LUCY CHASING HER NEXT BIG BREAK
FROM a fictional Reef Break to the razor-sharp real deal, Currumbin surfer Lucy Callister is riding a wave of success.
A competitor on the World Surf League’s Qualifying Series since 2014, the 19-year-old has put the sport on the backburner to focus on television and film opportunities.
The Bond University communications student recently wrapped up filming on Reef Break, the Disney crime drama shot on local beaches.
In the series, Callister worked as a surfing body double to one of the characters who meets an untimely end.
“They shot a scene where this jet ski comes behind me and shoots me and I had to act and fall into the water. That was tough, it’s not natural,” said Callister, who has also picked up numerous stunt double roles including on the US blockbuster film The Shallows.
“Surfing is becoming a lot more mainstream so there are opportunities, which is great. There is actually a lot of work for doubling in surfing in tv and film at the moment.
“The surfing is the easiest part, it’s hard when you have to start acting.”
Callister’s surfing skills will be tested next month when she joins a group of 10 surfers from the Women’s Qualifying Series for 10 days in the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia.
The tight group of Australian and New Zealand surfers will get experience surfing above the sharp Indonesian reef.
“It’s a girls’ trip to improve our surfing and push ourselves in more challenging conditions,” Callister said.
“It’s on reef breaks and very different to what we are used to. I’m really looking forward to this trip because it really takes you back to why you started surfing in the first place – catching waves and being out in the water.
“You can easily lose that with competing. I fell out of love with it for a while and it felt like a chore.”