Hollywood is coming to a tiny, former gold mining town in Victoria.

One of Australia’s top production companies behind action blockbuster sequel Ice Road: Road to the Sky has posted a callout for Melbourne-based Nepalese extras, and a stand-in for Hollywood legend Liam Neeson.

Posting the plea on international auditions and jobs website, StarNow, Servo Productions is specifically looking for local talent to head to the small eastern Victorian town of Walhalla and then onto Nepal for filming throughout from January 15 to mid-February.

What a gig.

Do you look like the rugged Northern Ireland-born 71-year-old Neeson?

Your job will be as a “lighting stand-in”, you have to have a “similar colouring/skin tone to Liam”, must be “as close to 194cm” as possible and aged anywhere from 30 to 55 years old.

If you’re Nepalese and live in Melbourne (or Victoria) – the 2021 Census has 21,000 people of Nepalese descent in the state – you could be on the streets of Walhalla for up to five days, and earn a maximum $1079.40 (or $215.88 a day).

Male or female, and aged between 20 and 70 years old.

Don’t worry, “travel and accommodation requirements will be arranged” by the company, according to the extras casting co-ordinator Karen Newman.

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Why Walhalla?

Located 50 kilometres north-east of Moe near Baw Baw National Park and at the base of the steep Stringers Creek Valley, the town mirrors some aspects of Kodari in Nepal (where the film is set).

It was once a famous gold-mining town in the 1800s and attracts a healthy holiday tourist crowd during peak seasons.

Kodari is a major border crossing from Nepal into the Tibet Autonomous Region and is 144 kilometres from Kathmandu.

Both locations have rugged deep gorges, narrow bridges and roads, and with the help of skilled VFX studio production, ice roads and action-packed sliding truck scenes are a walk in the park.

At the time of publication Servo wasn’t officially confirming Walhalla is the location for filming, nor was the local community, which amounts to 20 permanent residents.

The New Daily reached out to the famous Star Hotel in Walhalla for confirmation – it apparently makes the best schnitzels this side of Victoria – but was redirected, saying they couldn’t comment “on what is happening”.

Could you be a lighting stand-in for Liam? Photo: StarNow/Servo Productions

However, Walhalla residents told Melbourne radio station 3AW they had been notified their town, which blossoms to a population of 3200 in peak season, is the place.

“During preparations, you will notice cosmetic changes to Walhalla’s Star Hotel and other landmarks on Main Rd. Most notably at the Walhalla Rotunda, the Fire Station Museum and carpark off Right Hand Branch Rd,” a letter published by Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper read.

The production crew plan to convert the Star and surrounds “into a marketplace that mirrors Kodari, Nepal”.

“We are working with the relevant owners, council members and community entities to secure permission.

“These changes will be temporary for the purpose of filming and utmost care will be taken to protect heritage structures. The buildings will be returned to their original heritage colours shortly after filming has completed.”

The letter also said filming will be between January 8 and 31 and will involve stunts with “large vehicles, special effects and prop gun use”.

“Traffic management will be in place to support crew and public vehicles, as well as onsite personnel to guide members of the public. Local authorities will be notified, including Victoria Police, CFA and Baw Baw Shire,” it read.

“We will endeavour to minimise disruption to locals and visitors as much as possible.”

Whatever. A blockbuster coming to a small town is, well, gold.

‘An implausible action movie’ that entertained’

According to a Variety review after The Ice Road hit screens in 2021, Neeson’s character went from action stunts to more entertaining implausible stunts.

The storyline had Neeson as Mike McCann, a skilled big-rig truck driver with plenty of experience driving the slippery northern Canadian roads.

He’s called upon to rescue 40 trapped miners – and takes along his PTSD-afflicted war veteran brother Gurty (Marcus Thomas) – but company corruption thwarts his every move on dangerous roads.

” … all credibility of physical action and jeopardy is abandoned for an endless domino chain of crises – avalanche, assassins on snowmobiles, snapping bridge cables, skewering by pine branch, plain old mano-a-mano combat and so on,” Dennis Harvey wrote in his review.

“Eventually the vibe is close to a cross between True Lies and Smokey and the Bandit.

“The overloaded thrills are also compromised at times by variable CGI work, though in general The Ice Road is executed in solidly professional if not particularly stylish or imaginative fashion.”

Harvey noted that Neeson was still a solid action hero at 70.

According to production notes posted online by Servo, The Ice Road
premiered at No.1 on Netflix in the US and was viewed by more
than 30 million people.

In Australia, it was on Netflix’s top 10 list for four consecutive weeks.

In the sequel, Neeson honours his late brother’s last wish and travels to Nepal to scatter his ashes on Mount Everest.

“While on a packed tour bus traversing the deadly 12,000 feet [3.6 kilometre] terrain of the infamous Road to the Sky, Mike and his mountain guide encounter a group of Nepali mercenaries and must fight not only to save themselves and the busload of innocent travellers, but also the local villagers’ homeland,” reads the synopsis.

“Liam again triumphs through a series of active adventures: Hairpin-precision driving, hiking across vast terrains, climbing through deep
gorges, mountain climbing, and fulfilling his image of the heroic outdoorsman.”

We can see why Walhalla was chosen as a set location.