In 2003 Jay toured a successful one-man show, The Packer, selling out a 3 week run at the 2004 Edinburgh Fringe festival. Other theatre credits include John Cleese - His Life, Times and Current Medical Problems (NZ and US tours) and A Street Car Named Desire for the Auckland Theatre Company.
Jay's film credits include the short films The Rookie and Junkyard, as well as the Disney tele-movie You Wish.
Tell me in your own words about your character, Spider, in Sea Patrol?
Billy Webb, known around the Ship as "SPIDER", is a young eager sailor with big hopes for success in the Navy! He is seeing everything for the first time -the codes and conducts, the traditions and pranks, the danger and pressure! Being just out of school and thrust into this new world , I almost see hi m through the eyes of our viewers who may be unaware of what actually goes on serving with a Navy patrol boat service.
A little nervous around his higher ranking crew, Spider is eager to please and gets the job done well. However it usually comes with a few hiccups along the way..! He sees his patrol boat crew as the siblings and mentors he never really had growing up on a cane farm in north Queensland.
Although a softy at heart and perhaps a little clumsy, Spider is determined to become a strong leader and team player within his peers, following in the large footsteps of his boss and mate the Buffer.
How is your character similar or different to yourself?
I would say he's quite different. Originally Spider’s character was written to be younger than myself and therefore when researching I had to really track back to my teenage years and find that bouncy youthful essence that I am probably slowly losing. He can be very naive and easily fooled hopefully unlike me! I guess I put a strong underlying confidence in him though and pumped him full of no-fear adrenalin - which is really needed when working on a patrol boat in extreme and harsh conditions. Now I can relate to that as I love anything that gets the heart racing - roller coasters, sky diving...!
What was the most memorable aspect of filming?
Bonding instantly with the other lead cast, then being thrown into Navy boot camp with these 9 hilarious actors by your side... trying to learn how to use a styer rifle in a high threat situation while Josh Lawson is cracking a joke...very funny indeed.
Waking up every morning (well most) to a beautiful tropical sunrise...jumping from boat to boat...seeing pods of dolphins swimming past in the middle of shooting a scene...fishing at lunchtime....sneaking into MovieWorld to ride a rollercoaster between scenes...!
What was your view of the navy prior to the show compared to now?
Prior to the show I really didn't know much about the Australian Navy, except I always thought as a kid if I joined the armed forces it would definitely be in the Navy or the air force. I really found a great respect for these men and women I met through the show, seeing how much they sacrifice of life on land to train, protect and patrol our waters. Researching into the foreign fishing debacle, you see how much of Australia's marine life is slaughtered and wasted by people with no respect for our sea creatures, and these Navy patrol guys really are doing their best to stop this as much as they can with what they have... its a full on job and they do it well.
Any anecdotes that make the show memorable or different from other shows you have worked on?
Well I've never worked on a project where you have your real life counterpart right there to pull you up if you’re doing it wrong! I mean imagine doing a medical drama as a surgeon where you constantly have a fully trained surgeon by your side during the scene - it just doesn't happen. The pressure was on to get it right and tell the stories of these sailors in an accurate and also an interesting way, to really balance the ingredients to make the show truthful and realistic as well as entertaining. It was a fantastic experience and as an actor to have all of these people with an abundance of knowledge and experience right there to help, was bloody exciting and it also made my job a little easier I guess...and who doesn't like that!
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