…yes, Tiger really is his middle name

When Lee Tiger Halley was asked to send a self-tape audition for Boy Swallows Universe, he admits to being a little bit stumped.

After all, the role was largely a silent one.

“I was filming another show in Melbourne called Crazy Fun Park, maybe 2021 or something like that,” he tells TV Tonight.

“Usually when you get an audition, it’s two or three pages of lines, and this was two or three pages with one or two lines. I was like, ‘I have no idea how to go about this.'”

What he submitted thankfully paid off.

“I don’t think I heard anything for two or three months till I was back in Perth, and they asked me to do another one. Then about a week or two later, they flew me out to Sydney, and there was about four or five other kids going for my part, and four or five other kids for Eli, with Felix (Cameron) being one of them,” he recalls.

“We were just trying things out. You’d think something like that be super-competitive, but it was all really smooth and really nice. A couple of hours before I was about to fly home, they’re like, ‘Oh, can we fly you to Brisbane for one more audition?’ It was me, Felix, and one other kid.

“I clicked with Felix straight away”

“I clicked with Felix straight away at the auditions prior. So I thought I’d play into that. We just got along really well, and I thought he was an amazing actor. A couple of weeks later, found out I got it.”

Boy Swallows Universe woild catapult both young actors into the spotlight, winning rave reviews, nominations for both and wins at the Logies for Cameron, Bryan Brown and Sophie Wilde.

Now both Cameron and Lee Tiger Halley are amongst 10 actors named in the annual CGA Rising Stars -emerging talent whom the Casting Guild of Australia have potential for global success.

Halley, 19, learned of the induction just before attending the Logies.

“My agent called me about something else, and he said, ‘Oh, and by the way, you’ve also nominated in the CGA Rising Stars. But you can’t tell anyone yet!’

“I was like, ‘Oh, great, perfect!'”

“They said ‘I don’t know if that’ll work as his first name'”

He takes it all in his stride. His performance in Boy Swallows Universe was memorable, just like his name.

“Tiger is my middle name. I was given it as a child by one of my older brothers, they loved tigers. (My parents) said ‘You can pick his name.’ He was like, ‘Tiger!’ But they said ‘I don’t know if that’ll work as his first name,’ so they made it the middle name.,” he explains.

Inspiration from the River Phoenix family of Rain, Joaquin and Summer perhaps?

“I don’t have hippie parents, but I understand the assumption, yeah. I’ve seen the River Phoenix thing. His family got into some religious cult. When they left, they used the name Phoenix, because it’s like they’re ‘rising again’, which is very interesting. Mine’s not that interesting.”

The young Perth resident insists he was always a quiet child, until his mother saw a burst of energy at a school assembly.

“Apparently I just jumped all over the stage, knee sliding, screaming and everything. Mum was in shock but she signed me up for a couple of acting classes and I just fell in love with it,” he continues.

“I guess I’m self-trained in that regard.”

“But I haven’t been to any formal school, like NIDA or WAAPA or anything like that. So I guess I’m self-trained in that regard.

“I learned most of my confidence or skills through just doing tons of auditions and working at Ali Roberts Studio in Perth, who is also my agent. I was in the local school John Curtin drama program. I was in that till Year 10 before I started working. I guess I consider myself somewhat self-taught.

“The Heights was my first real paid acting job”

“I’d done commercials and short films and stuff like that but The Heights was my first real paid acting job. I think, I was 14, and I shot for maybe two weeks or something. I had a two or three episode role called Big Mike. That was my first job and I had a lot of fun on that.”

Halley has recently completed an upcoming feature Beast of War by Kiah Roache-Turner and will next feature as a young Bon Scott in a film called The Kid from Harvest Road directed by called David Vincent Smith.

Later this month he will be celebrated as part of CGA’s Rising Stars at the Casting Guild of Australia Awards. His most immediate ambition is steady work as a working actor.

“I guess, if I was going to compare it to a young actor now, who I like watching, it would be Paul Mescal. I’m a big fan of what he’s been doing,” he insists.

“He works -not all the time- on smaller budgets. So he does interesting stuff. He does the type of roles he likes to do, and he does the things he’s interested in, but he also isn’t scared to do the big blockbusters, like Gladiator. I’d like to have a career where I can work in different types of genres and characters.

“But also, to keep it about the acting, for now.”