In ABC’s Nowhere Boys, currently running on CBBC in the UK, four boys find themselves in a parallel world where they don’t seem to have ever existed. With a second season currently in production, Sci-Fi Bulletin caught up with the four stars (left to right in the photo): Joel Lok (Andy), Matt Testro (Jake), Rahart Sadiqzai (Sam) and Dougie Baldwin (Felix).
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How similar are you to your characters?
Joel Lok: I play Andy: his family have been really protective and they haven’t given him the opportunity to go and explore and be independent. In a sense getting lost in this other dimension is rewarding for Andy, it’s been a terrifying journey but it’s also an adventure and it gives him this opportunity to be a leader. Andy takes with him these boring stereotypical skills and he is able to apply them to helping get the four boys out of the world.
Dougie Baldwin: I play Felix Fern, the Goth. He is cynical but through this adventure he gains new friends, and he realises that he is not the only one with problems, so he gets a new outlook. I don’t share his cynicism. I like to think the best of the world and I try not to be prejudiced, not to judge people. It was fun to play someone who is the opposite.
Matt Testro: Jake is very grounded, very mature but to some he comes off as the school bully. He’s the sporty jock, he’s the footy captain and he is quite aggressive to some people but you find out that his aggressiveness is masking his insecurities. Jake and I are different, he’s a lot more grounded then I am and he is an outgoing type. Jake’s quite at ease and I’m a lot more eccentric but I guess we are both logical and practical thinkers. We’ll both get straight to the point and try and fix the problem straight away. That what’s Jake is trying to do most of the time.
Rahart Sadiqzai: In some ways, mainly in our love for food! I love food, and that’s a big part of Sam. In the series, he is always hungry and I’m always hungry.
What was the best part of the shoot?
JL: Working in all these amazing locations, especially the forest; seeing the camera crew and the amount of effort and work that goes into creating one nice looking shot.
MT: Doing some of the emotional scenes was a highlight because you know when you feel really good about a scene and some of those I felt really great about. The most challenging scenes were some of the best and also when it was all four of us boys – especially the action scenes in the final episode. Those stunts were fantastic.
RS: I don’t even know where to begin. The locations we filmed at up in Warrandyte and up in the basin were amazing. Even considering all the hail and rain this summer, it was still amazing to film Mother Nature out in the forest. The locations were awesome, everyone on set was amazing. I can’t say enough good things about the whole experience.
What were the difficult parts of the shoot?
JL: The shoot was 13 weeks; 15 including pre-production and rehearsals. It was long hours and really, really early mornings.
DB: We had plenty of very early mornings and it’s a lot of work. You’re going home every night to learn eight different scenes of intense dialogue. It takes a lot of focus to keep on track with the story, where the character is; it’s challenging. Also I appreciate cold so much more now, because wearing a Goth outfit in 40 degrees is pretty hot.
Did you enjoy working with the other boys?
JL: We had three weeks of pre-production and rehearsal to connect and it was really important because you can see the bond we created on screen. They’re a great bunch of kids, and yeah it was a lot of fun to go to work – sometimes too much fun. I know there will be hours of footage for the bloopers reel because we mucked around so much.
DB: I knew coming into the job that everyone is so unique, intelligent and hilarious. They are the coolest guys. I’ve never laughed so much and it’s sad to not see them every day. At school, no one is doing what I’m doing, but these three guys can relate. We can talk about what we’ve done, the auditioning process and how we handle it.
MT: We clicked on day one and it’s just been so much fun. They each bring something so different to the group. Just like on the show we’re all very different people, we come from very different social cliques and that’s been great.
RS: I hadn’t met any of the boys before the audition rooms and I think we really gelled together as a cast and as friends during pre-production. We built friendships and they progressed and progressed and we’re all best friends now. We’ve had half a year of this and we’ve become really close.
Thanks to Karen Williams
Read our review of episode 1 here
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