ALTHOUGH Busselton’s Sean Keenan is in popular demand as a young actor, the teenager is not thinking about the future in terms of acting or making it big in Hollywood.
The 18 year old is currently working on a role in the multi-million dollar film Drift, which is being shot in the Cape to Cape region.
However, the former MacKillop Catholic College student has a laid back attitude when it comes to his acting career and sees himself studying an engineering degree at university in years to come.
“At this stage, it is very early days. I'm not thinking about the future much at all and just enjoying what I'm doing. I'm enrolled in engineering at the University of Western Australia next year, but I'm considering taking another gap year before locking myself in,” Sean said.
Sean began his career in the acting industry when he was cast as the main role in Lockie Leonard.
“I always have loved acting in front of a crowd. I used to do plays and talent shows with my friends at school… Acting is something that is important to me, but it's a career that you can leave and step back into later,” he said.
“I would definitely like to continue with it, but I'm undecided at the moment. I think getting a degree that offers a career path with a more solid promise of work is wise as back up.”
Despite this, Sean was in his element when he worked with well-known Yallingup producer Tim Duffy and actor Sam Worthington on the set of Drift.
And to top it off, the young Busselton actor filmed scenes on the main street of his home town, near Albies Restaurant.
I would never have expected to film anything near home before Drift, let alone down the road from my house,” Sean said.
Set in the 60s and 70s, Drift follows the explosion of the surfing industry, incorporating the story of the two Kelly brothers who establish a surfboard business.
who comes to Western Australia with his mother and brother to escape their abusive father in the early 60s.
“Coming from Sydney to a very small country town, the family definitely stands out, and the boys cop quite a bit of abuse from some of the locals. He is coming to grips with finally being free from his father, but feels he needs to almost take over his father’s failed role in protecting his younger brother and mother,” Sean said.
The budding actor said playing the main role in the TV series Lockie Leonard was a lot different to portraying a character in a major feature film.
“For a movie like Drift, you have a lot more time to play with when it comes to filming a scene. With a TV series, around four minutes of screen time is filmed a day, but with Drift you shoot a film that goes for around two hours over a period of seven weeks,” he said.
“Only two minutes of screen time is filmed per day and a lot more time is spent on every scene to make sure it is perfect.
“But filming went well and the directors Morgan O’Neill and Ben Nott were both really great and my other cast members were heaps of fun to be around. It all went by pretty quickly and I'm looking forward to seeing the final product.”
With filming over for his part of the movie, Sean is kicking it back over east before the prospect of studying a degree looms over him next year.
“I'm in Sydney at the moment and I'm planning on staying for a while, maybe heading down to Melbourne to go snowboarding with a friend living down there. After that I'm thinking of somewhere like South America.”
Looks like Sean is living the dream.
