Brenton Thwaites, star of a new sci-fi movie, does not care much for sci-fi. When pressed for a favorite title, he offers up 2009’s “District 9,” but “I like that it doesn’t feel like sci-fi!” he tells The Post with a laugh.
No doubt, the Aussie hopes people will say the same about his new release, “The Signal,” in theaters Friday. Thwaites, 24, stars as Nic, a college student who, along with his friends, takes a road trip that unravels into a hunt for a mysterious hacker. The chase leads the three friends to isolation, waking up in a strange place with no idea what’s happened to them.
The film is just one of three stand-out roles the up-and-comer landed for the 2014 summer season. He’s already charmed audiences as Sleeping Beauty’s prince in “Maleficent” and, come Aug. 15, he takes the lead in the adaptation of the novel “The Giver.”
It’s all coming together quickly for Thwaites, who grew up playing the didgeridoo, a traditional Aboriginal instrument, before moving to Sydney to star on TV. That helped him get his visa to move to Los Angeles, where he now lives. His first US role is not exactly his proudest moment, though: the Lifetime TV sequel, “Blue Lagoon: The Awakening.”
“I have to be honest, I look back and I laugh,” he admits.
Those days are in the past, as he’s now working opposite Hollywood’s biggest names: Angelina Jolie (“Maleficent”), Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges (“The Giver”) — and in “God of Egypt,” which he’s currently filming Down Under — Gerard Butler. While he’s happy for the busy schedule, it also means Thwaites hasn’t had time to revel in being a movie star or witness all the excitement around his summer films.
“It’s surreal because it’s not really happening to me,” he says. “I’m just chilling.”