Good Guys Bad Guys: profiles

Marcus Graham | Alison Whyte | Travis McMahon

Marcus Graham

Marcus Graham

Marcus left school at 15 and drifted into numerous jobs. His dyslexia made his first job as an apprentice printer hell. At this stage he didn’t realise he had a problem. Other jobs followed, like hamburger cook, working on a prawn trawler, toilet cleaner and barman.

Marcus was 22-years-old before he discovered that he suffered from dyslexia, a learning disorder that can create enormous problems with the basic skills of reading and writing.

"I had basically been the kid at the back of the classroom who stared out the window," he says. "I was sight reading at drama school and the teacher picked up I was dyslexic."

Drama school was the turning point in Marcus’ life. "I went from being someone with no ambition who wasn’t going to amount to much, to someone who was completely focused and ambitious"

Marcus graduated from the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) 10 years ago. Since that time he has become one of the country’s most successful actors. His television credits include Blue Murder (ABC 1995), a guest role in Halifax F.P. (1994) and The Battlers (1993). Meanwhile his theatre performances include Brutus in Julius Ceasar (MTC 1996), Frankenfurter in The Rocky Horror Show (1992 and ’96) and The Shaugraun (1993, ’94).

He was delighted when Roger Simpson and Roger Le Mesurier wrote the role of Elvis Maginnis specifically for him.

Marcus wrote and directed his first short film titled "The Plastic Gangster" in between shooting The Good Guys Bad Guys telemovie and series. "I did it for the experience and would love to write and direct in the future," says Marcus. "In the last four or five years I have developed a greater interest in writing and directing. The love of acting has always been there. I knew I wanted to be an actor from the time I was two years old."

Marcus Graham’s workload doesn’t look like letting up for quite a while. At the conclusion of Good Guys Bad Guys, Marcus jetted off to America where he’s filming a series for ABC cable television. In Sins of the City, Marcus plays the lead character of Vince. We can also look forward to the soon to be released feature film Justice in which Marcus plays Bobby, a reformed alcoholic. Shot last year in Perth, Justice is Marcus’ first lead role in a feature film.

as Elvis Maginnis

Sometimes it’s hard to know who’s a good guy, who’s a bad guy—villains don’t always wear black, heroes don’t always wear white. In times like that you need a MAGINNIS—a man who can see things for what they are; a free agent who owes no favours, a man who can tell the difference.

Elvis Maginnis, dark, intense looking, in his early 30’s, is a former cop from a family with criminal connections. He joined the force to escape his family—and he left the force to escape the brotherhood.

So Maginnis bought a dry-cleaning franchise and set himself up in business. Independence and freedom with no strings attached—or so he thought. But the family and the force won’t leave him alone, they all want him to do "just one more job."

And although he might complain about it—and it’s an encroachment on his time—the fact of the matter is, Elvis Maginnis likes being an unofficial private eye—it is what he does best.

He is cool and confident, his approach to life casual, yet he is somewhat discontent with his life. He is looking for the right occupation, the perfect woman and some kind of inner peace.