Lachlan Robbie (L) and Joshua Chilcutt in ‘Occupation.’
Stunt performer Lachlan Robbie is building an impressive resume with credits in major productions including Alien: Covenant, Aquaman and Thor: Ragnarok as well as Luke Sparke’s Occupation.
The Gold Coast-based Robbie plans to try his luck in Hollywood later this year, but one thing he won’t do is try to cash in on his younger sister Margot’s fame.
“I want to make my own name in the industry and get jobs on my own merit,” Lachlan, who is 29, tells IF. He could not be prouder of his sister, 27, whose career has gone into overdrive since she played Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad and produced and starred in I, Tonya, which earned her an Oscar nomination for best actress in a leading role.
“I don’t think anyone would have guessed that a girl from the Gold Coast would have the success she’s had,” he said. “I have never met anyone who is so dedicated to her goals and put so much time and effort into her career.”
Margot is similarly effusive about her brother, telling IF, “I’m so incredibly proud of Lachlan for what he has been able to achieve with his stunt work.
“Accessing film and TV work in Australia as a stunt performer and actor requires so much persistence and hard work. The success Lachlan has attained thus far is certainly attributed to his solid work ethic and application.”
He pursued a career as a racing car driver until he met a couple of stunt men who had served on George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road. They encouraged him to enter their specialised field so he worked hard to develop his skills under the tutelage of stunt co-ordinator Keir Beck, whose credits include Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Hacksaw Ridge and Bleeding Steel.
His first gig was playing an undercover cop in Home and Away and he made his film debut in Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant as a character who is killed while running at full tilt.
He had to fall suddenly on to rocks cemented into the ground, in the process breaking his hand. “It was painful but I loved every minute,” he said.
So far he’s had the most fun in James Wan’s Aquaman, which involved fight scenes, parkour and water sequences. He was an archer in Thor: Ragnarok.
His favourite experience was working in sci-fi thriller Occupation, which stars Temuera Morrison, Jacqueline McKenzie, Dan Ewing, Bruce Spence, Felix Williamson, Stephany Jacobsen and Trystan Go and follows the last survivors after a devastating intergalactic attack on Earth.
“There were a lot of explosions and gunfights,” he said. “It was basic and brutal and fantastic.”
Pinnacle Films will release the film on July 12. Look out for Robbie as one of the characters who gets blown up.