JOSH KIESER HAS US ASKING, WHAT’S IN THE WATER DOWN THERE?
Australia’s Josh Kieser is happy about all of the press and awards he has been getting for his acting roles in the past few years. In spite of this, he hasn’t experienced a whirlwind life change in regards to perspective; a fact he contributes to his family and childhood growing up on the Sunshine Coast. Kieser has received tremendous accolades for his strong empathetic performances as a number of conflicted and troubled men, the dichotomy when compared to his personal life is stark. Affable and quick to make a joke, Josh typically delivers the quiet and smoldering performances attributed to James Dean, Benecio Del Toro, and the like. This statement reflects more about Kieser’s charisma on screen than a specific role.
Spending time at home with his many siblings and parents with school in Brisbane, Josh often remarks of the pleasantness of his early years stating, “It was beautiful, fun, coastal life with lots of activities all the time. I always involved myself in as much as I could in school and extra-curricular activities. I went to boarding school for most of high school, which was a blast…never a dull moment!” This history gives greater weight to his performance in the Australian film Thicker Than Water. As Chris, a young teen surrounded by drugs and sexual abuse, Josh presents a boy on the edge who has the potential to embrace a dark lifestyle or flee from it. In director Ryan Davey’s Compulsion Kieser played the lead role of Felix, a disconnected office worker who falls in love with a seductive Japanese toilet. It’s a delicate role that has the potential of being cartoonish but Josh brings a gravitas with comedic sympathy to Felix which elevates the entire storyline. This performance resulted in a Best Acting Debut Award from October Monthly for Kieser. He relates, “I was over the moon to win Best Acting Debut at the Oniros Film Awards. I was notified by the director and was so proud that the film was connecting. It was an epic feeling knowing it was in Italy too, that people around the world were starting to enjoy my work.” Josh’s most acclaimed role is the lead on a film currently making the film festival tour. For his role as Kane in Papercut has been so moving to both audiences and critics that Josh has received awards as Best Actor from: The Rainbow Umbrella Film Festival, Gold Movie Awards Goddess Nike, Melbourne City Independent Film Awards and nominations from the Actors Awards, Los Angeles, Top Indie Film Awards, and The Monkey Bread Tree Film Awards.
There’s a long lineage of actors from Australia who have become a strong presence in the Hollywood scene: Geoffery Rush, Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, the list goes on and on. With an increasing international presence, Josh Kieser seems to be following this trend. The demanding roles he continues to choose ensures that in Australia, Hollywood, and elsewhere we’ll continue to see great things from this young talent.
Outro-
- stories are a way to emphasize what it means to be human and that’s delving into the deeper part of the human psyche – not always rational or able to be understood. But that’s us as a species. We each have our own individual and unique thoughts, emotions, opinions, etc. one way or another. When people get amongst art forms like these; it’s a place where people can experience a world outside of their own and feel, be inspired, take a break, learn, have moments, express emotion.
Author: Kelly King
