In Territory, when the world’s largest cattle station is left without a clear successor, generational clashes threaten to tear the Lawson family apart. Sensing this once great dynasty is in decline, the outback’s most powerful factions – rival cattle barons, desert gangsters, Indigenous elders and billionaire miners – move in for the kill.
As this new Australian-Western-drama hits Netflix with all six episodes on October 24, Nick L’Barrow spoke with two members of the cast, Sam Delich and Kylah Day, about their characters’ dynamic introduction to the show, and finding the right kind of Aussie accent.
Nick: It’s a pleasure to meet you both! Thank you for taking the time to chat. I want to start here – I think your characters have the coolest introduction in the entire show. You guys get the bar fight, a huge bang of an introduction. I’m curious to know what was your first reaction to your character in that moment?
Kylah Day: I think I was just really excited to get in and amongst it! Like, with the bar fight, I really wanted Sharni to just get in and jump on people, and be in it as much as the boys. Because that’s our trio! We’re rough and like, rowdy. That’s the essence of us.
Sam Delich: I think it was the cheekiness for me! I got a lot of freedom with Rich. He can kind of go up, down, left, right. So, that’s the first thing I got when I read the script.
And yeah, the bar fight was… the first thought was how are we going to do this logistically! But it worked out really well. We had an amazing stunt team, and we did it over two days. We completely trashed that bar.
Nick: It’s such an impactful way to open the show for your character. But I’m also curious from an acting perspective about how much fun you get to have just relishing in the rebelliousness of RIch and Sharni?
Sam Delich: Yeah, Greg McLean, the director, was super free. I said to him before my first day that I’m just going to take a swing. I’m gonna give you all the energy. Just reel me in if it’s too much. And he said, “No”! He was really open to improv and play, honestly.
Kylah Day: They were really collaborative, which I think made all the difference with our characters’ performance as well. Because we got to obviously know our characters the most. And then when it came to doing the actual scenes, we were able to kind of workshop how we feel like our character would be in that scene. Which I think was great.
Nick: Being an Aussie show, the accent is almost like a character itself. But how did you find that balance of “ocker” enough to be believable in this world, without going over the top?
Sam Delich: I mean, I already have a pretty thick Australian accent! But the idea for me was that I pitched RIch up a little bit. Because when you start meeting actua; ringers and cattlement, you just realise how broad their accent is. Then you have a couple of beers with them on a Friday night, which a lot of people are afraid to do that, and then the accent really comes out!
Kylah Day: I think, like, my accent isn’t as heavy in terms of the Australian accent, and I still kept that in Sharni. But I did lean into some of the twangs a little bit more when I was playing her.
Sam Delich: The vernacular is the biggest thing. Like, they don’t say “brahs”, they say “bruss”.
Nick: This is such a visceral feeling show because of the sets, locations, and costumes. Was there one element in particular that really helped you step into your character?
Kylah Day: I don’t think it came from the costumes. I think it came from the environment, because we were on a working cattle station. We were surrounded by the people we were telling the story about, essentially.
I think the dirt and the dust and the grit of being there, and the elements that come with the Northern Territory is what made me feel in character.
Sam Delich: Yeah, I do agree with that. Costume wise, I mean, I found myself falling in love with boot cut jeans! I tucked the shirt in the boot cut jeans and it gave me that little flare. That’s what did it for me.
Thank you so much to Sam and Kylah for their time, and to Netflix and Organic for organising the interview. All six episodes of Territory are releasing on Netflix October 24.
