One of the most cringe-worthy episodes of the Kelly story, particularly for the male population, was when Mounted Constable Thomas Lonigan tried to restrain Ned Kelly by squeezing his testicles. Lonigan resorted to this appalling tactic, known at the time as ‘blackballing’, despite being assisted by three other police, including the pathetic Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick, in a dust-up in a bootmaker’s shop in Benalla on September 17, 1877.

Ned later said that Lonigan “inflicted terrible pain on me, but still I would not surrender”. It’s easy to understand Ned’s anger and utter disregard for Lonigan when he raged in his attacker’s face, prophetically as it turned out, “Well Lonigan, I never shot a man yet, but if I ever do, so help me God, you will be the first!”

At the opening of The Legend of Ned Kelly exhibition a Melbourne’s Southgate, respected Aussie actor Peter Phelps, who plays Lonigan in the upcoming blockbuster Ned Kelly, gave an insight into how the scene will be portrayed on the big screen. My character, Mounted Constable Thomas Lonigan (was) described by Ned on pages 34 and 35 of the Jerilderie Letter as ‘the biggest enemy I have in the country’,” Phelps, who also stars in the Aussie drama Stingers, told the exhibition gathering.

“Certainly, when I had the scene with Heath Ledger as Ned where I grabbed him by the privates, I made him feel that vengeance shall be his. Luckily, in present-day film-making, we can protect our heroes with strategically-placed cricket boxes, which are useful for guarding against over-enthusiastic actors like myself. I think Heath may have got more than an inkling of what it was like to be on the receiving end of what an Englishman of the time would have called ‘blackballing’. The tears on his face gave it away.” Sydney-born Phelps, who will be 43 this year, also revealed the following:

Murder or manslaughter?

Thomas Lonigan was the first police trooper shot dead at Stringybark Creek. Ned Kelly was hung after being found guilty of his murder. “In his book The Trial of Ned Kelly, Chief Justice Phillips conjectured that Lonigan’s killing was manslaughter; that Kelly had maintained he shot Lonigan at Stringybark Creek as he raised his head above a log, his gun pointed Kelly’s way; the shot made in self-defence. We depict in the film that Ned, with the element of surprise, has ordered Lonigan to “Bail up!” Lonigan fires first and we have enough ambiguity existing in the film for the audience to decide where their allegiances lie.”

Iconic story

“From June to October last year (2002), the film Ned Kelly was shot within a one-hour radius of Melbourne at locations that were replicas of Greta and other towns that are internationally famous because of the story of Ned Kelly. “It’s testament to the internationally recognised legend of Ned Kelly that Universal Studios in Hollywood, Working Title Films in the UK and several A-list actors, directors, cinematographers and film-makers joined forces to create, from what I’ve seen, to be as iconic a story as the legend itself.”

No beards, no armour!

“Aware that our winters can be like they are in Victoria, it was the intention of the film-makers to have a gritty, muddy, realistic look, as rural Victoria had in the mid-19th century. In initial discussions in Hollywood, the director, Gregor Jordan, and Heath Ledger as Ned, were told that the hero, Ned, should be clean-shaven throughout (the movie) and that the armour would get in the way of the climax and the stars. To Gregor and Heath’s great credit, the essential physicality of our great story stayed in the picture.”

No Aussie accents

“Although described as the true and possibly first all-Australian legend, there is no such thing as an Australian accent in the Kelly story. The Kelly Gang, their extended family and other roles we had in the film have various dialects of Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, South African, German, Chinese, etc. We even had a dialect coach on set.

A modern-day Ned

“The intriguing thing about the Kelly legend is that he is a folk hero, police killer, anti-authority figure – all elements explored in the film and this exhibition. Since appearing in the film, I have been asked what Ned might have been in a contemporary sense. With his hugely physical presence, athleticism, horsemanship, toughness, charisma, natural sense of justice, charity and leadership, mixed with ruthlessness and loyalty, I dare say he would be a great politician or even a leader of the nation. To further indulge in fantasy, I would have ridden around in the tracks of these original Australian men. I am pleased and honoured to have a role in depicting a piece of our country’s history and to be part of this great exhibition.”

*Peter Phelps acknowledged the presence of two of Thomas Lonigan’s great-grandchildren, Jack Wilson and Pat Tunstall and a great-great-granddaughter. A great-grandson of Ned’s half-sister Alice King and a grandson of Sir Redmond Barry were also in attendance. Phelps also made a special mention of Ian Jones, who was standing near the front of the crowd. The pair had worked together on the 1987 film The Lighthorseman (which Jones wrote and produced). Phelps said Jones’s research had made it easy for an actor to get to know his character.

**Brendan Pearse, a co-organiser of the exhibition along (whose wife gave birth to their second child, Madeleine May, at 1.30am that morning!), presented Phelps with a photograph of Thomas Lonigan. The photo was a copy of the original which Pearse purchased at auction. Other heavily retouched versions of the photo have appeared in various books, so this certainly was a pleasant surprise. From the mixture of excitement and shock on his face, Phelps was thinking something like: “That’s going straight to the pool room.” Afterwards, he thanked the Brendan profusely for the gesture.