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John Murdoch - "Dark City"
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Rufus has an unusual heritage in
that his father came from New South Wales and his mother lives in what could be described
as "Old" South Wales. Apart from that trademark head of dark curly hair, all this Welsh-ness helps
to make Rufus a fascinating character in other ways. Not only is he a brilliantly subtle
actor, he is also a man of engaging wit and charm, with down-to-earth qualities and a
self-deprecating humour which he may have inherited from his Aussie father, Bill
Sewell. Originally an electrical fitter, Bill was in turn a wrestler, an artist, and
finally an animator who worked in a Soho studio on famous cartoon images such as
"Roobarb & Custard", The Beatles’ "Yellow Submarine" and the
"Pink Panther" films. Rufus describes him as " ... a huge tattooed
man with very long hair and an earring … big muscley body-builder, weight-lifter guy
… more Jack Kerouac, more beatnik, than hippie ..." Bill left Australia for the
UK in 1953 and Rufus and his brother, Caspar, are the children of Bill’s second
marriage to a Welsh girl, Jo. Sadly, Bill died in 1977 when Rufus was only ten. Jo
has since remarried and lives in Dylan
Thomas country.
The story of how the first Sewell came to
Australia in chains can be read here.
Martin Donovan, Maya Stange, Rufus Sewell
"In A Savage Land"
Additional genealogy links:
http://www.sole.org.uk/
http://www.genforum.com/sewell/
In 1996-97 Rufus visited his
father’s homeland for the first time where he spent several months making "Dark
City". He came again in July 1998 to work on "In A Savage Land", which was
filmed on location in the Trobiand Islands, Papua New Guinea, and in South Australia. In
March 1999 Rufus married Aussie fashion journalist, Yasmin Abdallah, whom he met in Sydney
while making "Dark City", but they parted early in 2000, shortly before what
would have been their first anniversary.
Of special note to any producers out there ... as Rufus
has joint British and Australian citizenship, he is eligible under the strict Australian
entertainment union laws for roles in local film or theatrical productions not normally
available to non-Australian citizens.
"In
A Savage Land"
Information for Australian fans only
You can rent several of Rufus's
better-known films from your local video store - most of the major video
chains ought to have some, if not all, of the following titles available:
"Bless The Child", "Cold Comfort Farm", "Carrington",
"Dark City", "Destiny of Her Own", "Middlemarch" (ABC TV
boxed set), "The Very Thought Of You", "A Man of No Importance",
"Hamlet" (short or long version) and "In A Savage
Land". You may have trouble finding titles like "Dirty
Weekend" or "The Woodlanders", but they do exist in some stores.
As yet, few Rufus films have been released in Zone 4 DVD - but
check these out with your local video store or retailer.
Sadly, several of Rufus's great early
performances in films such as "Twenty-One" and "Victory" have never
been seen in Australia, not even on video, and even some of his more recent movies like
"Illuminata" and "At Sachem Farm" (aka "Uncorked") have
never had Australian release either. Another notable omission is the mini-series
"Arabian Nights". Although it screened on both local free-to-air and pay-TV,
neither the video nor DVD seems to be available to buy or rent in this country.
Also, despite being an Aussie-made and produced film, for-sale copies of "In A
Savage Land" are almost impossible to find, apart from the occasional
ex-rental video . However, a Zone 1 DVD version is available from Canada!
If you want to buy a particular
Aussie video or DVD, you can try Vidz of Oz,
who have a DVD and video-find service Also, British (PAL) videos are compatible
with Australia and some titles can be ordered from the UK from Blackstar.
Please be aware that American or Canadian (NTSC)
videos cannot be played on Australian VCR's unless you have NTSC
playback. Also note that neither British nor North American DVD's are
compatible with Australiana/Asian Zone 4 on standard DVD players.
(This information was correct as of November,
2001. If you're an Australian fan and you are aware of changes or other
titles becoming available either on video or DVD, please contact either Ginny or
myself.)
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