Rahart Adams Emo the Musical at The Melbourne International Film Festival Interview

Rahart Adams Emo the Musical at The Melbourne International Film Festival Interview

The Melbourne International Film Festival is returning this year from 28 July - 14 August with the young adult film, Emo the Musical, starring Rahart Adams.

Interview with Rahart Adams

Rahart Adams is is best known from his long run in the ABC 3 series Nowhere Boys and Nickelodeon's Every Witch Way, playing the lead role of Jax.

Rahart got his first taste of performing for television at 14 on ABC's Prank Patrol. Shortly after, he travelled to the USA for a hip hop dancing competition where he helped his crew to win first place. Upon his return, Rahart was cast in the role of Alistair O'Loughlin in Neighbours, a recurring role that kept him busy for most of 2012.

After shooting the film Nowhere Boys: The Book of Shadows, Rahart has been in LA and filming the musical film Emo the Musical, which he plays the lead character in. He has recently been announced as an Ambassador for ReachOut.com which provides practical tools and support to help young people get through everything from everyday issues to tough times.


Question: Can you tell us about Emo the Musical?

Rahart Adams: Emo the musical is a satirical comedy about high school and it's exaggerated stereotypes, in this case the 'Emos' and the 'churchies'. It touches on so many social issues with humour and taste, issues that today's youth deal with quite often.


Question: What role do you play in Emo the Musical?

Rahart Adams: I play the role of Bradley! He's basically the bad boy; he's the egotistical and feared leader of the school's top band. He answers to no one and has no boundaries when it comes to getting his way.


Question: What drew you to the script of Emo the Musical?

Rahart Adams: Other than the script being hilarious and well written, what drew me to the script was how my character was so different. When I first read the script I had no idea how I was going to play it, it was scary but exciting because it was something I hadn't done before. I saw the character of Bradley as my way of going outside my comfort zone and growing as an actor.

Question: What was the best part about being on set for Emo the Musical?

Rahart Adams: The best part about being on the set of Emo the Musical was creating new friendships with everyone, honestly everyone was so down to earth and eager to make this great that it made my job a breeze.


Question: What was it like working with Neil Triffett?

Rahart Adams: Amazing, Neil was always open to collaborate and be creative in taking risks, and I really did learn a lot from him. We would often catch up for coffee in the weeks leading up to the movie to brain storm and create cool and creative concepts for my character; he's an all round humble and down to earth kind of guy.


Question: Do you think Australians will enjoy this satirical comedy?

Rahart Adams: Definitely! I think we love a good satirical comedy, especially one that doesn't take itself to seriously.


Question: What inspired you to partner with Reach Out?

Rahart Adams: I've been searching for an organisation like reach out to get behind for a while now; they deal with a lot of things I grew up experiencing or witnessing like bullying, racism, social identity problems and many other issues that today's youth experience. They offer online outlets to anyone facing mental health problems and cater to about 110,000 people per month, which is more than 1.31 million people per year. So naturally I wanted to be apart of the great things that Reach Out Australia do and to make sure that more youth have access too and know about how they can deal with and overcome what ever hardships they face.


Question: How can Australians support Reach Out?
Rahart Adams: Anyone can donate to Reach Out Australia on their website; donations go towards so many great things, like running workshops for worried parents of vulnerable children or connecting those in need to a community of peers who can answer their questions and offer support; even the smallest donation makes a difference. Also anyone can support by just telling your friends and family about Reach Out, the more people who are aware the better!


Question: What's next, for you?

Rahart Adams: Who knows! Acting is my passion but there's plenty of other things I'm interested in like music, fashion and art! I guess we'll wait and see what's next, I can't sit still for very long so chances are I'll be busy cooking something up very soon!


Interview by Brooke Hunter