of the final day’s filming of Red Dog: True Blue in Karratha, where Mr Darcy was the still photographer.
“I just asked Levi to think about his time on set,” he said of the image. “He’d been there for six weeks and had formed a pretty strong bond with the dog while he was working. You can see him welling up a little bit thinking about that, and [about] saying goodbye to everyone.”
While Mr Darcy also submitted a portrait of Aussie acting icon Bryan Brown for the prize – also taken on the final day’s filming of Red Dog: True Blue last July - he thinks it was the emotional subtext to Levi’s image that saw it selected.
“I could see that Levi was a little bit sad because he was leaving [the film], and obviously the judges saw that as well.”
The young actor wasn’t the only one feeling emotional on the set of Red Dog: True Blue - Mr Darcy was also moved by the experience.
“I found myself in tears a couple of times watching Levi do his scenes. He is an incredible actor. I was really taken aback... and I was shooting through a long lens sometimes, 20 or 30 metres away from the actual scene.”
Mr Darcy, who was also the still photographer on Red Dog, is confident the hit movie’s prequel will be another crowd-pleaser when it is released on Boxing Day.
“My gut feeling is this movie will be as strong, if not stronger, than Red Dog,” he said.
The Levi Miller portrait is in the running for the people’s choice award at the National Photographic Portrait Prize. People can vote online at: portrait.gov.au/peopleschoice.
