Next big thing Callan McAuliffe isn’t a trained actor. He despises the thought of learning his craft in a drama class. Instead, Australia’s latest young talent to make it in the US hones his skills by watching TV and movies.
So it’s a problem when the cable guy doesn’t turn up at the new LA apartment he shares with his mother.
“It’s crazy at the moment," he says. "We’ve just found a great apartment in Beverly Hills. We’re still moving all the stuff in; we’ve got the TVs and everything. But we had to book the cable company to come and set it up six times because they keep not showing up. But other than that it’s good, we’re doing well."
The 15-year old former Sydney boy is making waves in Hollywood.
He scored his big break last year with the Rob Reiner directed film Flipped. It was the first thing he auditioned for while in LA to meet his current manager. And it’s a role he almost missed out on.
“I ended up doing about five or six call backs both in Sydney and Los Angeles. They really didn’t know if they wanted me because I was Australian. They didn’t know if I was gonna do an accent, or what the money issues would be [but] eventually they decided to pick me and I’m super happy, super lucky.”
In the flick, McAuliffe plays an awkward teenager who falls in and out of love with an equally-as-awkward young girl in the coming-of-age-tale. He says it was a beautiful film and he loved the chance to work with Reiner, best known for his work on The Princess Bride and Stand By Me.
“Rob was fantastic. He’s a really jolly guy actually, like Santa Claus. He always has the same people with him on every set and every movie that he does, so everyone knows each other really well and [is] cooperative and really professional, so the whole set has a 'moving forward' kind of feel and attitude and atmosphere about it.”
While Flipped has given Callan great exposure, it’s his next film I Am Number Four which could propel him into the big time.
The sci-fi action flick, which co-stars another Aussie Teresa Palmer, kicks off after an alien race is almost completely destroyed except for nine survivors. An evil breed of aliens starts to pick off the remaining group one by one. They’ve killed the first three and are now on the hunt for 'Number Four' played by English actor Alex Pettyfer.
McAuliffe says the Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay-produced film was a huge contrast to Flipped. And while he was disappointed he didn’t get to meet the blockbuster duo he loved the chance to dip his toes into the action role.
“I am a teenage guy, so it’s sort of my thing,” he laughs. “My character’s a little less adept at fighting compared to some of the other characters but I definitely had to jump away from some exploding doors in slow motion… and run away from giant creatures.”
It’s a pretty good start for someone who never wanted to be an actor. McAuliffe may have never made it onto the big screen if it wasn’t for an injury while playing basketball at school.
He had planned to one day work in the great outdoors studying nature and wildlife, but after dislocating his knee he joined an agency to give him something fun to do on the weekends instead of sport, and make a little money.
McAuliffe started by performing karate moves on a Kan Tong commercial before roles in Packed to the Rafters, Blue Water High and the IF Award-winning short film Franswa Sharl. He was then recommended to his current American manager and it wasn’t long before his career took off.
The brown-eyed teen plans to juggle acting while he completes school by correspondence. He says there are a few projects lining up but it’s too early to talk about his next possible job though “things definitely look good next year.”
But until then he’s got plenty of time to do homework… and wait for the cable guy to arrive.
I Am Number Four is released on February 24 in Australia by Walt Disney.
Callan McAuliffe