Rhys Wakefield and Todd Lasance in GQ Australia!

[Ida_girl]

Rhys Wakefield and Todd Lasance is in the february-march edition of GQ Magazine (Australia)! It´s in stores now ;)

TODD LASANCE in a 8 page photos pages THE NEW BUSINESS MAN with 7 full page photos

RHYS WAKEFIELD in a 3 page GQ STYLE with 6 photos

So if anyone in Australia would be able to scan, I would be forever grateful

[xknomex]

someone pleasssssssssssssssse scan them! please!!!! pretty please hehe

[adellejefferiesxox]

I live in Australia, obviously but I haven't seen this new version of the magazine, in fact I have only found a old copy at one of many places that could sell the magazine. is the magazine popular because it was the first time I've ever heard of this magazine. If I can't buy it I hope someone scans the article

[Ida_girl]

Rhys Wakefield Suits Up

Published 29 Apr 2011 Photographed by Adrian Mesko Words by Ashley Grey

t’s soapies’ law: for every Kylie Minogue or Ryan Kwanten, there are a thousand washed-up former stars waiting tables or selling dodgy exercise equipment on late-night TV. Rhys Wakefield won’t be one of them. Just 22, the former Home and Away actor is poised to crack the big-time with the release of 3D blockbuster Sanctum.

Billed as an action thriller, Sanctum is in many respects a coming-of-age flick — only with spooky underwater caves, sheer cliffs and a stack of ****-scary stunts. Wakefield plays Josh McGuire, the bored and frustrated son of a world-renowned cave diver. When an expedition goes haywire, he is forced to man up and face his fears.

The scenario might sound a tad well-worn, but Wakefield is not the kind of guy to waste any experience. Thanks to the movie, he learnt to scuba dive, climb cliffs, abseil face-first and hold his breath for “a minute and 21 seconds”. It was the last skill that really tested his nerve.

“There was a point when we were shooting, and they turned off the lights and it all went pitch black,” he says. “It was terrifying — especially when you’re holding your breath and your entire trust is in the safety guy. At the end of a scene, I’d put my fist out and expect to have a regulator in my hand within moments.”

It wasn’t the only time Wakefield put his trust in a guy with superior skills. Playing alongside seasoned pro Roxburgh, he became a keen student of the award-winning Aussie actor’s craft. “He’s such a relaxed guy, traditional but technical,” Wakefield says. “I got a great lesson in how to subtly manipulate the arc of a scene.”

It’s a common thread running through Wakefield’s career so far — a willingness to soak up the wisdom of industry pros. To the cynic, Home and Away might seem like a celluloid sausage factory, but for Wakefield it was an actor’s training school without peer. “I got to learn what does and doesn’t work on screen. Because the turnaround is so fast, there’s no messing around. You have to be on the ball.”

His relationship with the legendary Ray Meagher who plays Alf Stewart was pivotal. “He’s so professional — he took everything seriously and in his stride, and I respected that. It was good to see that at a young age.”

After quitting Home and Away, Wakefield’s first major movie was The Black Balloon, in which he played the brother of an autistic teenager. With Toni Collette playing his character’s mum, it was another opportunity to hone his skills in the purview of an industry stalwart. “Every take is so fresh with her,” he says. “She has her craft down like a pro, which she is.”

Now dividing his time between LA and his hometown of Sydney, Wakefield has a number of American projects in his sights and is quietly hopeful about his prospects in what is one of the most unreliable and cutthroat of industries. “I’d like to look back in 20 years and be able to say I chose every film because I really believed in it,” he muses. “I’d like to do interesting indie films mixed with big, high-paying commercial blockbusters,” he laughs. “One for you, one for me, is what they say.”

Sanctum is out on DVD soon.

----------------------------------------------

The New Business Man

Published 19 Apr 2011 Photographed by Pierre Toussaint Words by Alexandra Spring

Two silver dog tags hang from a chain on Todd Lasance’s neck. One says “Today could be your last day”, the other “There are no mistakes”. The 25-year-old actor wears them almost every day. Occasionally he clasps one while thinking, but mostly they just hang there as he talks and laughs. His blue eyes twinkle and there’s more than a hint of cockiness in that wide smile, but beneath it all is a quiet determination. Todd Lasance is a man who knows what he wants.

When we first meet in Perth on the set of Cloudstreet, the dog tags have been packed away and he is wearing a slim-fitting brown shirt and pants with heavy boots. His blond, spiky hair has been darkened and sculpted into a close crop, parted on one side. Lasance is on a break from shooting the Showtime miniseries, based on Tim Winton’s beloved book.

The story of two families living side by side in poverty in postwar Perth, Cloudstreet is an Australian classic. Lasance plays the adult Quick Lamb, eldest son of the Lamb family. The elation Lasance felt after landing the lead role was quickly replaced by a daunting sense of responsibility to do the Miles Franklin Award-winning novel justice. “It’s good to have that pressure,” he says, “because it keeps you hungry for the role and wanting to do a good job.”

Quick is not an easy character to inhabit. He carries a heavy burden of survivor guilt following a childhood accident that leaves his brother mentally disabled. “I don’t really have a lot in my own life to feel guilty for, touch wood, so playing that [was] a challenge,” says Lasance. “But as an actor, you want challenges. You don’t want it to be easy.”

The series stars some of Australia and New Zealand’s finest talents, including Kerry Fox, who plays Quick’s mother. Lasance describes working with the veteran Kiwi actress as a life-changing experience: “It’s almost cheating, acting with someone so good — she just gives it to you.”

