For real-life footballer Ethan Panizza, playing a sportsman on screen comes second nature. However, this role has a twist – he’s gay! I spoke to the actor ‘holding the man’ on Playing For Keeps.
At first glance, one would think Network Ten’s new drama Playing For Keeps centers on a salacious group of footballer WAGs – that’s wives and girlfriends if you didn’t know. But ten minutes into the story it’s clear this is more than just ‘mean girls’ in an AFL corporate box. In fact, this new Aussie production has legs – and muscular ones at that!
Granted the WAGs play a pivotal role in a premise similar to the UK’s Footballers’ Wives, but so do their hunky HAB’s, and if there’s no such term for Husbands and Boyfriends, I’ve just invented it! Jackson Gallagher (Please Like Me) plays the alpha male team captain and Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (Gallipoli) is the seasoned coach of the fictitious Southern Jets Footy Club. George Pullar (A Place To Call Home), Kevin Hofbauer (Offspring) and James Mason (Freudian Slip) make up the star players, while Madeleine West (The Wrong Girl) and Olympia Valance (Neighbours) are equally eye-catching WAGs. Credit must go to casting director Nathan Lloyd (Wentworth) who’s given actors the roles they were born to play.
The major plotline involves the surprise coming out of player Rusty O’Reilly, played by Ethan Panizza. In a scenario new to Australian television, the back flanker is accused of having a relationship with a footballer wife, but the affair is with her husband Jack, played by James Mason. The fact that Jack has also mysteriously drowned during a training camp only adds to the drama.
For Panizza, the role of Rusty was not only challenging, but also something of an eye-opener for the straight footballer and tradesman cum actor.
“When I auditioned for the role I didn’t know Rusty was gay,” says Panizza. “But when they told me, I thought what an incredible opportunity and privilege to play this character. I’ve got a close group of gay friends, and I talked to them about the role, which I took quite seriously. I did research by watching YouTube videos of people coming out, and spoke to a lot of LGBTIQ community members. But as much as I try, I’ll never be able to fully understand what it must feel like for Rusty, and people in his shoes who are forced to come out. I got the vibe that a solid support network means everything, and I’m so happy that in our story the character is backed up by his club, friends, family, and even the media.”
Like most of us, the relatively new actor, who also played a boxer named Rusty on The Doctor Blake Mysteries, felt passionate about last year’s marriage equality YES campaign, which he supported.
“That was huge,” says Panizza. “I think that love is love and everyone should be able to love whoever they want! It’s certainly never been a problem for me. When the YES vote came through, and I saw how happy and overjoyed people were…well, it was just an amazing moment. To see people finally able to marry whom they love was just fantastic.”
Having played for the Claremont Tigers in Western Australia, Panizza brings that Aussie Rules spirit into the show, even guiding the other actors.
“I think camaraderie is the biggest thing,” he says. “Especially at a football club, because you can walk in and no matter what you’re going through, always feel welcome. Your team is like your family, and that’s what they wanted with this group of actors. So we hung out a lot and I really connected with all the boys, particularly Jackson Gallagher who plays our captain. When it comes to footy, I reckon I had the ball in my hand before I could breastfeed! I honestly thought playing football would be my life, but then the acting bug caught on. I was doing plays in and out of school and discovered a love for entertaining people. Being from a split marriage, football was where my dad (also a AFL footballer) and I really connected. I thought that would make him proud, but there comes a time when you realise you can’t just do things for other people, and need to take on your own persona.”
As for Rusty, Panizza knows the importance that comes in playing such a role, especially within the LGBTIQ community.
“I’m hoping Rusty’s storyline could be a bit of a blueprint if an AFL player does choose to come out,” he says. “I think one of the best parts of this role is the amount of layers to Rusty’s character. He’s a hard-as-nails footy player and fiercely loyal, who just happens to be gay. His sexuality isn’t his only defining quality, which is really true of everybody. It’s good to see him as his own person, and not put into a mould.”
As for defining qualities, Panizza has his own unique set of routines and rituals both on field and in studio.
“I’m very superstitious when it comes to playing footy,” says Panizza. “I’ll never let my jersey touch the ground. I’ll always hang it up and speak to it before a game. I’ll also tie my right boot, but not my left. That’s my ‘kicking boot’, so I wait until I go out. As for auditions, I always carry a football premiership medal that my dad won in 1991. That seems to do the trick!”
Playing For Keeps screens Wednesday’s 8.30pm on Network TEN
