The life of

Callan Mulvey

The following is a self-written account of Cal's life up to 1997.

the x-file

"I was born Callan Francis Mulvey in Auckland, New Zealand on February 23, 1975. There is a bit of dispute about my birthday. My parents swear it's the 23rd and I celebrate that day, but my birth certificate says the 24th. So, either they stuffed up the certificate, or I'm an X-file! My dad, Tam, is Scottish and my mum, Chris, is half Maori. I was named after my Scotish grandfather.
The craziest way that anyone has ever pronounced my name is Colin Molveu.
"I lived in a suburb called New-Lynn in Auckland with my parents, but when I was eight, we moved to Australia for a year. Once we got here we loved it, and I grew up in Manly. It was great because I hung out with the kids who were into surfing and skating and stuff. I went to Manly West Primary and then on to Balgowlah Boys High, but after repeating year 11- I thought I'd repeat and work harder for a god HSC mark, but it didn't happen- I changed to Beacon Hill High."

the outcast

"I was a bit of an outcast at school because the most popular guys were big footy types. I had a few friends, but didn't really get on with anybody. I just did my own thing - I've always hung out by myself a lot. I really hated school - my heart wasn't in it. I'd have bursts of enthusiasm in order to keep myself just above water but I got into trouble a lot. I'd be late about four times a week - yeah, I was a real rough and tough guy. I also used to write sick notes for my self all the time. In fact, I did it so much that when my parents gave me a real one, I'd have to replace it with my handwriting.
"I was the one that screwed around heaps. I'd throw things at the teacher while she was writing on the blackboard, get the whole class to make her cry, or just muck around with Jon Pollard. I'd be in Maths and I'd crack Jon really hard, like a full-on dead arm, and then shout, 'Ow, Jon1 I'm trying to do my work!' Then the teacher would tell Jon to get out. I was always the extreme - I'd either be totally uncontrollable, or I'd be perfect.
"I was pretty much over school by year Six, so by year 12, well, I was terrible at the HSC. I was out at a friend's house or in town the night before every exam, but I ended up just passing. I got a TER of 51, and don't even know how because I did absolutely nothing and shouldn't have even got a mark! I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life - I was never into drama or school plays. I worked at McDonald's and packed bags at Franklins for a while but all my jobs never lasted more than three months, because I just wasn't interested. When I left school in 1993 I still had no idea what I really wanted to do."

the reason to live

"When rollerblading first came out, I was 16 and got right into it. The other guys in my neighbourhood also bladed, so I did it in any spare moment I had. If I wasn't at school or sleeping, I was skating. I even got involved in working for a skate company and then at one stage, I decided that I wanted to be a cinematographer. How? I met some guys who made skate videos and I worked the video camera for them, and they thought my stuff was cool, so I started getting into photography and even got a part time job as an assistant photographer, so I could learn about light and composition. But that didin't last, so I just stuck to my scating.
"I got into a skate team and started doing demonstrations around Sydney. We actually got to the stage where we got full-on sponsorships from people like Coca-Cola - like verything from ear plugs to undies! We also did two tours of America, which was wicked. Then blading became commercial and it felt like a job, so I got sick of it and quit pro-skating altogether.
"By that stage, I'd done a few commercials as a stunt double and because rollerblading was the latest hip thing to do, everybody wanted to get skaters in their ads. We were the guys best known in Sydney for skating, so I ended up doing a cheesy Red Rooster as, dressed up as a nun.
"The next thing I knew, I was put into an actors agency because my mate, Jon Pollard, was with the same agent and he'd actually done some acting, like Heartbreak High. So, his agent has heard about me through Jo. I didn't even apply or felt like I wanted to go that way, it just happend. Then I got this job to appear in a corporate instruction video for Nokia and I was absolutelly shitting myself! I was like, 'Oh, man, what am I thinking! I can't act!' I just had to say a few lines about technical stuff but I kept on stuffing up. However, I got through it and also acted in a police training video, which I felt better about. But I still wasn't sure if acting was the right thing for me.
"I was in Byron Bay, cruising with some friends, when I decided I was hopeless and unmotive about money and getting things together. So, I decided to travel around Australia for a year, get to a place to live, find a job, work for a while and then move on. Then I got a call from my agent saying there were auditions for Heartbreak High. I was like, 'Oh, no!, 'coz I knew that if I went back to Sydney I was never going to travel around Australia. It was really weird because a part of me was saying that I was going to get the Heartbreak High role, yet another part of me was like, 'I don't want to go that way.'
"Anyway, somehow I ended up on a train back to Sydney and I went and saw the Heartbreak High people. The casting lady was really cool and they called me back to see me again for a couple of workshops with Nico Lathouris who, incidentally, is a genois of an acting coach. I said to myself, 'I've got to make myslef stand out," but I walked in and there were 12 other people there, and I freaked out. I kept telling myself not to worry, that I'd be fine, and all I've got to do is just jump in and do it. So, we were in the middle of doing some exercises when it hit me: 'Yes! I love this, I want to do acting!' At the end of it all they had me, Rel Hunt and Lara Cox in the one room and they said 'Yeah, you've got the part.' I was so stocked that I had found my purpose in life - acting."

