Williams feels chill of Milat

Having played the likes of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and INXS rocker Kirk Pengilly, Perth-raised actor Alex Williams is no stranger to bringing real stories to life on the small screen.

But in his latest TV role, the WAAPA graduate ventures into chilling territory as English backpacker Paul Onions in Seven’s gripping two-part mini-series Catching Milat, which centres on the investigation, arrest and conviction of notorious backpacker serial killer, Ivan Milat.

Onions survived a violent encounter with Milat in January 1990 and years later played a pivotal part in pinning the ruthless killer to the grisly backpacker murders.

As terrifying as it was having to relive Onions’ ordeal, Williams says it was a role he fought hard for.

“There aren’t a lot of roles like this in Australia, so I kind of hunt them down,” Williams explains toAAA .

“I’m hoping to do as many of these sort of telemovies as possible, and keep trying to get better. It’s great being able to play real people. This is my third real person in two years, it’s good. You want to put the work in and hope that if you’re working hard enough people like what you do and keep hiring you.”

Like much of the cast, Williams never met Onions while working on the gritty TV project but said he found a great deal of inspiration reading Mark Whittaker’s book The Sins of the Brother, on which the series is based.

“There were points where I was reading it and I’d have to put it down, which I’ve never really had to do with a book before — not because I was bored, because it was just so brutal and because it was real,” he says.

“I think that was the defining factor for this, as opposed to a lot of horror flicks that come out, but because I know this is fact and that (Milat) committed those acts, it’s worse.

“It’s not made up to make you squirm, it’s not contrived to make you feel sick, it just is what it is. I think that’s what’s really poignant.”

Malcolm Kennard delivers a frightening portrayal of Milat and Williams admits even he was terrified of the Sydney actor when it came to re-enacting Onions’ escape.

“To be honest it’s not hard when you’ve got a gun pointed at you and you’re tackled by Mal Kennard, and then you need to run and there’s shots being fired,” he recalls.

“It’s not hard to feel like you’re there.”