I was born on the 5th of October 1984, in the small town of Sao Joao Da Boa Vista, Brazil. For the first three days of my life I was left nameless, until my parents chose to name me after my uncle, and was named Glenn Aguiar McMillan. My father, Peter McMillan, had come to Brazil years earlier as an exchange student where upon meeting my mother, Heloisa Aguiar, ceased his medical studies in Australia to remain in Brazil. Having acquired the native language of Portuguese in an astoundingly short time, he became manager of a steel-works factory in the town, when in the years following their marriage, my two sisters, Gabriela, Christiane were born, followed by me two years later. My family lived a modest and happy lifestyle, always surrounded with family, friends and the past time that would often bring us together…music. The festive atmosphere of living in Brazil was what initiated my love for music and the Arts, along with the genes of my highly artistic family.
In an effort to provide a better future and safety for the family, my parents decided to move to my father’s hometown of Adelaide, Australia. Upon our arrival, at the age of five, I began my schooling at Linden Park School. My parents always encouraged involvement in music and other forms of art, and had my sisters and me take piano lessons. We also began taking casual after-school drama classes, led by a lady named Joan Lau who was a great inspiration to my interest in acting, and gave way for all of her students to gain confidence by means of the stage. I developed a great interest and showed a natural flare for performing on stage and from then on, would always involve myself in the school plays. |
 |
At the age of 11, after auditioning for an upcoming production at the State Theatre Company of South Australia, I was offered the role of the ‘Young Boy’ in my first professional acting appearance. The piece was an adaptation of Luigi Pirandello’s 1921 play, ‘Six Characters in Search of an Author’. I was often disorientated in the actual story of the play, due to its complex and philosophical nature, however the greatest thing that I acquired was an insight into the process of the theater, and the discipline it necessitates. Only now that, in reflecting upon the true meaning of the play, I can understand it’s value to literature, and appreciate what made its author the recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1929.
The following year, I joined one of Adelaide’s leading acting schools\agencies, SA Casting, where I began the lengthy and thoughtful process of studying drama as a refined art form. Throughout this time, I would learn much about the history and development of drama, playwrights, dramatic theorists and technique.
 |
At 13, I landed the role of Ben Handleman in my first feature film, ‘Sally Marshall is Not an Alien’ with the South Australian Film Corporation. The film was shot along some of the most beautiful Adelaide beaches with an international cast over several weeks. Much lighter in substance to that of ‘Six Characters’, the film was an absolute pleasure to work on and gave me a chance to explore the difference between acting on film as opposed to acting on stage.
After the completion of the shoot, I began my studies at Pembroke high school, where I continued to partake in drama classes. It was at this point that I began developing my interest in music, in particular Jazz. I began playing the saxophone after my father had purchased one for his own use and I happened to pick it up and play with ease. I joined the school band and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of reading music, while developing my skills on the Saxophone. The high caliber of the band led us to be honored in playing with such Australian Jazz legends as Don Burrows and James Morrison. In the following years, I also began playing Bass and formed a jazz group with some other highly talented musicians at the school. |
At 15-16, I continued my acting career in the Australian television series, ‘Chuck Finn’. Filmed along the South Australian river land, the six-month shoot often took me from school but was a great experience for me, nonetheless. It was then, that I had experienced the three mediums of acting, film, television and theater. Not particularly favored to any particular one, I then thought (and still believe) that film is essentially a director’s medium, television a writer or producer’s medium, and theater the home for the actor. After a lengthy season on ‘Chuck Finn’, I decided not to partake in the second season in an effort to maintain focus on my schooling.
In the year 2000, I flew to Sydney to meet with one of Australia’s leading talent agencies, RGM Associates. In being accepted into the agency, I parted with my local agent in Adelaide and kept my eye on the future with a new window of opportunity open for me.
