Set in the world of tent-boxing, Paul Goldman‘s (Australian Rules, Suburban Mayhem, Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story) latest film, KID SNOW, is coming to cinemas September 12. A moving drama about family bonds and escaping past demons, it’s a nostalgic and entertaining drama with heart and humour. A lively carnivalesque setting, stunning outback landscapes and an evocative score from composters Peter Knight & Warren Ellis (The Dirty Three, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds) round out this rich cinematic experience.
Filmed in the beautiful Western Australian outback and set in the 1970s, KID SNOW follows a washed-up Irish fighter (Billy Howle) in a raucous travelling tent-boxing show who is offered a rematch against the man he fought ten years ago. It’s his chance to turn the page on a tragedy that changed his life forever. But when feisty single mother Sunny (Phoebe Tonkin) crosses Snow’s path, he is forced to contemplate a future beyond life on the road.
After a successful run on the film festival circuit, Kid Snow is heading to Aussie cinemas on September 12. In the lead up to it’s release, Nick L’Barrow spoke with actor Shaka Cook about the research that went into his role, his love for the cinematic experience, and how he built genuine camaraderie with his cast.
Shaka Cook: Bro, look at that DVD collection!
Nick: Oh, dude, thank you! I’m a physical media nerd. I worked at Blockbuster for five years and this collection really started because of my time there! Are you a physical media guy, too?
Shaka Cook: Yeah, man! The only problem is that I’ve got a big family, bro! I grew up in a community. So, if you had a bunch of new movies, everyone’s gonna be there, and they [the DVDs] just never came back[laughs]!
When I moved to Perth to study acting for the first year, I walked into JB Hi-Fi for the first time, and it was heaven, bro!
Nick: Oh, man, I think we’re about to have a fun chat today! I’m glad you like the collection, and I appreciate you taking the time to chat today. Kid Snow is so cemented in it’s 1970s aesthetic with these amazing sets and costumes. I’m curious to know, when it came to your process in crafting Armless as a character, how much of him you had figured out before you stepped on to those sets, and how did the character evolve once you put the costumes on?
Shaka Cook: Like, when I first auditioned, I played him in a particular way. In the briefing, I was told I wouldn’t have an arm, or just have one arm. And I thought they were gonna CGI that out. But, when they offered me the job, it became that it would just be strapped behind his back when he’s fighting, as a gimmick to entice people to want to fight him.
I wanted to play the character based on the brief they gave me for the audition, and I’m reading this text and saw that he doesn’t speak much. He’s this cool, calm, and collected dude. This big brother type figure for everyone else.
We had a week and a bit of rehearsals, and I got to work with the other lads, and in that rehearsal, we really got to flesh out the characters, and discuss our characters together and figure out what our relationships are to each other to create the dynamic. And then that changed the way I first interpreted the character.
Then we got on set and started filming, and got into the costumes, and it really made me think about who my character is, and why he might be wearing blue trunks and not black trunks. What does that represent for me? Every little detail that came in, like the drum, and hitting that with one arm. All these different elements all of a sudden got added as we progressed through each stage of filming.
But, as long as you go in with the foundation of who you think this character is, and that first instinct I had of him being cool, calm, and collected, was maintained throughout the whole film for me, which allowed him to be very observant. He can look at a boxed and know what his weight is, he can analyse people physically, really quickly. He has a next level IQ! This dude is intelligent! So, for me it became about how do I portray that, as an actor, and tell his story.
I also played him as the heartstring that is connected to everyone. If someone was hurting, I’m going to be there and not lash out. It was a crazy world in the 70s, where if you lash out, there was consequences, especially if you were indigenous. My character needed to protect everyone.
Nick: Armless being the string that connects this core group of boxers really came across on screen, and the camaraderie between yourself and the other actors feels so genuine. During that week or so of rehearsals you guys had, what did you all do to build that chemistry together?
Shaka Cook: What’s great is that a lot of us connected really quickly. Me and Mark [Coles Smith] had met a few times before. And we all had friends in the same friend’s groups, but we’d never worked together before or truly hung out. So, this was a first for us.
For me personally, I was so excited to actually be able to work with all these guys. And that excitement allowed me to truly be open in connecting with these guys. Me and Hunter [Page-Lochard] shared a trailer together, and so we were always talking about our ideas. We were just vibing and talking about our mutual interests, nerding out and geeking out. Those relationships were already forming.
So when we got on set, playing these characters, we were just vibing off our friendship that we’d already started making with the backstories that we created for the characters during those rehearsals. Just understanding what the connections are to each other that allowed us to have a focal point to channel this energy into.
When I was watching the film, I could just see us all vibing. Whenever they come up on the screen, they just liven it up, you know? Or you hear them chuckling in the background. They’re just true larrakins, always talking rubbish to each other. I think it really showed what Aussie’s were like back then.
Nick: I’d love to ask about how you researched for the character of Armless. Obviously with Hamilton, you had real life people to research for the characters you played. How does you research process change when you don’t have a specific, real-life counterpoint for this role? Where did that authenticity come from?
Shaka Cook: I grew up hearing stories about boxing tents. I grew up in Pilbara, and like, our grandfathers and stuff, we heard stories about them going to the boxing tents, and fighting, and making money from it, you know? Whenever the boxing tent came to town, guaranteed my grandfather would be there!
