He was the right age and seemed completely natural in front of a camera. The role of the Aborigine boy was the most difficult to cast. Roeg insisted on using an authentic Aborigine. However, the Aborigines are the most primitive people left on earth, and their inherent shyness makes it impossible for them to perform in front of a camera. Roeg combed the Aborigine reservations in Australia and finally came upon David Gumpilil in the vast reserve of Arnhem Land.
Aborigines are very much dependent physically and emotionally on the land they live on.
Once you take them out of their particular environment, they become completely lost. David came from the North where it is very lush and green, and the desert location was completely alien to him. He became so depressed that within 48 hours his sense of rejection even by the land made it necessary for us to move to a different location in order to continue. The title, Walkabout , refers to the tribal ritual of the Aborigines which requires that every male at the age of 13 or 14 journey for months all by himself through the deserted bush. Naturally, only the fittest of boys survived the test.