When Newcastle filmmaker Jye Currie was writing the script for Before You Leave, the actors he kept visualising for the main roles were Australian veterans Gary Sweet and Marta Dusseldorp.
Sweet, 69, across more than four decades of television, film and theatre is a household name thanks to roles in TV shows Bodyline, Police Rescue and House Husbands and movies such as The Tracker and Gettin' Square.
Currie knew Sweet's experience and gravitas would be perfect for Dusty, a Vietnam War veteran confronting his own mortality and a lifetime of unresolved pain.
Similarly, Jye wanted Dusseldorp (Janet King, Jack Irish, A Place To Call Home) to provide the warmth and compassion for Rose, a social worker who meets Dusty while navigating her own struggles.
"I just thought, 'I'll get it out to them and see how it goes. And if not, well, maybe then we'll look at going through casting agencies,'" Currie says.
He didn't need to make any more phone calls. Both Sweet and Dusseldorp were on board instantly.
"Both of them basically just read it, and Gary called me straight after he read it," he says. "It was like 8pm or 9pm. Marta called me the next day.
"When Gary first called me, he said, 'I've been reading scripts since before you were born. This is one of the best I've ever read.'
"And then Marta basically said the same. She's like, 'Jye, I've been getting scripts for the last 25 years, a lot of them. None of them have made me cry.'
"She read it and started weeping. She just said, 'I already told my agents whatever the offer is, just say yes. I'm on board.'
"So, both of them felt really connected to the material straight away."
Currie is also in discussions with another "iconic" Australian actress about a minor role in the film.
Shooting for Before You Leave begins in October and will be entirely filmed in the Hunter, using a Newcastle-based crew and produced by Currie's Green Frog Productions.
A 50-hectare property at Louth Park has been sourced for the majority of filming.
Before You Leave is an emotional drama that explores the trauma of war and how it's carried by returning soldiers and continues to affect their lives and those around them.
It will be the third feature film Currie has directed following 2022's Beat, about a young woman who undergoes a heart transplant and connects with a homeless man through classical music, and the acclaimed documentary The Promise (2024), which followed Newcastle broadcast journalist Craig Hamilton and his exploration of mental illness.
Coming off the suicide prevention message of The Promise, Currie wanted to again tackle heavy and important topics in Before You Leave.
I don't really want to shy away from the big topics or the larger subjects.
"I don't really want to shy away from the big topics or the larger subjects," he says. "It was kind of being toyed around with for a while. I wanted to do something that had a minimal cast, that still had a big impact.
"I don't even know where the idea had come from. Somewhere like early last year, it just kept evolving and changing."
Currie wrote a couple of drafts before inviting Newcastle screenwriter Edward Vassie to collaborate.
"That process has been phenomenal," Currie says. "I hadn't really co-written with someone before.
"I was always writing scripts and stuff just to express what's going on inside me. It's been really cool having that collab. That process has been awesome."
The success of The Promise, which was streamed on Stan, has helped open industry doors for Currie.
Before You Leave has already been acquired by Stan for a debut in August 2027, and Currie is talking to distributors to get the film into cinemas.
"I've got a lot I want to do, and I don't feel like I want to race off down to Sydney or Brisbane or Melbourne to make these movies," he says.
"I want to be doing them all in Newcastle, in my backyard, with the local crew.
"We got such beautiful locations. I think we can be doing it all here.
"The Promise has definitely helped build my name, I guess, and helped with that trust.
"Coming off this, we've made three feature films in five years and delivered on all of them. I'm just trying to get to that point where it's undeniable that we're here to stay making these movies."
Currie also hopes the Hunter community gets involved in the making of Before You Leave.
There will be roles available for extras and potential investment opportunities. Anyone interested should contact Green Frog Productions through its website.
