The first thing you notice about Harry Pavlidis when you meet him is his presence.

The tall, dashing man who looks like an athlete, politely refuses a drink, despite using the old Greek trump card, ‘you cannot refuse a drink offered by another Greek!’

After making enquiries about his background, it emerges that the talented actor was once a star athlete in New South Wales, holding a number of records in the high jump during the 1980’s.

As a 17 year old at James Cook High School, his 1.9 metre clearance was a record that stood for a decade.

This led him to a stint in the US College system before returning to Sydney, citing his dissatisfaction at numerous unethical practices that some of those in the sports program promoted.

What was track and field’s loss was the creative world’s gain.

Harry has certainly had to earn his stripes in an industry that is not particularly kind to Sydney thespians, with most our star names usually deriving from Melbourne. Having studied at the prestigious Actors Centre in 1990 before making his TV debut on E Street as ‘Batman’ way back in 1993, on an episode I still remember. The debut was the making of Harry as a professional, choosing the world of acting over athletics.

Stereotype
He described this process as a natural fit, “going from the athletics arena to the acting arena, I feel as though it is in my DNA.” It was not an easy craft, as Harry explained. “I started out with work as an extra, moving through a number of commercials and then auditions before starting in television.”
Within no time, Harry was being cast by a range of TV executives leading to small roles in Police Rescue, Home and Away (finally we had a Greek on there), Neighbours, Police Rescue, Stingers, Blue Heelers. Despite appearing in great Aussie soaps and TV shows, he was generally cast as an ethnic.

Though, it is fair to assess that that in person he does not fit the atypical Greek stereotype.

Some of his character names have included Nick Morelli, Anthony Kardaras, Ted Simos and Mafioso!

Reluctantly, Harry told me that it was harder for a Greek man to gain industry credits back when he started in 1990 as an extra. These days, he and many like him from that era are accepted as actors firstly and foremost.

Film success
In 1995 he gained a huge break with a role in the feature film Lilian’s Story as Constable Sparkman starring alongside the iconic Ruth Cracknell, Barry Otto and a young actress called Toni Collette. This youngster would win the AFI award for best supporting actress whilst the movie gained a nomination for best score.

The success of the film allowed him greater opportunities, resulting in a number of small movie roles over the next few years including the Jackie Chan film A Nice Guy. This film took close to 65 million worldwide.

Gabriel
In 2007 local cinema was delivered with an unusual film; a science fiction offering revolved around the archangel Gabriel. Harry portrayed the character Uriel, the diplomat of the Archangel group. The Sydney Morning Herald labelled him a scene stealer in their praise of his performance.

The film earned 25 million dollars around the world resulting in close to two years of red carpet premiers and promotion and a well earned time out overseas.

He spent time in Greece and Germany. It’s the latter country were they attained real attention with a strong box office showing. Harry excitedly explained that ‘in Germany there is an annual Gabriel convention!’

After making a film called John Doe in 2014, Harry once again teamed up with the crew of Gabriel to make the film Infini as, Harris Menzies. Describing the film as “psychological thriller due to the beast that I know it is. It really messes with you. It has you guessing the whole time until it reaches its unpredictable climax, which in turn allows your heart rate to return back to normal.”

The story is set in the 23rd century, with perfectionist, Shane Abbess, leading the behind the scenes work. The cast includes well known actors, Daniel Macpherson, Grace Huang and Luke Hemsworth, with Harry telling me that this film will be a cinematic classic when it makes its mainstream debut.

‘This is a movie with a budget of approximately 4 million dollars, and 6 weeks to film in a warehouse in Sydney. The crew were amazing and they are the real stars as they built a realistic science fiction set; they were in there working as hard as possible.’

Harry told me as he reflected on the team camaraderie of everyone involved. “The film is set to succeed and we will premiere it soon for a Sydney audience.” Watching the trailer for Infini, I can see it is set to be an enjoyable movie.

I asked Harry about what it takes to be a real actor and he cited Hugo Weaving. “A good example of an actor who never took rejection personally…. when success came he remained true to his profession.” I was advised that method acting can really help an emerging actor, something he should know well for he was the star of Cafe Rebetika in 2011 playing Stavrakas. Like Hugo Weaving does, he occasionally steps in to the world of theatre (possibly close to 60 productions).

The smash hit play had a run of two years garnering outstanding reviews as the performers replicated life in the coffee shops of rebetika music in Athens. Greek blues and the sadness of the era as Greece came to terms with the disaster of the defeat in Asia Minor by Turkey and the Depression. Harry spoke glowingly of his role as the leading man which helped bring the story of the period to audiences in Australia.

In addition to the new film, Harry is finishing a documentary about being homeless. An all too real and serious problem that doesn’t always attain the attention it deserves by mainstream society.

Having spent the best part of an entertaining evening with Harry, I was pleasantly surprised by his dedication to his career. Twenty-five years in the industry is a long time and something worth celebrating. I have a feeling, I will interview him again for his Jubilee. To round out the night I played Harry one of my short film projects. He turned in one of his finest performances when he blatantly told me it was good. At that moment, I knew he was a wonderful actor. Something the industry already knew.

Infini is out in the US in May and will be followed up with a local release. You can check out the trailer here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kyp8ax8QHE&feature=youtu.be&list=PLBjQGTiSLun0R…

*Billy Cotsis is a freelance writer and short film director.