As movie roles go, former Home and Away star Jake Ryan had an unforgettable experience of meeting real-life ex-gang members in preparation for his part on his new movie Savage.



The powerful film, written and directed by Sam Kelly, follows Danny through three stages of his life as he grows up to be a ruthless enforcer of a New Zealand gang, with Ryan playing Danny’s grown-up version, now called Hurt.

                  

For Ryan, Savage is just the kind of film he’s been looking for since he came into acting. “It was dark and gritty but the characters were also interesting,” he told. “Harm is such a complicated character and there are so many layers here.”

“I knew it was going to be a bit of a stretch for me, a bit of a challenge. I also saw Sam’s previous work – a short film that was so real and gritty and raw. I love that sort of storytelling and film making. That’s when I decided I wanted to be part of it – and I was blessed.”


“In the past, there were grown men who were violent guys, but in particular there was one man who bawled his eyes out because nobody had ever asked him about his past and his upbringing before.

“It was very important for me to have those moments because it helped humanize these characters and add some heart and soul to it – not just a rough tough guy who goes around people who are clobbering. That was long, I went over there for a while every weekend to hang out with some guys and meet various people.

Ryan also cites Savage’s cultural advisor Wayne Hapi’s job, who is also an ex-gang member: “Throughout the film he was my pillar and made sure I was doing the right thing, saying things the right way, walking the right way and keeping myself in the right direction.”

Filming on Savage was, of course, a “completely different beast” to Ryan’s job on Home and Away and has quit the soap now, Ryan is surely searching for more possibilities for the film in the future.

The speed you’re working on Home and Away. and the amount of work you’re punching out, that’s another skill-set you need. It’s not really an easier job, if anything it could be harder because of the amount of work you’re getting out,” he said.

“A movie is obviously different because you have time. You could film two scenes a day in a movie. You film 12 on some sort of soap opera. But you have a lot of time, there’s a slower pace with much less going on – and much less dialogue.




“I tend to work in the medium of film because that’s where the beauty of it comes through. It was very different.’

Savage presents a very different side of New Zealand than we normally see on screen and there was one specific aspect that was particularly important of Ryan, about his character growing up in a care home.

“The most interesting thing about this entire story, coming from New Zealand, is the state care that many of these children went through, and the violence they suffered within the state care,” he explained.

“A lot of these gangs that started up in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s – all the young children who came through these gangs came from this state care and violence. This was the only outlet they had – the only help, the only intention they had.

“I think the story was very interesting to share … It is a profoundly significant story and a part of the history of New Zealand. I don’t know how well-known gang culture is all over the world in New Zealand, but it takes up a lot of their history and there are a lot of stories in it.

I think there is already a Royal Commission looking into the treatment of the young boys who have been exploited, so the timing is perfect.”

Of course, considering the world in which Savage takes place, the movie is in part violent, but it does not glorify the violence or the gang culture at any point.

Ryan added that the film aims to “educate people to judge less” and while it is “pretty brutal,” Savage has an emotional heart that hits home more than the violence does.


We tried to keep it as raw and honest as possible. It would have been even more violent. It’s violent, but I think people would be shocked to see how much heart and soul there is in the story,” he concluded.

“The trailer comes across like that and that aspect is certainly there, but there’s a lot of heart and soul in it.”