SVEN Ruygrok isn’t just the leader of the pack on the Spud set because he plays the Rambo character.
At 23, Ruygrok is the eldest of the Crazy 8 kids. He is also quite a bit like his character in that he naturally assumes the leadership position.
“I suppose with any character, there is a little something of myself in him. There have to be bits of oneself in order for it to be relatable and authentic. We’re both good leaders, Rambo and myself, except the way in which we work in terms of mindset is different.
“Rambo likes to lead for power and ego, I generally like to lead to bring people together. I enjoy finding out more about people’s lives,” said Ruygrok.
Between the books, director’s notes, the screenplay and Ruygrok’s own thoughts on the character, there was a lot of information to work with, so what we see on the screen is an amalgamation of it all.
While his mother tried her hardest to get him reading as a teenager, John van der Ruit’s Spud was the first book that really drew him in: “It wasn’t even the South African-ness. I could relate to what this boy was going through. For girls there are a lot of books about coming of age, there are TV shows and magazines, there is lots of information about what girls go through, but not so much for boys.
“What the book said was you’re going through all this stuff, getting pimples, liking girls, and you’re going to get into all these weird situations and it’s okay. That’s what I loved, I saw a lot of my life in the book.”
In the books Rambo is the one who goes against the grain, the black sheep, but, for Ruygrok, especially in Spud 3, the tables are turned: “Spud is the one going against Rambo, Spud is the one who breaks the pact and in trying to find himself, opposes Rambo.”
Ruygrok was originally accepted to study drama at UCT in 2010, but turned that down when he bagged the role of Rambo and he hasn’t looked back. Including being in the three Spud films, he has also played Orlando Bloom’s son in City of Violence and Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream on stage last year.
He is not studying at the moment, but concentrating on acting full-time. Still, he doesn’t discount studying further one day, thought not in the drama line, “maybe something like philosophy, or psychology, or poetry…”
He calls the actors who portray the Crazy 8 his friends in real life, a relationship forged in the heat of filming the first Spud movie, which was a new experience for all of them: “It was such a surreal environment, but you get something truly authentic. This experience you hold dear, because you’re doing it for the first time and together. We were in the same boat and it created a very strong friendship.
“On set, or off set there’s not much of a difference, though I suppose we are all better behaved on set.”
He isn’t working on anything specific at the moment: “I think it’s important that people know that what we go through as actors is not glamourous. It could seem glamourous, like we’re living this amazing life, flying to premieres and meeting fans and it is lovely, it can be wonderful. But, flights and fans don’t pay your rent.”