Tanzyn Crawford, the fast-rising star of SBS’s darkly comic crime caper , loves that every lead in the Melbourne-set show is a person of colour.
“It’s amazing, but this is what should be happening,” she says as we chat over Zoom during one of her work-related stints in Los Angeles. “There should be a mix of what Australia looks like on our screens. One person of colour in amongst a whole bunch of white people isn’t enough. Sure, that happens sometimes, but it doesn’t have to be like that on every show.”
The cast of new SBS series 'Swift Street' includes (L-R) Bernie Van Tiel, Eliza Matengu, Cliff Curtis, Tanzyn Crawford, Alfred Chuol and Keiynan Lonsdale. Credit: SBS
The Perth-based actor depicts resourceful, non-nonsense Elsie in Swift Street. She’s the switched-on daughter of Robert, her frankly hapless father, as played by Avatar: The Way of Water and Once Were Warriors actor of Māori descent, Cliff Curtis. Robert’s knee-deep in eye-watering debts to Eliza Matengu’s unforgiving mob boss, and Elsie has to save him from his hair-brained schemes, figuring out a smarter way to pay ‘The Mechanic’ back.
All the while, she’s juggling a gig in an electronics store run by a dodgy boss, forging a friendship with multi-hyphenate Keiynan Lonsdale’s troubled boxer, and juggling romantic interests in actor Bernie Van Tiel’s Aisha plus newcomer Alfred Chuol’s Tatenda. It’s an incredible ensemble in a wildly enjoyable misadventure that will have you bingeing all eight episodes in no time.
The lack of roles for POC people in Australia is a big part of the reason why work keeps taking her to America, where she shot the miniseries Servant and Tiny Beautiful Things back-to-back in a whirlwind of logistically fraught flights between WA’s capital city and tinsel town plus a temporarily missing passport drama.
“I was auditioning for stuff here and I would get feedback like, ‘She’s just not the right look,’ or ‘We don’t want to cast two different-race parents’,” Crawford reveals. “So I just felt like I fit in better in America. And I hate to say it, but I feel like it’s still true. I would love to take on more Australian roles. This one’s incredible.”
Swift Street creator, writer and director Tig Terera’s vision was a fabulous reason to return. “Tig was immediately so passionate and had so many ideas and what I loved,” Crawford says of their initial meeting, with Tig revealing he borrowed his sister’s middle name and some of her personality for Elise while writing from the heart about a Melbourne he actually recognises.
Tig Terera (Director) and Tanzyn Crawford (Elsie) on set. Credit: Jane Zhang / Magpie Pictures
“Tig’s not this 60-year-old man writing for 20-year-olds. He’s somebody who’s lived this lifestyle and knows about it. You could just tell that he had so much passion and real ideas that he wanted to bring to every aspect.”
That truth lends Swift Street authenticity, exaggerated as it is. It’s also a refreshing look at working-class lives on the tenuous edges that are also under-represented on Australian screens. “Elsie and Robert can’t pay their bills, and that’s happened to me and my family too, like that’s a normal stress, but we don’t see that enough on our TVs, those struggles, especially now we’re all in a cost of living crisis and everything’s ridiculously expensive.”
She also loved how Terera depicts the fluid nature of the younger characters’ sexuality. “There wasn’t anything in Tig’s script that said Elise is bisexual, pansexual or whatever,” Crawford says. “I just don’t think she has the time to think about it and she doesn’t really care, and I love that aspect of her. It’s really beautiful writing that nobody’s been kept in whatever box they brought. I mean, I’m as gay as they come, and this show was actually the first time I’ve ever kissed a man. Oh my god. So crazy. Everybody’s been pushed out of their zone.”
That includes casting Lonsdale as (ostensibly) straight. “I mean, Keiynan is a gay icon. He’s the most handsome guy, so suave, and he can play this tough boxer who’s trying to get by and to help his brother.”
Cliff Curtis and Tanzyn Crawford in 'Swift Street'. Credit: Jane Zhang / Magpie Pictures
Finding the father-daughter dynamic with Curtis was key to nailing the show’s dynamic, and the Kiwi star made it easy. “He’s so fun, such a loose cannon, so it didn’t take much to feel comfortable around him,” Crawford says. “But also, because there’s such turmoil between our characters, it didn’t have to be perfect at the beginning, because their relationship is already so fractured. So the more we filmed together, the closer we got and that created a strong bond that works for their storyline.”
It was smooth sailing, too, bonding with Van Tiel and Chuol. “Bernie is one of the best people I’ve ever met in my life, so unbelievably kind and community runs through her veins,” Crawford says. “She’s got a very calming energy, just as it is with her Aisha to my Elsie, and it really worked. And Alfie’s such a sweet guy. It was his first ever role and he really crushed it.”
Aisha (Bernie Van Tiel) and Elsie (Tanzyn Crawford). Credit: Jane Zhang / Mapgpie Pictures
Crawford hopes that shows like Swift Street can keep opening doors for emerging actors from a wide variety of backgrounds. “SBS is doing a wonderful job at pushing POC voices to the front, which is definitely something that needs to happen more in Australia,” Crawford underlines.
“The fact that we’re in 2024 and this show is special because there are a lot of people of colour is amazing, but this should be what’s happening. I mean, Perth is a pretty white place and even there, I’ve never been in a classroom where I’ve been the only person of colour. I just don’t think that’s an accurate portrayal no matter where you are.”
All 8 episodes of Swift Street are streaming now , with subtitles in five languages: Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Traditional Chinese and Korean. Double episodes will also screen on SBS each Wednesday at 8.30pm from 25 April to 5 May.
