Deployment 23: Find your inner McConaughey
The Reserve, 1hr N of Sydney.
There's a scene about halfway through Wolf Of Wall St, a film that very clearly depicts what happens when you get too caught up in the rat race, where Matthew McConaughey's character starts humming and beating his chest like a gorilla. It's become the stuff of cinematic history, but what you don't know is Matt totally made it up to help him de-stress while on set.
"The actual chant, that is something I'll do not only in this film but before scenes in a lot of films. I'll come up with a different tune and it's a relaxation tool for me," he said later.
"As we're packing up to go onto another scene, Leonardo [DiCaprio] goes, What's that thing you're doing before the scene? What if we put that in the scene?'
We're all about that sort of spontaneity around here. It may help explain why an email from the bongo-playing film star landed in our inbox a few years ago, looking to work together on a wilderness location. We were so busy out in nature that we very nearly missed it.
Fast-forward and we've got The Reserve, a special cabin only a stone's throw from Sydney. No reception, tall trees and a pretty decent hill to get yourself into the mood for escaping the stock market or whatever intense office hell you have to endure on the daily that is yet to made into an award-winning Scorsese feature.
Being out here is something else. The night sky is so clear you can practically pick the stars out by hand as you swing back and forth in the hammock. Take a load off. Embrace nothingness. Maybe even beat your chest like you're in Wolf Of Wall St. Ain't nobody going to hear you around here. Isn't that magical?
The Reserve, 1.5hrs from Sydney.
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