Kilmore boy a film star

By Steph McNicol

For 11-year-old Kilmore boy Roman Moser, meeting entertainment superstars Paul Hogan and Shane Jacobson was a highlight of his role in the movie The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee.

The Australian comedy, scheduled to premiere in April but cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions, will stream on Amazon Prime on July 17.

The film stars Mr Hogan as a fictional version as himself, who reluctantly thrown back into the spotlight as he attempts to restore his reputation before being knighted.

The plot is a mix of chaos, car chases, and comedy.

For young actor Roman, it was a ‘first-time experience’ and a highlight of his career.

“It was my first movie, so it was a great experience to meet Paul Hogan and some of the stars like Shane Jacobson,” Roman said.

“I was very nervous at the start. It was a while to wait until I got on set, and once I got on it, it took like 30 minutes.”

Roman’s parents Shelley and Ralph both have experience in the film industry, working behind the scenes in all of Mr Hogan’s movies since Crocodile Dundee Three.

Mr Moser has had more than 30 years’ experience working in art departments, visual effects, production design and directing of a range of films including Spin Out, That’s Not My Dog!, Where the Wild Things Are, and Thor: Ragnarok.

Ms Moser has also had her fair share of film experience including working behind the scenes in art departments for Cliffy and Spin Out, and voice acting and on-screen acting in Little Johnny the Movie and Charlie & Boots.

“We both work in film so we’ve been around it our whole lives but this was one Roman did on his own,” Mr Moser said.

“It’s bitter-sweet because we worked on it about a year and a half, maybe two years ago, and Roman did his performance then, but we were meant to have a big red carpet and a big opening night at the cinemas on April 25.

“But we had to cancel the screening because of COVID-19, and now it’s gone to streaming services instead.”

Ms Moser said Roman was helpful on set even when he wasn’t in front of the camera.

“I even bought him a cordless drill because he was really, really helpful,” she said.

“Roman thrived, usually a child would tire from doing the takes over and over, but Roman loved it, and said ‘I get to do this over and over again’.”

Roman said a highlight for him was a ‘fight scene’ with Mr Hogan.

“I was meant to not punch him but Paul said ‘just do a real punch, just do it softly’, but it wasn’t the softest punch,” he laughed.

“What I like about film is sometimes you go to places you aren’t really allowed to go, usually there are high towers and you aren’t allowed to go there but you can if you do film; you get to go in all these cool places.”