Zac Garred has spent the best part of the year transforming himself into Les Darcy.
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He’s jabbed, ducked, weaved and hooked in a bid to bring the story of the Maitland boxing legend to the big screen.
And yesterday the young actor and filmmaker took his commitment one step further by re-enacting Darcy’s fight against East Maitland jockey George ‘Guv’nor’ Balser in 1911.
Originally the fight took place at a Thornton construction site for railway cuttings, but Garred and his crew instead chose Richmond Vale Railway Museum for the scene to be used as part of a trailer for the film, based on Peter FitzSimon’s book The Ballad of Les Darcy.
“The Guv’nor Balser fight was one of the first fights Les ever had and helped launch his career,” Garred, 26, said.
“And this location is wonderful because the wagons are authentic to the area.
“Also Les helped build the Great Northern Railway and he was on the gang in his mid-teens, and I think his job was to move the concrete blocks, so he was doing the heavy duty stuff when he was such a young bloke.”
Earlier this year Garred and childhood friend Tom Arthur launched a campaign to turn the story of the boxing icon into a movie.
The concept has since garnered interest from potential producers and investors in Los Angeles.
“Once the trailer is done we can show it to our potential investors,” Garred said.