Ian Roberts kicks off movie career
by Phillip Koch (Sydney Sunday Telegraph 17 march 2002)
League star Ian Roberts will make his film debut this week when a short film exposing the foibles of high society and the fame game premieres. "I get more of a buzz out of this than I did from rugby league," Roberts, 36, told The Sunday Telegraph. "It's the best thing I've ever done."The former South Sydney, Manly and Australian rugby league star has a starring role in the film even though he has just started his second year at NIDA.
Roberts makes his film debut in All Tomorrow's Parties, playing a male gigolo in a short film made with other NIDA students on a shoestring budget.Producer Justin Davies, 25, said the film was based on his own experiences observing the A-list party scene usually from a waiter's uniform.
"I've been a waiter at A-list parties," he said; "I was even a waiter at the Packer wedding (for James and
Jodie Packer)."I've seen things first hand. There's a lot of champagne drunk by bored people waiting to be
entertained."Roberts was as equally unimpressed when he experienced the A-list party scene as an invited guest, which
became more frequent after he spoke out about his sexuality.While he said Australia had some genuine A-listers, like Russell Crowe, Kylie Minogue and Nicole Kidman,
he insisted he was only a "C-list" celebrity.Roberts said he had also appeared in stage productions at NIDA and regularly auditioned for professional
theatre and film roles. "I went for an audition for Matrix and I'm not ashamed to admit I got the punt," he said.All Tomorrow's Parties opens on Tuesday at The Art House Hotel and is destined for Cannes and other
overseas film festivals.