Runt, based on Craig Silvey’s best-selling novel, is a delightful Australian family film that blends heartfelt moments with humour. The story revolves around eleven-year-old Annie Shearer and her best friend, Runt, an adopted stray dog. The novel was released in 2022 and has achieved significant acclaim, winning several major Australian literary awards. These accolades include the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book of the Year for Young Readers, Book of the Year for Younger Children at the Australian Book Industry Awards, and the overall Book of the Year at the Australian Indie Book Awards. The success of the book underscores its broad appeal and the resonance of its themes with readers.
Now, Runt is coming to the big screen for fans and new audiences to enjoy these September holidays. As the film arrives in theatres (you can read our review here), Peter Gray spoke with one of the ensemble cast members, Matt Day, who has a memorable role as the villainous Fergus Fink, a wicked dog enthusiast who’ll stop at nothing to make sure his beloved pooch wins a prized training competition over the lovable Runt.
Together, the two touched on if Matt emulated anyone specifically to get into his character, how it was to work with animals on set, and if he’s seen the industry shift in any manner over the course of his career.
The thing that I loved about your character is how flamboyant he is. Were there any specific inspirations or influences that you drew from? Anyone you chose to emulate?
Did I think of anyone to emulate? That’s a good question. When I first saw the costume, that was a big part of it. You know, stepping into that first fitting and going, “Oh, wow. Okay, this absolutely plays itself.” And then there was the hair. I grew my hair out, and that kind of really kicked it off for me. It really informed the character. But it was all very much there on the page. I guess (Fergus) is just an amalgamation of all those bad guys, like the child snatcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, you know? Those types of characters. The Roald Dahl villains that I used to read as a kid. I think they all rolled into Fergus.
Because it’s a children’s film, did you ever have to worry about the balance of playing him too villainously for that audience?
I mean, he’s ridiculous. He’s running around a dog agility course in Cuban heels (laughs), so I don’t think there was too much danger of it ever going over into anything genuinely frightening.
With that character, as you said, you’re not going to ever play him too villainously, but can you ever play that ridiculousness too large?
I was told there’s never ever anything as too large a performance (laughs). I kinda thought sometimes I made Baz Luhrmann look understated (laughs). It was always go big and we can always pull it back, but we never seemed to pull it back. We just went bigger.
Were you familiar with the book prior to taking on the film?
No, I hadn’t read (it). I only did that when I got the offer. But then I read the book, and went and had a chat with Craig (Silvey, author) and John (Sheedy, director), and that first day it all started coming together. We had to go out and meet the dog, Chariot, that was my dog. (Chariot) actually follows me on Instagram (laughs). So we went and did this dry run with Chariot in this suburban house in Perth. The trainer had an agility course set up in the backyard, so it’s me and Tom Budge and this dog. Tom’s character has to carry the dog everywhere so they wanted them to bond, so on the way there Tom pulled over to McDonalds and got some chicken nuggets and hid them in his pocket, so then (Chariot) would run right up to him (laughs). They were thinking, “Oh wow, she loves you!”
There’s that age-old saying of never working with kids or animals, and you had both here…
Oh, the whole schedule is centred around the animals (laughs). It’s kind of funny to see 200 people on set just standing around waiting for a dog to sit (laughs). It’s certainly a challenge, but more for the director than for me. I didn’t have much to do with Squid (who plays Runt). My dog, I have to say, was very well trained. They loved running the courses. You’d do a take that was just the dog, and then I’d do multiple takes where it was just me without the dog. That nearly killed me. We shot the big finale on, like, a 35 degree day in Perth in this big stadium. And I’m in that sequinned outfit (laughs). The heels. And I’m running that course about 10 times over. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.
Has having kids of your own changed the way you approach roles?
Not really, I guess. It’s Australia. It’s a small industry. You take what comes your way. I mean, most of the work is in (television). I have teenage kids now, so I wouldn’t say it particularly changes.
And off that, have you seen the industry change, particularly in Australia, since coming out of the pandemic? It felt like Australian films really thrived during that period…
Yeah, yes and no. It was a good time, in terms of releasing Australian films. Obviously nothing was coming out of Hollywood, so they kind of cornered the market on that. People were just happy to go to the cinema, and I think 2/3rds of the battle is getting through the noise. Hollywood has so much money, that it’s getting the awareness out for our films. That was an advantage.
In terms of production? There’s more American things being made out here, which is great for crew. I don’t know if it’s great for cast. The whole entertainment world has changed so drastically. Obviously we have our breakthroughs. Talk To Me was one. That was so great.
But I think a lot of the awareness for this film comes off the back of the book. Craig is such a great writer. And there’s just not a lot of choice for families out there, in terms of taking your kids to the movies. Parents are always looking for something to take their kids to, and if it’s good and Australian, it’s a nice change from the usual Hollywood stuff. I hope that it’ll find its place.
Runt is screening in Queensland theatres from September 12th, 2024, and from September 19th in all other major territories.
