"Storm Boy" Stars Jai Courtney and Finn Little Tell Us the Trick to Acting Opposite Birds

Student Edge caught up with the stars of Storm Boy and talked up a… y’know... storm.

Jai Courtney has now played two iconic Aussie characters from literature: Hideaway Tom, the reclusive father from book-turned-movie-turned-even-newer-movie Storm Boy, and, Captain Boomerang, one tinny-slugging sixth of Suicide Squad. Which is more significant? Who’s to say?

We caught up with Jai ahead of Storm Boy’s cinema release, as well as 11-year-old Finn Little, who plays his son in the flick; a young boy who raises and befriends a pelican named Mr. Percival in his dad’s tucked-away beachside home. Despite the differences in their age and professional experience, they both explained how they approached the same acting challenge within this project: talking to birds.

"Look, it can be tricky, can be tough, kind of absurd having a chat with a bird," Jai laughs to Student Edge.

"Your training and bonding has to come into it. You have to invest in that to build a trust with an animal. Oftentimes they’re a lot more intuitive than we are."

"Pelicans are very clumsy and cheeky sometimes, but they’re pelicans, you gotta deal with that," Finn adds, noting one trick to keep them on task: "They are motivated by fish."

This new Storm Boy, directed by Shawn Seet, comes to cinemas 55 years after Colin Thiele’s book was published. All these years later, it’s a staple of school curriculums. That’s how Jai came to know it.

"I had strong memories of it being put on the last day of term at school, probably when the teachers are ready to knock off at lunch time," he says.

"I remember the feeling of connecting to that material so much and how it made me feel. To read this and be invited to come and be a part of this and kind of uphold the legacy was a real treat."

Finn, however, only saw the 1976 adaptation before filming began on the remake. He calls it "a gorgeous movie".

So, why have another crack?

"If you’re gonna remake something, have another go at it, it needs to appeal to a modern audience on some level," Jai explains.

"I think all those themes that are at the heart of it still resonate with folks. It’s a simple tale about complex emotional things. That’s something we can all relate to and stay in touch with.

"What’s at the heart of the classic story, that stuff’s timeless; the emotional journey that we go on with a boy who rescues these pelican chicks from certain death, and how that shapes his view of the world and shifts the lives of those around him quite profoundly."

Though Finn gets to share the screen with a seasoned pro like Jai—and a cheeky pelican—the picture ultimately rests on his shoulders. And despite only having gotten into acting initially because his mum "wanted us to be good at public speaking", he’s fallen in love with the profession, and is now hoping to turn it into a "long-term career".

"Every role you get is so unique and it's great to be in someone else’s shoes," he says.

We asked how his friends feel about him starring in a film, just as school’s set to go back.

"They’re happy for me," Finn says.

"They don’t treat me any differently than they used to, and that’s good, because they’re some pretty honest friends."

And what about Jai’s friends?

"They’re all pretty pumped," he reckons.

As for Captain Boomerang, and whether we’ll ever see him again, Jai says: "Sure hope so."

"I don’t know when exactly. It’s in the works man, so stand by. I’m sure we will."

Storm Boy arrives in Australian cinemas 17 January 2019.

Header Image: Sony Pictures