by SARAH ROWLAND

Stealing. Whoring. Overdosing... ahhh, the onscreen, downward spiral into drug addiction. You know the drill: Shortly after resuscitation there’s the moment of revelation, which leads to a cold sweats/diarrhea montage accompanied by a cool soundtrack.

We’ve all seen it a thousand times. But what we rarely see explored in film is the harsh reality for the lucky few who successfully lick their physical dependency. That’s why Little Fish is such a rarity. The Sydney-based drama picks up four years after its heroine Tracy (Cate Blanchett) has kicked her smack habit. The cravings are all but gone. Unfortunately, so are her chances of making something of herself.

She’s 32, her credit is shit and she’s never had sober sex—not to mention her support system is a little hurtin’. Her brother (Martin Henderson) is a one-legged aspiring drug dealer and her father figure (Hugo Weaving), a gay ex-footy star, is a full-blown addict. Add to that, her ex-boyfriend/needle buddy (Dustin Nguyen) has just returned from Vancouver (of all places), where his Vietnamese family shipped him off to clean up.

It seems like a simple enough premise. But don’t be fooled; this Australian box office hit is the result of endless research. In fact, director Rowan Woods spent nearly two years researching rehabilitation, refugee-ism, amputee-ism and life for aging sports celebrities.

“It’s strange because most of those subjects I’m familiar with and have lived through in my lifetime,” says Woods, who is calling from Sydney. “But I still felt compelled to approach the script in a rigorous, academic way in an attempt to get under the characters’ skin. It’s just my process.”

Destined for Dustin

Once the research was complete, Woods went on a worldwide search for an Asian actor to play opposite a world-class actress. In addition to an extensive hunt throughout Australia, he flew to Europe and made three separate trips to the States, where he auditioned countless American unknowns as well as several Hong Kong heavyweights, including In the Mood for Love star Tony Leung.

“I’d like to think they all wanted to do it because of me but I know they all wanted to do it ’cause of Cate,” concedes Woods.

In the end, Nguyen, a Saigon refugee who migrated to the U.S. in 1975, won the part. “Of everyone we tried, he seemed to connect the most with the trials of moving with your family from Vietnam to the West,” says Woods. “And it’s clear he still has a lot of those scars.”

He also has an interesting resumé, one that fans of ’80s television will appreciate. “It was funny because I didn’t actually know who he was until well after the casting sessions,” says Woods. “To me, he was just this beautiful, soulful Vietnamese actor. But then when somebody finally told me that he was the guy in 21 Jump Street, I was like, ‘Of course, I remember that show, who doesn’t?’”

Cate the Great

As for getting Blanchett on board, that was surprisingly easy. Finding the right project, however, was not. The Academy Award-winning actress sought out Woods shortly after watching his 1998 debut feature The Boys. From that point on, she made working with Woods a personal mission.

“She got me involved in some very tangled relationships with producers on several projects,” recalls Woods. “But either Cate and I would become disillusioned with where the script was going or I wasn’t powerful enough of a director to win them over. Whatever reason, these projects kept falling over.

“So at a certain point, I had to say to Cate, ‘Listen, I’m becoming impoverished here waiting for a project with you. You keep on offering me things and none of them ever fucking happen.’”

That’s when he suggested they try things his way and showed her the script for Little Fish.

“She read it, she loved it, then jumped on board—I think she felt a little sorry for me for putting me through so much shit with all those big Hollywood projects,” he says.

And as it turns out, she shared Woods’s love for research, spending months in pre-production interviewing dozens of recovering addicts.

“That’s why Cate’s great,” he says of Blanchett’s work ethic. “I know on bigger projects she does pretty much the same thing, only she does it with a million dollars at her disposal. Well, I obviously couldn’t do that with my little indie film, but she didn’t let that stop her.”

LITTLE FISH OPENS FRIDAY, FEB. 24

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