On The Red Carpet: Rachael Taylor

Camera flashes blinded as ‘It Girl’ Rachael Taylor posed with fellow cast members at the world premiere of the much anticipated local flick Cedar Boys, only four months after the release of the similarly themed The Combination.

Having a rapidly ascending star like Taylor (who left the defunct local soapie Headlands behind to make the leap to Hollywood in Transformers) in a small budget film is a double edged sword; the cache of a media darling may attract attention but it can also outshine other cast members.

That certainly seemed the case at the premiere, with a heavy throng of paparazzi eager to get their fix of the glamorous actress.

Cedar Boys looks at the massive divide between the affluence of eastern Sydney and the crime effected western suburbs, home to a close group of Lebanese Australians (Les Chantery, Waddah Sari, Buddy Dannoun), and the descent of its protagonist Tarek (Chantery, Pitch Black) into crime.

Filmink spoke with Taylor, Chantery and writer/director Serhat Caradee on the red carpet.

Filmink: Why did you want to tell this story?

Serhat: I thought it was about time a truthful portrayal of young Lebanese boys was expressed on our screens. I was sick of seeing Lebanese boys being depicted in a stereotypical, clichéd way so I just wanted to bring some three dimensional characters to our screens. I just wanted to show the world as seen through young Lebanese boys’ eyes.

Filmink: What are you trying to say in Cedar Boys?

Serhat: The big message behind the movie is about making choices. Obviously if you make the wrong choices it has consequences later on. It’s about camaraderie, trying to fit in, acceptance.

Filmink: What drew you to your respective roles in Cedar Boys?

Rachael: Les drew me to this film because he and I have been friends for a long time and he told me about a film that he was attached to Australia and that there was a role that I might be interested in and that’s how it came about.

Les: Rachael was perfect for the role. When I first met Rachael, within five minutes she was able to kind of speak Arabic to me so I thought if there’s anyone who could understand the character of Amie it’s Rachael and we joked about working together.

Rachael: Also we were both in Los Angeles but we both wanted to tell Australian stories and I feel like this is a real watershed for Australian film at the moment, we’re really happy to be telling an Australian story with cultural relevance.

Filmink: What have you both got in the pipeline for future projects?

Les: I’m going to New Zealand to do a big biblical epic called Kingdom Come playing a blind man.

Rachael: I’m just waiting around at the moment. I just did a pilot with Sarah Jessica Pilot called Washingtonienne. It’s from HBO by the same people who made Sex and the City.

By James Mitchell. Blog post from the Sydney Film Festival, June 2009 published on Filmink online.