the character - drazic

"On my first day at Heartbreak High there were about 100 people there and I was shaking, saying, 'I'm dead, I can't do this! What am I doing here?' If you watchh my first few epizodes, you will notice my voice trembling in some scenes. From then on I was like, 'Shit, I've got to lock in here.' So for the next three months, whenever there was an opportunity, I'd sit in the corner and just watch what everyone was doing.
"I'm stoked to be playing Drazic because he gets to wear all these rad clothes, do lots of fun stuff and he's definitely not a boring character - he can be the nicest guy you've ever met, or a real vindictive bastard.
"Essentially, I make Drazic, so there's going to be a lot of me in him, too, but I'm his fun side - like when he can amuse himself at any time. That's me you know, being a clown a pulling stupid faces. The reason I do that is to relax myself and the other actors. You see, it can get really stresfull at Heartbreak, sometimes, so if I start screwing around, having a few laughs and getting the others to muck about, it makes the vibe really good, loosens everyone up and keeps it free, happy and spontaneous.
"I think what's freaked me out the most about being a character on Heartbreak are the fans. They can be so full on. It's a good thing, but...well, I'm just a person whose job happens to be on TV. The fans are always like, 'It's Drazic!' I just wish that they's just chill a bit because it's no big deal. I'm just a guy whose face is familiar."

the girlfriend

"I had my first kiss in Year Four when I was 10, with a girl named Catherine. We both had our first 'pash' during sport behind the toilets and I was terrified. Since then, I've had a bad run with girls for most of my life - like everyone of them has drilled me. I've probably had about 20 girlfriends and they've lasted from 2 weeks to six months. I went out with one girl for two years, but in terms of love it was bad - when I did, she didn't, and when she did, I didn't. My problem is that I just keep coming back for more kicks in the head. I've been heartbroken a million times. However, I do have a girlfriend at the moment, who I've been seeing a few months, but I'm not at liberty to reveal who it is. I will say, though, she's one of the most pure and honest people I've ever met."
(He's talking about Lara)

the prince of tv

"I was sitting at home when Lisa, the Heartbreak High publicist, called me and told me that I'd won the 1997 Dolly Prince Of TV. I just went, 'Oh, shit, did I?' I was really surprised, being a new comer and everything, and I never thought there was a chance that I'd win. It's also great for the show and that has to be a good thing."

the future

"I've met a lot of interesting people throughout my life and I have learnt a lot from all my experiences. My focus is to understand the world, myself, and others, and be able to take in everything that's going on around me and grow from that. When I finally realised what I wanted to do, I was very passionate about it and really determined that I could get whatever I wanted, If I was at the right place at the right time and did whatever I had to do to get it. I do belive that everything happens for a reason and I'd like to tell others out there not to lose hope. You can do whatever you want and it's only yourself that restricts you - just follow your heart.
"My dream would be to do a movie that really made people question themselves and confronted them as to why everyone is so afraid of themselves. I understand change takes time and strength, but I'm now at a point where I want to confront things in my life that I feel I have a problem with. That's because I know that they are limiting my ability to do things, and limiting my outlook on myself and what I'm capable of achieving.