This document is part of the Ocean Girl Archive — Last update: 2008-08-01 — sourcemeta

Source:1
Author:Dan Peralta
Published:2002-03-13
Archived:2008-08-01

Jeffrey Walker: Stepping Behind the Cameras

Screens guy Dan Peralta talks to Jeffrey Walker

Dan Peralta:Jeffrey Walker in one word. Jeffrey Walker in two words.
Jeffrey:Fun. Highly motivated.
Dan Peralta:If you were a castaway on the TV show Survivor, what one luxury item would you bring with you, and why?
Jeffrey:A hotel. So I didn’t have to share a riverbank with a group of people who desperately want a million bucks.
Dan Peralta:What have you been reading lately? Could you tell us a bit about it?
Jeffrey:Lots of scripts. They made me sign a confidentiality clause. I don’t get much time to read books.
Dan Peralta:Who do you look up to as a performer, and why? In terms of work ethic as an actor?
Jeffrey:My fave actor at the moment is Kevin Spacey. He’s absolutely brilliant. I’ve only seen about four or five actors do a perfect performance in a film. He certainly did in American Beauty. Every line, every look, every movement. DeNiro has the knack of doing that as well.
Dan Peralta:Who would you like to work with in the future?
Jeffrey:Baz Luhrmann, the director of “Moulin Rouge”, “Romeo + Juliet”, and “Strictly Ballroom”. Him and Tim Burton are the best two film directors going around at the moment and the two I’d most like to work with.
Dan Peralta:What’s in store for Philippine viewers of “Thunderstone” in the third season? How does it compare to the first two series?
Jeffrey:In the third series there are new and more devious baddies, a vindictive gang of kids, lots of animals, lots of stunts and another planet called E-Delta – that was enough to keep us going for thirteen episodes. “Thunderstone” had three very different series from each other. “Ocean Girl” [also aired locally by Net25] was a bit more like the same story threaded through 78 eps [episodes – Dan]. Whereas if you sat down and watched an episode of “Thunderstone 1” and an episode of “Thunderstone 3” back to back, you’d most likely think they were different shows altogether that just happen to have the same cast. “Thunderstone” was very much based around “The Hero’s Journey”.
Dan Peralta:Do you keep in touch with any of the other cast?
Jeffrey:Some of them. Some live interstate or miles away from me so I don’t get to see them that often. When I can, I do.
Dan Peralta:What have you been up to since “Thunderstone”?
Jeffrey:I graduated from high school and now I work full time as an Assistant Producer for Jonathan Shiff… I am currently working with Jonathan Shiff, developing a new 26 part children’s series to be shot on location in Victoria. As well as this particular task, I’m being trained up on the directing and producing side of making television and film. The plan is that once I complete the training, I will be equipped with the skills to head in either of those directions in the not too distant future. I’ve put acting on hold for a while and taken this wonderful opportunity with both hands. I am going through the process of writing a screenplay for a low-budget feature, which I would like to be scripting and trying to finance over the next few years, with the hope to direct it when I’m in my early twenties.
Dan Peralta:What’s on your CD player right now?
Jeffrey:Dido. She’s great, very relaxing music.
Dan Peralta:Complete the sentence. In high school, I was voted most likely to…
Jeffrey:…to have spent the least time possible at school. I was at school for about five minutes in thirteen years. Most of my learning was done on film sets.
Dan Peralta:How has your life changed, post-Thunderstone?
Jeffrey:It hasn’t that much. My profession has, but my life is very much the same.
Dan Peralta:Why did the chicken cross the road? Be original.
Jeffrey:To see what he was missing on the other side… That’s not very funny though. I don’t know; it’s a bit like what I did, except instead of crossing a road, I crossed to the other side of a camera.
Dan Peralta:Any message for the readers of the Daily Tribune?
Jeffrey:Stay tuned to Thunderstone and don’t forget to brush your teeth.
Dan Peralta:If you could design your own video game, what would it be, and why? What would you call it?
Jeffrey:A baseball game where you, the computer game player, are a spectator. You have to start off in general admission and work your way up to sitting in a corporate box. You have to meet the right people, lie your way through and start going to games in a suit. It could be called, “Baseball – The Game Behind the Game”.
Dan Peralta:In what ways are you and your character Noah similar? How do you differ?
Jeffrey:We’re quite different. He’s a lot more serious than I am. Noah has more issues in his life than I have to deal with, like saving the world for one. I’ve got a lot more time allotted to partying and having a girlfriend, whereas he would be just as happy to sit at home and work out mathematical formulas. I guess we’re the same in that we both love adventure and pushing limitations as far as possible. We look pretty similar.
Dan Peralta:Thanks, Noah…erm, Jeffrey, I mean. You’re right, you do look pretty similar :)
Jeffrey:Big thanks go out to Catherine Lavelle, Natasha Henry, and of course, the genius that is Jonathan M. Shiff.