'Deadline Gallipoli' is a mini-series with a new perspective on a much visited tale that explores the point of view of four war correspondents who lived through and witnessed what unfolded on the shores of Gallipoli in 1915.
The cast includes Tywin Lannister veteran actor Charles Dance and Australia's own Sam Worthington; plus Brisbane-born actor Alastair Osment. Following his recent work on 'Home And Away', Alastair is a talent on the rise with a few upcoming opportunities on the horizon.
His most recent project, however, is his role in 'Deadline Gallipoli' where he plays a young soldier called Melvyn. “[Melvyn] comes from Fremantle. Him and his mates played footy together and ... Arthur is his closest mate. We go through the series together and we lose one of our other mates but me and Arthur stay together. I won't say what happens, but there's definitely some emotional strings between me and him and, as you get with war stories, there's human loss and sacrifice,” Alastair explains.
Alastair Osment'Deadline Gallipoli' will premiere as part of the centennial anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign, which Alastair holds close to his heart. “Throughout my family there's a big history of people who have served in the military ... It's definitely special to try and represent that, especially with the 100-year anniversary, to commemorate the sacrifice and loss that so many Australians [experienced] and fought for. It's very very special.”
Alastair studied at Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), but before this he was an electrician who dabbled in theatre. “I left school not really knowing what to do. I loved acting but didn't really think I could make a career out of it. My dad was a jackaroo, so he's obviously very practical; he and mum kind of steered me towards doing a trade. So in that four years while I was doing my apprenticeship, I did some local theatre in Brisbane … At the same time that I was rocking up to construction sites at six o'clock in the morning, at night, I was doing shows at the Metro Arts and theatre plays.”
Working on this production has given Alastair the chance to learn from his co-stars. “Everyday, I'm trying to pick up as much as I can because at WAAPA we do a lot of theatrical training, just mainly lots of plays, but these guys do something else [on-screen]. Sam Worthington has such a great distilled quality to him when he's acting on screen and I was a bit starstruck by Sam.”
Alastair was also put through a boot camp in order to prepare for his role in 'Deadline Gallipoli' “so we wouldn't be running around like idiots with those guns, not knowing what to do; a couple of days crawling, jumping, falling and doing hand-to-hand combat was really exciting,” he says.
