Who is Rory Kelly?
Playing Luke in Red Stitch’s upcoming production of Jumpers for Goalposts.
What would you do differently to what you do now?
If I wasn’t acting I’d probably be directing or pointing lights at the performers. Telling stories is really important to me and, I think, important to positive development in this country of ours. Or maybe I’d be an astronaut. Either or.
Who inspires you and why?
Richard Curtis. He’s the writer of movies like Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Love Actually, you know the list goes on. He’s someone who has this amazing ability to tell stories that get under your skin and inspire you, and he decided to use them to tell stories about love. What a champion.
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
Unless I get bitten by a radioactive spider I think I’ll stick I trying to make a difference on a day to day level. Equality is very important to me, and if I could see just one positive change in the world, over night, genie style, it’d be total social equality. But magic solutions aside my big brother always told me to treat others the way you’d like to be treated, which seems like pretty solid advice.
Favourite holiday destination and why?
Wollongong. Two of my favourite women got married, had a couple of cats that they let me cuddle and one of them is teaching me to surf. One of the woman, not the cats. They can barely surf at all.
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take then to, and why?
The Astor! That’s the stuff dreams are made of. Old movies, butter popcorn and the occasion dance routine before the picture. How could you miss it?
What are you currently reading?
Slaughter House Five. It’s really funny.
What are you currently listening to?
I’m stuck on this cover of Stay With Me sung by Hannah Trigwell. It’s hauntingly lovely and she’s changed one of the lyrics from the original “but I still need love cause I’m just a man” to “… cause I’m just human” which might seem silly but I really appreciate the inclusiveness of it!
Happiness is?
The front row of a movie cinema that smells of popcorn, where there is no phone reception.
What does the future hold for you?
There are a few things I’m not allowed to mention just yet but right now I’m developing a play that I wrote called Naked Strangers. So I’ll be switching my hat for a bit and digging into that.
Rory Kelly studied performance at the Victorian College of the Arts before finishing off his formal training in 2011 by taking part in a master class with Kevin Spacey. As the 2012 participant of the Red Stitch Graduate program Rory is returning to the Red Stitch stage for the first time since his role as Stevie Grimes in The Good People.
Since then he has performed in the National Theatre’s production of War Horse, the upcoming Australian feature The Flame Wars and most recently in the sold out Melbourne season of Before I Fell Asleep.
Rory will be appearing in Red Stitch’s upcoming production of Jumpers for Goalposts. For more information, visit: www.redstitch.net for details.
Image: Rory Kelly