Matt Damon passed on Avatar, so Sam Worthington stepped up to the plate. He’s done a fantastic job leading the Na’vi in both of James Cameron’s Pandora-based films thus far, and we’re excited for what’s next for the Aussie actor. That includes Transfusion, a new Worthington vehicle that’s written and directed by fellow Australian actor Matt Nable. They starred together in Hacksaw Ridge, and you might also recognize Nable from Riddick and The Dry.

Phoebe Tonkin (Babylon) co-stars as the wife of Worthington’s conflicted character in Transfusion, which follows an ex-special forces operative who plunges into the criminal underground for one final mission to protect his son. We recently caught up with Nable, who discussed making the film while wearing multiple hats (writer, director, co-star).

Nable Writes His Directorial Debut

MW: Going back to square one, how did it all start in terms of bringing your script to life?

Matt Nable: I wanted to direct a film, and I had written some films that had been produced. And you know, even though they were relatively well received here and overseas […] Not that the other two films I’d written weren’t executed well with the directors, they were a little bit different to how I imagined it. So if I was going to direct a film, then I had to write about something that I knew, and what I knew about was being a father. And also, I come from a background within the Army. My father had been in the Army for 20 years. So I was in and around some very effective men growing up. And so, that was the genesis […] If I’m going to direct something, then I needed to write about something I totally understood and in within a landscape that I had lots of experience with.

MW: What was it like starring in a movie that you had also written and were simultaneously directing?

Matt Nable: To be honest, I didn’t really know what that process would be like […] Sam [Worthington has] been in some very big movies. He’s been around for a very long time, so he’s remarkably experienced. Therefore, I really didn’t have a great deal to offer in this. Within those scenes, when we were acting with each other, as far as direction was concerned, we both had mapped out what we were going to do well beforehand, which was really, really important.

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Matt Nable: So I didn’t find that challenging, to be honest. And also, it’s very different acting when you’re interpreting your script, as opposed to someone else’s words […] As a director and a writer of that material, I think I was in a pretty advantageous type of situation […] If it wasn’t working, Sam and I usually knew pretty quickly. So in that regard, it wasn’t as challenging as I thought it might have been. But I also think that this was a very contained film, in a sense. There weren’t a lot of people in scenes together […] I wasn’t held back by large-scale setups or anything like that. It was just me and someone else. I found it a lot less difficult than I thought it might have been.

Working with Sam Worthington Again

Saban Films

MW: What was it like working with Sam Worthington on this project?

Matt Nable: We had met on Hacksaw Ridge. We’ve known of each other for a long time […] So we sort of bonded over the difficulties with a film like that, and all our scenes were together. So then, coming on to this, I had written [the main character of Transfusion] with Sam in mind, and we were able to give it to him relatively quickly. And he responded really quickly and came on board.

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Matt Nable: Sam is very methodical, a research-hungry sort of guy, so we put him in touch with special service soldiers. And we just spoke lots about where he saw the tone and what he thought was important to the character. And what he leaned into was the father-son relationship, which is primarily because he’s a father of three young boys himself. So the whole experience with Sam was wonderful. We got on really, really well. There was no friction between us at any stage. I think we started on the same page, and we finished on the same page. It was a really wonderful experience, and something that I hope to do again with him.

MW: In thinking about how you wanted to direct Transfusion, did any past films or filmmakers influence your vision?

Matt Nable: Primarily, I’m a writer and an actor, and so this is something that I moved into after a long career doing both. [Transfusion] was filmed in winter, so we were looking towards gray colors and the ocean. There were certain things that we were really influenced by, but they were our ideas; there was nothing that I looked at from another filmmaker and tried to replicate. Look, I’m just not smart enough to do that. It’s my story, so I thought the best way to execute it was with what we all came up with, collaborating with the heads of department and particularly the DP.

MW: Looking ahead, are there any projects you’re currently working on, that you’d like to share about?

Matt Nable: Yeah, there are a couple of things I’m working on. There’s a thing that I’m talking to Sam about now, which is about a crew of armed robbers. It’s a Sydney-based film in Australia. And then I have a couple of projects overseas that have got some really, really good attachments. So I can’t talk too much about them, but yeah, there’s plenty going on.

From Altitude Media Group, Deeper Water, and Madman Entertainment, Saban Films is releasing Transfusion in the United Starts on March 3.