Australian actor Liam McIntyre chatted with #Powerjournalist Markos Papadatos about starring in the Great American Family film “Meet Me in the Margins.”
The synopsis is: Savannah Cade (Merritt Patterson), a quietly brilliant editor at a prestigious publishing house, secretly dreams of becoming a romance novelist, until her hidden manuscript is discovered and anonymously critiqued in the margins.
As mysterious notes push her to rewrite both her book and her own tendency to stay silent, Savannah must decide whether to protect her career or finally speak up for the stories, and herself, that matter most. What begins as a professional risk slowly becomes a transformative love story about courage, creativity, and being seen.
On starring in this film, Liam exclaimed, “It has been awesome. I’ve always enjoyed doing a wide variety of fun different projects. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to do those sorts of things, and working with Merritt, who is such a wonderful and fantastic actress. So it has been a real pleasure. It was such a fun set to work on.”
“The story was a little bit different and I liked it,” he admitted. “It was a little bit out of the box but I really liked the way they told it. The director was great and so were my co-stars.Overall, I had a good time.”
“Plus, I had never been to Buffalo before, so that was a joy,” he added.
Playing William in ‘Meet Me in the Margins’
On playing William in this rom-com, he said, “I love how his inner child is so alive. I like that there is joy inside him that doesn’t necessarily match his demeanor, at least at the start, and uncovering that was a lot of fun.”
Liam reflected on the lessons he learned from this screenplay. “Honestly, I would say that it taught me to be brave, trust my instincts and risk something so that there is more gain,” he said.
“Always remember that you really must put yourself out there sometimes to be able to be happy. So yeah, I think that’s probably the greatest thing that William has taught me me,” he added.
Working with Marisa Brown
On working with Marisa Brown, he said, “Marisa is so sweet. I love how her character is so vibrant, and I think they have such a great little buddy cop energy kind of thing as they’re trying to do their sleuthing. Marisa was great. Her and a few of the cast members wrangled me and took me over to see the Niagara Falls. So, she was a great partner in crime. She is a lot of fun.”
“Marisa is a very, very sweet person and such a talented actress,” he added.
The digital age
On being an actor in the digital age, Liam said, “It’s interesting. I think the one thing you can safely say about humanity is it’s always moving. I was working at a cinema when they started and they changed over our projection rooms from film to digital prints. That was before any of these cool acting things ever happened.”
“The digital age is a double-edged sword, but hopefully one that we can manage into a positive place for creatives and for the audience and for the people that have to make the money off it,” he added.
‘Spartacus’ experience
Liam has described his experience in “Spartacus” as “life-changing.” “As a kid, I always thought that the Roman Empire was cool,” he admitted. “When I first started being an actor was around the time that ‘Gladiator’ had come out! I was like ‘Goddammit, why can’t I figure out that I wanted to be an actor and somehow be as good as Russell Crowe?”
“It’s funny how life works out and a swift 10 years later, I got to do this life-changing job… they took a chance on me — because I was some kid that was working in a movie cinema — and it was incredible. It was a real trial by fire. I had to do a job that knowing what I know now would have petrified me, replacing the amazing Andy Whitfield… that would have been terrifying,” he elaborated.
“I kept the spot warm for him and I tried to do justice to all this work. Out of all the blessings that I’ve had in my life, ‘Spartacus’ gave me a career, and it changed my life fundamentally,” he explained.
Working with Dan Feuerriegel
On working with Dan Feuerriegel, Liam exclaimed, “I love Dan! I’m so happy for him on ‘Days of Our Lives.’ He is doing really well. He was like my little brother on the ‘Spartacus’ set, which was great.”
“Dan is one of the sexiest men I’ve ever met. His name is impossible to spell and impossible to say… nobody knows?” he said with a sweet laugh. “Even though I came on as the new guy on the ‘Spartacus’ set, Dan is so precocious and so fun.”
“Dan is a great man and I am so happy that he is doing so well,” he added.
Stage of his life
On the title of the current chapter of his life, Liam revealed, “High Renaissance.” “New beginnings,” he admitted. “It’s my Leonardo da Vinci years,” he said with a sweet laugh.
“I have two young kids now and that’s a delight. That has fundamentally changed the person that I was and wanted to be and, and the joys that I got from life. It has been the most amazing, rewarding thing that I could possibly imagine,” he noted.
“I’ve had incredible fortune with how I got to be Wolverine in a massive video game, where the 13-year-old in a child in me is stunned. It’s still staggering to think but I also get to do these really great fun films that I can actually show my kids some day… perhaps except Wolverine or Spartacus.”
“Then, my goal is for the kids to have a good school life, a good social life, a good community for them, and to try to set them up and set ourselves up in a way that we’re all very happy,” he added.
Superpower of choice
If he were to have any superpower, it would be “super healing and diffusing conflict.” “Healing would be handy,” he admitted. “I don’t like invisibility… I don’t want to be sneaky. I don’t want to fly necessarily, and super strength would be great so I can lift my kids up.”
“I would love to have incredible baking skills so I would make a really nice focaccia. That would be a great skill to have, so put me in that world. Diffusing conflict would be a great superpower too, especially with two young kids,” he elaborated.
Success
On his definition of success, Liam remarked, “Success has changed. These days, success means inner happiness. Also, having time to see my kids and being able to fulfill opportunities through work and whatever else I need to do.”
“So, I want my kids and my wife to have the most incredible life, and to spend as much time as possible with them. That’s why some of these jobs are great, because I get all this time to be with them,” he said.
“I tell my kid that most families aren’t lucky enough to have all this. I’m lucky for no other reason that I get to spend more days than I normally would — than most dads would with them — so, that’s success to me,” he said.
“Success used to be being able to fill up petrol gas in my car without being totally freaked out about the price,” he said with a sweet laugh. “I don’t have to fill up to a quarter of a tank to see how we go, like I used to. Now, success is seeing smiles on my kids’ faces, which is just fun, and that’s the best version of success.”
Message for his fans
For his fans and supporters, Liam expressed, “Thank you. None of thie would happen without the people that have supported me, whether it’s my family or friends or the people that stand up for me on Twitter/X and social media. My career started in a really crazy place. I seem to make a habit of being the guy that play roles that everyone else already has done that people liked already, whether it’s Spartacus or Wolverine or wherever it might be.”
“I have a really great group of people that support me throughout my world. As a 15-year old kid, I used to get bullied at school at lot, but now, I have so many people that like me and it’s a nice feeling,” he acknowledged.
“So, thank you to the fans. I really appreciate them; it’s an honor,” he added.
Closing thoughts on ‘Meet Me in the Margins’
Liam remarked, “I hope this movie brings people a little happiness and a little respite from this crazy world we live in right now.”
“I like the story because it is about two characters in their own way from very different places trying to find a way to have courage to stand up for themselves, and speak for themselves, and know who they are, and be proud of that. I think this is a rom-com for the times,” he elaborated.
“I hope it teaches them to be brave and not worry about what other people think, especially in this social media age, at a time when people have infinite opinions on things. They need to remember that a little self-belief goes a long way,” he concluded.
To learn more about Australian actor Liam McIntyre, follow him on Instagram.
