CAN’T WAIT TO BE KING
Finn Cole: the nice guy who plays bad boys.
the role of the character J in the TV production of
(a decidedly glossier, Los Angelean take on the gritty Australian film), the clout of the original wasn’t lost on him. “Going into it, that film was one of my favourites. I thought what they did was perfect,” says Cole.
Cole’s J is, of course, the orphaned teen who ends up under the wing of his crime matriarch grandmother and tightknit, criminal uncles. “I remember thinking it was quite out of reach for a young, pretty inexperienced actor like myself at the time,” says Cole. “But it really fascinated me. I thought, ‘Where can this character go? What potential does he have?’ I knew I had to take it and go for it full throttle.”
That he has. The show’s expansion (season three premiered in May) has paved the way for J to rise through the ranks, with a quiet assertion that’s seen him go from the young blow-in to a force for the others to reckon with. “He’s the kind of person who watches, picks things up very quickly and learns from everything. [He has] a control over his family that is calm, contained and controlled. I think that’s very powerful.”
There are parallels between J’s trajectory and Cole’s own, being that the youngest star of the show has proven to have the biggest potential; snapped up by Margot Robbie’s production company Luckychap to appear in the upcoming and maintaining a recurring role in the hit gangster epic
It’s this show that Cole credits with kickstarting his career, as a teenager who “didn’t really have a clue about what I was doing or where I was going”. Working on the show, “helped solidify where I wanted to be – especially with role models like Helen Mccrory and Cillian Murphy”. Oh, and being a sponge suits him just fine. “That’s the fantastic thing about being 22 and working in this industry, you meet role models every day and you learn exactly who you want to be in 10, 20, 50 years’ time.”
“I think a good actor is someone who turns up on time, does the work, and treats everyone within that creative process with ultimate respect,” says Cole, with an ethic way beyond his years. “They haven’t got any insecurities, they haven’t got this feeling someone’s challenging them; they’re there to do a job, but they really love what they’re doing.”
As for Cole’s own plans? “I’ve always had aspirations to take the creative process to the next stage [with directing]. I love the idea of having control over the creative process. But I’m in no rush to do it; there’s a lot I have to experience and figure out first.” So for now: “I could make a long list of writers and directors and actors I would love to work with, but the exciting thing for me is the unknown.”
“Being hesitant to approach or audition for things pushes me out of my comfort zone.” One such role is as the psychopathic Kearney in the upcoming Irish indie a nihilistic take on a group of school-leavers’ coming-of-age, which quickly takes a dark turn when drinking and drug-taking turns into acts of violence.
Cole describes black sheep Kearney as, “Very dark; very different to anything I’ve played before,” which – for someone who’s played a mob member-cum-murderer, as well as a gun-wielding mega-yacht-robbing teen – is saying something.
“I’ve always said that I really just take each day as it comes rather than hoping and praying for something to happen, then living in a spiral of never being satisfied,” says Cole. “I wouldn’t change what I’m currently doing for the world.”
E