Actor and Oak Flats product Leigh Joel Scott's first leading role in a feature film is due for release this week.
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However, because of the "crazy" situation surrounding travel restrictions and quarantine rules due to the pandemic, he decided against flying from his Los Angeles home to Australia to see it on the big screen.
"It's very weird to not be there to bask in the glory, or have strangers stop me in the shops," he joked.
"I'm just excited for people to be able to get out and see the film.
"I've been getting messages from my nieces and nephews who are going to go along to the cinema and say, 'it's uncle Leigh, it's uncle Leigh'. And I'm not even there to say, 'hey, that's me'."
The new Australian family fantasy film The Legend of the Five marks the directing debut of Mad Max's Joanne Samuel.
It was filmed in late 2018, and shot in areas such as the Blue Mountains, Lithgow and Bombo.
"It took a month to shoot, and we all stayed together in this boarding school type place that was rented out," Scott said. "It was a good way for us to bond."
In the film, a teenage girl (Lauren Esposito) who recently lost her mother and moved to a new country and school, attends an excursion where she and four other students are teleported to a magical forest.
"It's all about being heroes and true to yourself, and it's very sweet," Scott said.
"It's a big fun, family action/adventure.
"I think people should be going to see it to not only support Australian cinema in a time when we desperately need it, but also go because this is one of the most fun films that I've seen come out of Australia in such a long time."
Scott, 28, plays Owen in the film, a character he describes as "nerdy" and "someone who doesn't have a lot of social luck".
He laughed about playing a character who's aged 16.
"How do I get away with it? The make-up team, they're the ones who got away with it," he said.
"I shaved twice a day, and it was so painful.
"I've only grown to five-foot-four, so really I didn't have to do much."
The film has other Illawarra connections. Matthew Pritchard, an actor from Wollongong, plays the Keeper of the Crossroads; and the writer of the film, Peter McLeod, is also from Wollongong.
"The three of us actually all met at the University of Wollongong, where we studied creative writing together," Scott said.
The film will be released in Western Australian and Victorian cinemas on June 25, and in the rest of Australia on July 2.
Scott said he was hopeful the film would eventually be released to streaming platforms in the US.
Scott moved from the Illawarra to Los Angeles about six years ago, and has been busy acting, writing and doing voiceover work.
"I went straight from my childhood bedroom to living in West Hollywood," he said.
"I'm so happy I moved over here; it's been a rewarding, but challenging time to be over in the States.
"But it's part of the grind; it's why I moved here, to work hard."
Scott said he planned to visit Australia at Christmas, but in the meantime has been keeping busy during lockdown.
"I'm getting a lot of time to get some work done, working on a couple of pitches and other scripts, which is great," he said.
"But it's still a bit scary, especially because people aren't following the rules... People are just walking around without masks and that type of thing."
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