Graham sees local movie potential

Patience is paying off for Perth actor Liam Graham.

Performing since he was seven, the now 27-year-old has been steadily building up an impressive resume that mixes stage productions with a bounty of short films, music videos and TV series.

But the past few years have been somewhat agonising for Graham as he waits for some of his biggest jobs to date to hit the screen.

“I have six or seven projects coming out from things I have done in the past three years. I am like ‘Oh, I forgot I even did that’, ” the West Leederville native told AAA with a laugh.

Among Graham’s mixed bag of ventures set for release this year are father-son short Fish, which will soon screen on ABC2, Southern noir flick The Burning Kiss, Danish web series Greenfield and quirky production Love in a Disabled Toilet.

He also stars in bogan-esque web series The Legend of Gavin Tanner, which came out last year, and giallo-inspired movie Sororal, which is currently doing the rounds at international horror film festivals.

While Graham said it was not easy to make a full-time living as an actor in Perth, he admitted the local film industry had come a long way in recent years and he was excited about the abundance of creativity in his home town.

“I always knew I wanted to act but it was only when I was about 20 that I decided it was what I was going to do with my life, ” the budding star explained.

“It’s not a career that your mum and dad will usually want for you but I am lucky to have very supportive parents. There are times that I have wanted to give it up and get a real job.

“But things have changed in Perth — there are a lot more opportunities and I can see that in another 10 or 20 years people won’t feel like you have to get out of WA if you want an acting career. Perth is starting to create its own industry that is becoming sustainable for actors and other people in film.”

Having recently signed with national agency RGM, Graham is looking to further build on his career in 2015.

Yet, unlike many other Aussie actors, he said that conquering Hollywood was not a priority for him in the near future.

“The reason I am an actor is to tell interesting stories that challenge people’s way of thinking and make them question themselves, ” Graham said.

“My main goal is just to make a full-time living working on interesting projects that have a reason behind them. If I got offered a Hollywood film that had a great story then of course I would say yes but it’s not really what I am working towards right now — I’d rather do something local.”