Interview with... Peter Sumner

Here's a Star Wars interview for you, but with a huge twist.
Not often do I get to interview sheer Aussie legends, and if you check out Peter's resume (to date) you'll see that's just what he is.
Go on, take a look.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0838891/
Pretty neat hey?
I hope you get a kick out of this interview.



1. How did you find working on Play School?

I loved working on 'Play School'. In the sixties I found myself working with several different ABCTV childrens' shows and there's no audience as honest as children. I was the 'stand in ' presenter for Play School. When the main presenters such as John Hamblyn went on holidays or did other work, I stood in.

2. What was it like filming Cop Shop?

Cop Shop was exciting. I appeared in the first six episodes as a rogue cop and a couple of years later came in to work opposite my new wife Lynda Stoner. I played a nightclub owner who became romantically involved with the cop character Lynda played. At that time we were living in Melbourne.

3. You've been on some of Australia's top TV shows. What can you tell us about them?

I suppose the most high profile would have been Spyforce because I played a lead opposite Jack Thompson. We spent two years fighting the war in the jungles of Narrabeen on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Great fun because we were like boys playing war games.
Jack was the outgoing Aussie spy Erskine and I played the Haber character, who of course had a German background which led to lots of scripted tensions and fights. Many memorable episodes including one with the legendary actor Chips Rafferty as our guest. This series was produced by Paramount Television and has been screening round the world for over thirty years. You can still ocassionally catch an episode very early morning on Channel Nine.

4. Without discrediting other shows, which has been your favourite show to work on, and why?

I can't tell you which show is my favourite as I've enjoyed so many of them. As an actor the most rewarding productions have been with Bell Shakespeare playing roles like Prospero in The Tempest.



5. What can you tell us about your time on the set of Star Wars?


After living in Bali for several months with my wife and two small daughters, we went to London. My agent Marina Martin rang me to say there were a couple of days in this funny little American Sci-Fi movie - did I want the role? So I found myself at one of the studios outside London.
They dressed me in the Dark Star suit (luckily no mask) and I worked with this young director called George Lucas, who seemed a bit nerdy to tell you the truth. I was amazed at the sets and knew the film may be more than expected when I saw one of my acting heroes on set - Alec Guiness.

6. What's coming up next for you?

I have written a screenplay called Spider Dance about the infamous courtesan Lola Montez' six months in the colony of Australia in 1855. The producer is raising the budget overseas and hopefully this project will go into production at the end of 2010.


In closing I want to thank Peter for the honour of this interview. It really meant a great deal to me.
I'd encourage my readers to head to www.petersumner.com/
It's pretty darn cool!

What did you think of this interview? Please comment, or email me directly at mgbouw@yahoo.com.au
Until next time.