Article - Melbourne Age - August 15, 2006

A few in the kennels but actor is top dog
August 15, 2006

William McInnes's latest success puts extra polish on a shining career, writes Garry Maddox.

FOR an actor who has built a reputation as a warm-hearted and very funny writer, William McInnes has kept his film career in perspective.
While he is immensely proud of the offbeat romance Look Both Ways and enjoyed a brief role in the World War II drama Kokoda, he recognises that not every release has been a triumph.

"There are quite a few in the kennels," McInnes says drily. "The same year I did Look Both Ways I did You and Your Stupid Mate."

The ups and downs of any actor's career have not mattered to the cinema industry.

Last night McInnes was named Australian Star of the Year at the Australian International Movie Convention, the industry's annual flurry of talks and screenings on the Gold Coast. The award, sponsored by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald, has been won by Russell Crowe, Geoffrey Rush, Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish, among others.

McInnes won the industry vote, defeating the likes of Cate Blanchett for Little Fish and Guy Pearce for The Proposition.

He sees the award as a tribute to Look Both Ways, which was written and directed by his wife, Sarah Watt, who completed the romance between a newspaper photographer diagnosed with cancer (McInnes) and an angst-ridden painter (Justine Clarke) despite being diagnosed with breast cancer herself. It went on to win best film and best director at the Australian Film Institute awards, and acclaim at overseas festivals.

"It was the sort of job that people really felt proud to put their hand up for," he says.
McInnes has just had his first novel published, after experiencing success with his childhood memoir, A Man's Got to Have a Hobby. This allows him to describe himself as "an early grade of slash-type person - actor-slash-writer".

As well as working on stage, he features in the coming drama Irresistible and two telemovies, playing the title role in Stepfather of the Bride and the wartime prime minister John Curtin in Before Dawn.

He has one more film role lined up - in the romantic thriller Unfinished Sky - and jokes about Hollywood calling. "I got an offer to do the sequel to Gladiator. It's about a florist in Rome - Gladiola."

Despite the odd canine, McInnes thinks Australia has produced some good films in the past two years. Importantly, they were made to tell stories rather than merely make money.

"Kokoda did well, which was good. Look Both Ways, Oyster Farmer, Little Fish - they were all pretty rich films.

"There'll always be a few doomsayers but as long as the film industry gets support from the government, whichever persuasion it may be, it will be secure, I guess. That's something that people in the film industry have got to understand - they rely a lot on the goodwill of the taxpayers of Australia. They're custodians of the taxpayers' money."