The stories were very heroic and legendary to us growing up. And where I grew up, there was a lot of street fighting here. Kids would spar for fun. Sometimes, you might hit a little too hard and then that’ll escalate into a real fight, and that’s how you tested someone’s ability to fight. But being able to use that personal experience, growing up with people in that boxing culture, and the stories about my grandfather fighting in the boxing text, I knew exactly what this world was like.
The boxing tent in the movie is an actual real tent that came from Queensland, like super old and authentic. And it really felt like we were a part of this culture. We got that sense of what it was like chilling over by the first, having a cup of tea and some damper. Then we’d have to go set up this authentic boxing tent, and that was so much fun.
I didn’t have to do a crazy amount of research for this, because I grew up hearing the stories about what happened in the 70s. This was probably one of the easiest characters for me to actually get into, in terms of the world and everything.
Nick: You mentioned that you grew up in Pilbara, so did it also help your performance filming in your home state of Western Australia?
Shaka Cook: Bro! And my first movie in the home state, too! I’ve shot films in the Northern Territory, South Australia, New South Wales. But to come back to WA, that was crazy. My family were still a bit distanced from where we were filming, and I’ve been in Sydney and Melbourne for almost 2 years, and with COVID and the lockdowns and borders being closed, getting to come back and film here was dope.
But it was bittersweet because I am so close to my family, yet they’re still kind of so far way. I told my Pop that I was filming a boxing film in the boxing tents from his heyday. Just the level of excitement to be back here, working with people that I’ve been dying to work with, and see the talent of like Tom Bateman and Billy Howle. As an actor, I’m geeking out, man. It’s very inspiring to work with people that inspire you!
Nick: Outside of film, you’ve done incredible work on the stage with Hamilton, which was incredible to see live. All of that stage choreography and blocking is incredible! I’m curious as to whether any of the physicality from your experience working on something like Hamilton was transferable to choreographing the boxing scenes in Kid Snow?
Shaka Cook: One of the big things was that musical is so physically demanding. So, I’m already really fit because of that. Doing that show, eight shows, six days a week. Only getting Monday off to recover. So many stairs man! Doing that show allowed me to get very fit. My agility and stamina are up.
So then, being able to choreograph with a boxing coach and trainer, and stunt team, was such a cool thing. Teaching me how boxing can be like a chess match. If you throw this kind of punch, this person can do this, and how there are 10 different moves that you can do after that, always countering each other. It’s a chess game where you’re trying to mentally outpace your opponent. That was fun.
Going from choreographing dance, and picking up those moves, it allowed me to pick this up really quickly as well. Growing up sparring, that helped give me this natural instinct to move, and to know how to throw a punch to the point where it led to us be able to enhance the choreography, which was cool.
I grew up watching a lot of action films. All the Jackie Chan films, Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, you name it! Die Hard! Like, the Blockbuster thing, when it was pay week, my mum would take me and my brothers, and I’d be looking for all the action films.
It feels like everything leading up to Kid Snow all fell into place. Growing up sparring, my grandfather being in the boxing tents, training as an actor, getting fit during the musical, footwork, rhythm, going on and off beats, I could bring it all into this.
Nick: I love your love of movies, man. And when I was doing my research before our chat, I saw an Instagram post of you at the cinema, and the caption was, “one of my favourite places on Earth”, and I have to agree. Is there a specific, formative cinematic memory for you that you feel was the start of this love for movies?
Shaka Cook: Oh man, yeah, Lord of the Rings. My parents took me to see Lord of the Rings on my birthday. I’ve got two brothers, and my birthday is the last day of the year! So all the money is usually gone to Christmas, and it was really special to be taken on my own, without my brothers, to go to the cinema, and watch Lord of the Rings.
I love the cinema, man. The surround sound, this big ass screen. I don’t want to watch movies any other way. I’ve always told myself that when I buy my own house, I’m gonna have a massive cinema room with the best sound quality, big screen, you name it!
Also, The Gentleman! After all my acting training, where they taught me to analyse and breakdown everything, I couldn’t watch anything and just enjoy it. Then that movie came out, and I left the cinema, and I felt like a 10-year-old kid again! And when we were shooting this film, me and Tom Bateman when and watched Top Gun: Maverick. Brah! Dude! We came out of that movie like little kids! That was so cool that feeling!
Nick: There’s no other word for it other than magic, right? That’s how it makes me feel!
Shaka Cook: Yeah! It really takes you out of this world. You’re like so into it, nothing else exists for that moment. It’s truly amazing to have that kind of experience. And being in the cinema, watching something with other people that are on the same journey as you, the reactions, it’s crazy.
I remember watching Inception at the Ritz in Randwick, and that audience when the top was spinning and everyone was collectively like, “Oh!”. To share that experience with people, that’s the magic of it.
Nick: I’ll close with this then, as someone who loves the magic of cinema, what was that experience like for you seeing ‘Shaka Cook’ up on the big screen for the first time?
Shaka Cook: Oh, bro! For this film, I was sitting with one of my best mates when we saw it in Sydney, and it was wild. I looked really cool! I could get used to this!
But watching it in Perth with all my friends and people that knew me growing up as a kid, and then they see my name, that was wild.
I was at the cinema recently watching The Crow, the new one, and the trailer for Kid Snow came up! I mean, I’m just a country boy. To sit in a cinema, like one of my favourite things to do is sit in the cinema and watch a movie, and then to see my movie come up, and my mug on that big screen… bro! Wild!
Thank you so much to Shaka for taking the time to chat, and to Madman Films and NixCo PR for organising the interview. Kid Snow is in Australian cinemas September 12.
