Freediving is by far and away the toughest sport mentally. You are underwater for up to seven minutes, and a lot of thoughts go through your brain, and you need to be completely calm and relaxed. In any other sport, you use increased adrenalin, but in freediving, you have to drop the heart rate down to 20 beats per minute.
I like being involved with projects that are not only entertaining but are also thought provoking. Either that, or jobs that keep a roof over my head. A mixture of both is always nice.
Freediving can be extremely dangerous. It's got an incredibly high fatality rate outside of competition. But there's never been a fatality in competition. In terms of spear fishing and people who train by themselves, it's the second most dangerous sport in the world after base jumping. If you black out by yourself, you drown.
Ironically, I find it harder to get a foothold in Australia than I do in the U.S. When I was in Australia, I struggled. It can be a bit of a closed shop; it can be hard for a newcomer to break in, whereas in the U.S., it has much more of an open-door policy, and they will give anyone a shot.
I said to my team, 'I'm doing 'Gilmore Girls' no matter what. There's no way I'll miss it,' because I owed it to the story. The story is bigger than the sum of its parts.
When you're an actor, you're mollycoddled, and you're treated with kid gloves. Everyone is like, 'Can I get you some water?' or 'Can I put on your slippers?'
Free-diving is all about being lean, being super-flexible, and having a good breath hold.
I've done a lot of other shows in the U.S. that have been great, but I knew that 'Roadies' was something special. I feel very, very fortunate.
I am used to training 10 to 12 sessions a week, so I have the physical and mental endurance that comes with being an athlete.
In the end, I was doing night shoots on 'Gilmore Girls' and then wrapping and going straight from 'Gilmore Girls' to 'Roadies.'
Coming from Australia and playing rugby, you just think that soccer is a bit soft, but I'll tell you what - it's not. It's rough as guts. It's great.
It was an honour to be a part of that series. I still get fan mail every day for that show; a big portion of my fan base is from 'Gilmore Girls.'
Soccer is one of those sports that pulls in a universal audience in terms of demographics.
I can hold my breath for 7 minutes and 5 seconds.