In being accelerated a year in Drama Studies at Pembroke, I performed in the Stephen Sondheim\ James Lapine musical production ‘Into the Woods’, playing the role of ‘Jack’. It was the first time I had performed in a musical, proving that I could use another musical instrument, my voice. I am a big fan of musical theater, in that I often like drama to be larger-than-life and comedic. Musical theater is a great blend of these two things.
My final year of drama at Pembroke led me to play the lead character of Vyasa in an adaptation of the Hindu Epic, ‘the Mahabharata’. The three-and-a-half hour play (an abbreviated version of Peter Brooks’ 12 hour version) was a great insight to the teachings of Hindu religion and the Indian culture, and l was one of few students ever to have received full marks for their final assessment in performance by the government assessors.
With little happening on the professional acting front, I maintained my interest on studying at University. I was granted a scholarship from the principal of Pembroke to study Law at one of Australia’s most prestigious academic institutions, Bond University on the Gold Coast, Queensland. However, a significant turning point was about to present itself to me, which would delay my studies…
In mid 2002, I auditioned for the upcoming series of ‘Power Rangers Ninja Storm’ (PRNS) to be filmed in Auckland, New Zealand over nine months. After four auditions and a trip to Sydney to meet with the Australian casting director, I was told I had the role of Dustin, the Yellow Ranger. It’s a strange thing when, as a child you play games imagining yourself as your hero, without knowing that one day you will be filling the same shoes for the next generation of kids on the playground. At the time of the PRNS casting, I had not yet completed my final term of school, and so I requested that I be allowed time off from the shoot to sit my final exams. Had this request not been accepted, I had already decided that I would not take the role and finish the many years of school that I had set out to finish. However, my request was accepted, and so I left Adelaide to New Zealand to begin four weeks of martial arts training and the eight-month shoot. This was the opportunity I had awaited; a chance to appear in a lead role in an internationally recognized production with a huge following, and the gift of being seen in America. |
 |
It was a very exciting time for the entire cast as we were all in the same boat away from home with a long job ahead of us. I know that we all felt so lucky to be in a place as beautiful as New Zealand with the opportunity to work on such an exciting production and with people to whom we grew very close.
In May, 2003, I returned home to Adelaide for a well-earned break. I was anxious, however, to continue my pursuit of acting, and made a trip to Los Angeles in the wake to the success of PRNS to find an American agent. I stayed at the Oakwood Apartments in Burbank, next to Warner Bros. Studios, right in the heart of the daunting Hollywood film industry. This was my first taste of the pace of the film industry in L.A.. Accustomed to only having one audition every few months in Adelaide, I was overwhelmed by the audition-every-day scenario of living in Hollywood.
Too young to hire a car to get about the huge city, I bought a map and a blue beach cruiser bicycle with white-wall tires and set about getting from auditions to meetings with agents to more auditions (on some days from Burbank to Wilshire\Santa Monica and back). After several weeks of showing up exhausted and sweaty to my appointments, I abandoned his attempts of saving money on taxis and used the bike only for short trips.
In my final weeks there, I had a meeting with arguably the highest caliber agency in the U.S., the Creative Artists Agency (CAA), to which I was accepted and have proven to be great representation for me.
On the very day I was booked to return home to Adelaide, I landed the role of ‘Bronley Hale’ in the Disney Channel telemovie, ‘Zenon: Z3’. So instead of flying to Australia, I flew to Cape Town, South Africa to begin the two-month shoot. I was glad to be allowed to speak in my natural accent for the film, as the producers wanted a very international feel, and I thoroughly enjoyed the futuristic setting of the movie.
Since this time, I have returned to L.A. on numerous occasions between returning to New Zealand for the PRNS reunion on ‘Power Ranger Dino Thunder’ filmed in March 2004.
The marks I achieved in my final exams for school gave me a place to study law at Adelaide University, something which I am glad to have the opportunity to do, while being at home in Adelaide with my family, girlfriend and friends.
The whereabouts of the blue bike I once owned in Los Angeles is unknown…if anyone comes across a blue and white beach-cruiser with a black carry-basket on the front and white-wall tires…it could be mine.
|
