Article - Courier Mail - 29th September, 2006

Unfinished business down on the farm

THROWING cow pats at his brother on his aunt's dairy farm did little
to prepare William McInnes for his latest role.

The popular actor -- best known for his work in Blue Heelers, SeaChange
and the feature-length films Look Both Ways and Kokoda -- plays
a reclusive farmer in the $4.3 million outback saga The Unfinished
Sky.

He said the role was a far cry from his childhood weekend and holiday
farming experiences with his aunt, which he described as ``dabbling''
at best.

"The land worked me, I did as little as I possibly could,'' he said
on location at Beaudesert, southwest of Brisbane, yesterday.
Producer Cathy Overett, from Brisbane-based company New Holland Pictures,
described the movie as a love story with a twist. She said
it was the first major feature-length film to be locally produced
in three years.

Overett said the movie, which was written and directed by Peter Duncan,
was about a Afghani refugee (played by Dutch actress Monic
Hendrickx) who escapes a life as a sex slave in outback Queensland.

"She stumbles on to the farmer's property, with the two forming an
unlikely alliance which eventually blossoms into love and mutual
trust,'' Overett said. "And then comes the thriller twist.''

McInnes said he had jumped at the chance to work in Queensland on
an Australian story in a new and challenging role.