THERE were moments during the filming of new Australian movie The Flood that left Dean Kyrwood in tears.
The Newcastle actor and musician is a sensitive soul by nature. So getting inside the skin of Shamus Mackay, a bounty hunter whose gang kidnaps, murders and abuses Aboriginal people, was an uncomfortable experience.
"Sometimes when [writer-director] Victoria [Wharfe McIntyre] would call cut after a particularly intense scene, I'd look at the boys in my gang and they were exhaling, like that feels so horrible to be hearing the extras screaming," Kyrwood says.
"To hear the pain of the Indigenous actors in that scene. It was incredibly draining at times. We had a few cries here and there.
"We just had to keep remembering that we can't water down the intensity and horribleness of some of these characters. To not make light of them.
"I had to keep reminding myself it's for the greater good that we're performing these kind of characters. If it brings to light these kind of stories, then I'm happy to look horrible."
The Flood, which Kyrwood launched with fellow actor Shaka Cook on Thursday at Event Cinemas Kotara, is a re-imagining of the Stolen Generation story.
The film is set during the Second World War and follows an orphan girl Jarah, played by Alexis Lane (Cleverman), who falls in love and marries Indigenous man Waru (Cook).
While Waru is serving his country overseas in WWII a change in government policy results in the couple's daughter, Bindi, being stolen and made to live with wealthy white landholder Gerard Mackay (Peter McCullum).
Bindi is played by Stockton's Simone Landers, who's previously appeared in zombie-film Cargo.
When Waru returns from the war he recovers Bindi and mistakenly kills Gerard's son. This chain of events leads Gerard to call in his other son Shamus and his tracking gang to take revenge.
Since taking up acting nine years ago the Toronto-based Kyrwood has developed an expertise for portraying dark characters. He played Cal, the protagonist in Wharfe McIntyre's 2017 short film, Miro, which was precursor to The Flood.
Wharfe McIntyre head-hunted Kyrwood for the role after stumbling across his profile on a mutual friend's social media page.
"I guess I have to understand as much as possible where that darkness is coming from," Kyrwood says.
"Whether it's coming from a place of trauma, which it usually is, and just trying to understand their actions, while I could never agree or empathise with their actions.
"When I'm in their shoes I need to understand why they're coming from that place. In their own mind they don't see what they're doing is wrong, based on their circumstances. It was very rewarding, but very draining, at times."
Kyrwood is well known in the Newcastle music scene, having begun as a bass guitarist in the Ty Penshorn-led rock band Little Hornet in the late '90s.
He later began performing solo and released an album and EP.
"I still write some songs but I don't pursue to make it as a singer anymore, to be honest," he says.
"I got a little bit of radio play here and there, but I realised I'm an OK performer, but I'm not gifted as a songwriter."
However, Kyrwood is showing plenty of gifts as an actor. The Flood is his first leading role, but he's already made appearances on Home & Away in 2017 as a low-level criminal and last year he starred in two episodes of Doctor Doctor as a FIFO miner, who's trying out to become a topless waiter.
"So I had to strip," he laughs. "Oh man, that was something I never imagined I'd have to do. It's interesting what you'll do when you tell yourself it's not you."
There's also been minor roles on the Alex Proyas (The Crow, Gods Of Egypt) film Mask of the Evil Apparition and Moon Rock For Monday.
In 2021 Kyrwood will also star in paranormal thriller, Water Horse, written and directed by Newcastle's Jennifer van Gessel and partly filmed in Mayfield and Sandgate.
The Flood will be released on digital platforms and DVD on January 6.
