The Daily Telegraph

September 15, 2007

 

HE'S been an elvin lord, a sheepdog and a rogue agent, now Hugo Weaving is hard at work channelling his inner rock god for Sydney Theatre Company's hot new ticket in town.

Riflemind, a brand new play by incoming artistic co-director Andrew Upton will see Weaving play the front man for a fictitious Aussie band, which reforms nine years after they split.

With Upton's wife Cate Blanchett expected at the October 5 opening night, Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffmann directing the play, Weaving's appearance on stage ups the star wattage, reports arts editor Simon Ferguson.

But with just weeks to go, Weaving says he's still closing in on the character of John, admitting he doesn't actually listen to rock in real life.

"I really listen to a lot of West African music,'' he says.

 "I could have modelled him on someone real, someone like Nick Cave, but really he's somebody different. He's just John, as one of the lines in the play says.''

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