Rose Pickle, Quick’s future wife, is played by model-turned-actress Emma Booth, with whom Lasance was required to act out some steamy sex scenes. “It’s quite an unusual thing to be doing as a job — an interesting dynamic,” he laughs. “But if you trust the person and you are close with them, it makes it simple.”

Cloudstreet’s producers certainly didn’t skimp when it came to the period details, be they the Menzies-era groceries in the Cloud Street store, the Bible in Mrs Lamb’s tent, the pictures on Quick’s bedroom walls or the classic cars rumbling down the street.

Wearing the meticulously researched costumes helped Lasance get into character. “He’s got a strong, masculine feel to him,” he says of Quick. “He’s a strong male and I think that’s an endearing quality to play.” Back then, he notes, the Australian male’s values were admirably old-school. “Quick looks after his mother and father, and he’s protective of his sisters. He takes on board the responsibility of certain aspects of life and his family values — it’s a great thing to go back to.”

Cloudstreet is far removed from the show that made Lasance a household name. Until late last year the 25-year-old was a fixture on Home and Away, playing troubled Aden Jefferies. After appearing in a handful of episodes in 2005, his character proved so popular that Lasance was brought back as a full-time lead in 2007. He was soon plunged into the roller-coaster world of Australian soap, dealing with teen romance, bullying, sexual abuse and the death of his young wife.

As a crash course in acting, it was a valuable apprenticeship. “You want to be stretched as an actor — you want to grow. This isn’t just a hobby, this is a career that I want to do for the rest of my life. To get the opportunity, week in, week out, to go to so many different places with the storylines that the writers gave me, it was the ultimate learning ground.”

Filming was fast and furious, producing up to 22 minutes of footage each day (most TV dramas aim for four to six minutes). While that meant there was less time for reflection, the cracking pace did have its upsides. “[You say to yourself] I have to delve into those emotions, make those decisions, become the character — like that,” he says with 
a click of his fingers.

When we meet again, a few months later, Lasance is back in his civvies — jeans and a T-shirt — with his dog tags clearly visible. Cloudstreet has wrapped and he is now shooting the third season of Channel Nine’s Rescue: Special Ops. One thing’s for certain — he’s not reprising his role as the burdened Quick Lamb. “He has no limitations, he’s an extreme-living type of guy,” says Lasance of Cam Jackson, the new unit leader of a rival rescue division pitted against regular character Dean Gallagher — played by fellow Home and Away alumnus Les Hill. Lasance is relishing the challenge of a new role. “I’m rock-climbing, abseiling, doing parkour and stunt-driving. We’re on cliff faces all the time,” he marvels, with obvious delight.

He’s also managed to squeeze in one of Nine’s upcoming The Underbelly Files telemovies. Tell Them Lucifer Was Here tells the story of the 1998 murders of two Victorian police officers, Gary Silk and Rod Miller, and of the team of detectives determined to catch their killers. Lasance plays Dean Thomas, one of the taskforce detectives assigned to the case. He reckons it’s a terrific yarn. “The guys who did it were good in a criminal sense, in trying to cover their tracks. The detectives had to capitalise on their mistakes and it was fascinating to see how the smallest piece of evidence would eventually lead to catching them.”

It’s an ironic role, given that the actor was arrested in a Sydney nightclub for cocaine possession in 2009. He sighs when I bring it up. “That was one of those massive errors of judgement that pulled everything back into perspective for me,” he says, choosing his words carefully. “Emotionally it was such a dark moment. One stupid mistake and you realise how close you’ve come to losing everything that matters, everything you’ve worked for, and the respect of family, friends and colleagues.”

Lasance now sees getting busted with drugs as a wake-up call. “It makes you step up and go, ‘You know what? That isn’t me. I’m not going to let this define me. It doesn’t represent who I am or my lifestyle at all.’ Everyone who knows me knows that, so I don’t need to prove it to the people who know me best. But it’s for myself too, to show that it doesn’t reflect who I am or what I am.”

I ask about the ‘no mistakes’ tag around his neck. “It’s a hindsight thing that I live by, in the sense that anything and everything that happens in my life, good or bad, happens for a reason,” he explains. “[This] happened to set me up to develop as a person. Dwelling on it isn’t going to get me anywhere. I need to step up now and prove myself.”

One year on from his brush with the criminal justice system, he’s done just that. With three TV lead roles under his belt, and more on the cards, the only way is up. And Lasance wants to go all the way. “[i want to] be in a position to choose roles that give me the freedom to stretch myself, to go out on a limb, to push myself as a person and push myself emotionally.”

Cloudstreet will premiere on Showtime in mid-2011.

[Jen]

DAY-UM.

Thanks so much for the photos and the articles.

I wish I could post something that wasn't shallow, but both of the boys are looking great.

It's great to read about them speaking so highly about their time on H&A.

[HAA Girl 08]

Oh. My. Wow.

Thank you Ida_girl! They both look great!

[rosalie]

Wow, thanks for the pics!

Todd

[Ida_girl]

Your welcome! Too good to not share, right?

[LauraPhilly!!]

Wow-wee!!!

They are soooooooooooooo sexy!!!

Thanks so much for these Ida!

[scottieshez]

Thanks IDA_GIRL.

Wow I didnt realise how good looking Todd is

I loved watching Aden and Belle on the show they were really great together.

Todd looks like he is really gonna go places. Three major roles in a year!