Isaac Strutt-Stevens was working on a bike in his backyard when he received a phone call that changed his life.
It was the moment the 14-year-old Cardiff High student found out he would be making his acting debut in a seven-episode Netflix series called Boy Swallows Universe. Life has been a whirlwind for Isaac and his mother, Jennifer Strutt, ever since.
Everyone, it seems, is talking about Netflix's adaptation of Trent Dalton's popular 2018 novel of the same name. Boy Swallows Universe is set in 1980s Brisbane suburbia and tells the story of street-smart 13-year-old Eli Bell (Felix Cameron) who lives in suburban Brisbane with his recovering drug-addict mother Frankie (Phoebe Tonkin), his heroin-dealing stepdad Lyle (Travis Fimmel) and his mute older brother Gus (Lee Tiger Halley). Eli spends his days writing to his prison pen pal Alex (Adam Briggs) and learning life lessons from his babysitter Slim Halliday (Bryan Brown), who is also a convicted murderer.
"Isaac plays the role of Christopher who is a cancer patient in the hospital where the lead character, Eli, is also a temporary patient, and the two of them conspire together to help Eli escape in the most distracting and hilarious of ways," Jennifer tells Weekender.
"Christopher stands as a beacon of hope for Eli throughout the series to show that bad things and situations can become good."
It was Jennifer who spied a Facebook post by a casting agency looking for someone to play a specific role in a Netflix series.
"We didn't know what it was but mum thought I looked like what they were asking for and I thought it would be fun to apply, so we did," Isaac says.
"After a few months we hadn't heard back and forgot about it. I didn't mind because I hadn't done any acting before and there would have been hundreds of applications. But then one day they got back to us asking me to audition. Another wait. And then the call. That's when it got a bit exciting."
He says he felt "a bit weird but good" when he found out he got the role.
"I was in the backyard working on my bikes. I like to build and fix pushbikes and things. I was pretty happy but I didn't really understand what I was in for, so mum was more excited," he says.
"Christopher is a cancer patient who is very angry because he just wants to watch his favourite TV show Diff'rent Strokes but the nurses won't let him. He doesn't care much about things because he is dying but in the end the doctors save him. He helps Eli escape the hospital by throwing a television through a window. That was fun!"
Isaac comes from a creative family. His mother and aunt Catherine are twin sisters known collectively as The Strutt Sisters. They are both musicians, artists and designers with a passion for colour.
"My mum and aunty know a bit about creative jobs so they have been pretty encouraging to me," Isaac says.
"I started acting a few years ago in my own short films I make for myself about my billy cart, which is an all-terrain bush-basher my uncle built for me. Apart from that, Boy Swallows Universe is my first acting job but I hope to do more films or TV now that I have been part of this show and met some great people in the industry.
"I'm not so keen to do acting in a theatre in front of an audience. I think that would be nerve-racking!"
Isaac admits he was "a bit scared" - and understandably so - arriving on set on day one.
"The production was pretty big and I'd never done anything like this before," he says.
"I only met the people in my scenes on the same set as me and got to work with Bryan Brown, Kate Box and Felix who was the best and we became good mates.
"Simon Baker arrived on my last day so we only said hello.
"My director Jocelyn Moorhouse was so nice and funny and helped me through the scenes. Bryan was really nice and made me feel comfortable on my first day on set, telling me what was going to happen, asking how I was going and giving me a wink just before the camera rolled, buying me a hot chocolate from a cafe on the way and just being a normal guy.
"I was also pretty nervous because I had to shave my hair off which took a long time to grow back."
He reckons working on the series was a valuable learning experience.
"I got to see how things were done, like camera and acting tricks, and the process of making a film. After watching myself now the show is out I can see how I would do things differently," he says.
"My friends have been saying it's [the series] been really good and funny. Trent Dalton the author told me I was 'amazing', which is pretty amazing.
"I'm happy I can see it all now and see how my parts fit in. Felix Cameron who plays Eli had seen it all before me and said I was great and our parts were funny so I'm happy with that!"
Jennifer says the opportunity presented by Boy Swallows Universe was a timely one for Isaac.
"The role came at a time where he needed something positive in his life as school and Isaac are not the best of friends!," she says.
"I was with him on set every day and while I was full of excitement and enjoying the whole creative process, he was a bag of nerves. But he showed up every day and gave it everything he had and he soon developed his own professional and creative approach from experiencing what it was like to go through take after take of a scene along with the rest of the cast and crew.
"He was a write-off at the end of each day, but he loved it, and the experience has set in him something he can be proud of and aim for more of in the future.
"The Boy Swallows Universe family were the most encouraging, professional, supportive and warmest bunch of people. They're at the absolute top of their game in their fields, be it acting, directing, or make-up and costume."
For the immediate future, life is returning to "normal" for Isaac.
"I don't like school much, I'd rather be building bikes and bases in the bush. I'm looking forward to doing photography and woodwork next year, though, as it kind of combines both of my interests - building things and filming things," he says.
"I like using different angles and telling a story with props and filming in the bush. I also like editing, adding music and putting scenes together. They don't have much talking, I just like working out how to put it together using images rather than words."
