A Day In the Life of ... Jon Prasida

It’s the case of our childhood coming to life with the TV adaptation of Tomorrow, When the War Began coming to our screens in April. In advance of the highly anticipated series, we caught up with Jon Prasida who plays fan-favourite, Lee Takkam.
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What have you been doing now that you’re back in Sydney?

I am currently enjoying the free time to do the activities I’ve always wanted to. For example, I’m really into bouldering at the moment. It’s like rock climbing but without a harness. I love the idea of incidental exercise, and plus it’s like trying to figure out a physical puzzle… it’s lots of fun.

Filling in time can be a bit of a challenge but I’m working on writing a short film at the moment. I love to play guitar and sing so I’m also focusing on that, all the while going back to class to work on acting. I’ve also planned a trip to LA for a few auditions and meetings with some potential US agencies, but most importantly to watch the Clippers play live.

How did it feel playing a teenager while you’re in your 20s?

Awesome! It’s good to know that people still see me as young. Even though I was the oldest person in the ensemble, it was great to work with such young and charismatic people who are now life-long friends.

I find, on average, that the younger people are, the less afraid they are to put their heart on the line and ‘have a go’. That’s great energy to be around and I love to feed off of it.

What have you been doing now that filming on TWTWB has ended?

I was fortunate enough to score my first feature film directly after it ended. It’s called Emo The Musical and it was also filmed down in Melbourne. It was a little bit of a change of pace from TWTWB and I felt the difference between filming a TV show to a feature film.

We had time to do a lot more takes and it didn’t feel as rushed. The character I play is Isaac and he is the head of the Christian band at school. It was fun to divulge in such a role because Isaac is quite far away from who I am as a person and it’s interesting to see what that head space is like

Is there anyone in the TV and film industry that you would love to work with?

Yeah, definitely. The ultimate dream is to ‘layeth the smacketh’ down with The Rock. I loved watching him wrestle as a kid, and still do.

Jared Leto is another big one, I find every role he’s taken is well calculated and does a phenomenal portrayal every time.

I’d love to work again with the friends I’ve made in past performances because there already is a rapport and love there and I’d love to see where that takes us in the work.

Describe a day in the life of JP

Ha! At the moment it’s not looking too impressive…it’s much more lively when I’ve got work going on but right now it’s wake up, do some body weight exercises, possibly have a spinach, salmon, & egg wrap, play some rocket league on PS4, watch a 10/10 movie, watch another solid TV show (ATM it’s Girls), ponder whether I should get a healthy lunch or not, get an unhealthy lunch, guitar and singing hour, finish up with a late night bouldering session or head to 'No Lights No Lycra' and dance in the dark.

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Tomorrow When the War Began premieres Saturday 23 April at 7:30pm on ABC3