Underbelly

26 August 2010, 07:00

It’s not always easy to tell exactly what someone is thinking when they are at the other end of a 12,000 mile phone link. But there was no mistaking the tone in actor Roy Billing’s voice from his home in New Zealand as he spoke passionately about the tragic effect drugs generated from the Australian crime wave had on families – a topic close to his heart as his own son was a victim of the drugs that Trimbole and his like brought to Australia.

It was most likely these memories that made the actor take on the role of Bob Trimbole in the hit Aussie TV series Underbelly:A Tale of Two cities, now showing for the first time in the UK exclusively on STV. It was Trimbole, and his partner in crime, Terry Clark, who were largely responsible for bringing hard drugs to Australia in the first place. And Roy rubbishes claims made in parts of the Australian media when the series first appeared that the series glorifies crime.

“Look, what happens to the criminals in the drama, they all end of up dead or becoming addicted to their own product”, he said. “There is no happy outcome. I don’t see how that glorifies crime.”

Trimbole and Clark are among Australia’s most infamous criminals, not just because of what they did but because of how they got away with it. Trimbole, the kingmaker of the underworld, snaked his way into the pockets of the big players and put the profits of crime before all else, no matter what the consequences.

But this larger than life figure had a twinkle in his eye and hatfuls of easy Ocker charm. And, personal considerations apart, that was the sort of opportunity that the actor in Roy just couldn’t turn down. As he says, “Australians love their criminals.

“The character was fascinating for a start, to try and portray somebody who is so familiar to Australian audiences. But also great to just play a lead character in an Underbelly series, given how successful the first one was.”

But playing real people brings problems of their own for an actor: “I did have some qualms about portraying him”, Roy added, “given that some of his children and relatives are alive and I couldn’t find a lot of TV footage of him.”

To overcome these challenges, Roy began his own detective investigation to uncover the man behind the crimes. Finding a couple of photographs and personal recollections from people who knew Bob, he was able to create his perception of the sweet-talking, drug dealing murderer from Griffith, New South Wales.

“I just thought, well, it is like all criminals, you play them for real, that is what they do for a job. I didn’t want to play a caricature of a mafia heavy.

“It is like the Shakespearian villains like Richard III who delivered monologues to the audiences to get the audience in on their villainy so the audience feels part of it and then they suddenly realise ‘oh hang on, why am I sympathising with this character?’”

He added: “I tried to play him as reasonably likeable and I found out I was pretty spot on because I have met a number of people who knew him and said that the way I played him was the way he was. They all found it hard to believe that he was involved in the things he was.”

As well as perfecting the villain’s mannerisms and personality, Roy also had to inherit his love of food as he worked at creating a similar physique to the overweight Italian.

“It was very easy to put it on but taking it off is not so easy,” the actor joked. “I have lost weight since I did the series but I am not back to what I should be. It is one of those things; I could probably lose it quicker if I started running.”

Working alongside many of the same writers and crew members as the first Underbelly, the fast turnaround second series took the crown as the highest rating Australian drama when it launched last year, peaking at four million viewers – a turnaround that catapulted Roy into the public limelight like never before.

“The next morning, doing the normal things like walking up the road to get a paper and call into my butcher, people started yelling out from cars, ‘Aussie Bob, Trimbole’. That has gone on since the series screened. Everyday of my life, somebody will yell out ‘Trimbole’ or talk about the series.”

He added: “Every time I come through customs, somebody makes a joke. They all make jokes about it but they never actually search me!”

Find out more about Bob Trimbole and the real story behind the Australian drug crime wave.

Last updated: 27 August 2010, 16:09