Twenty-five years before Jason Clarke portrayed Alex Murdaugh in Murdaugh: Death in the Family, the Australian actor had his breakout role in the United States in Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen‘s film Our Lips Are Sealed.

In the 2000 film, Clarke played Mac, one of the villains trying to hunt down Abby (Ashley) and Maddie (Mary-Kate) after they were placed in the FBI’s Witness Protection Program because they witnessed the robbery of a priceless diamond and unknowingly still had the jewel in their possession. The twins were able to take down Mac and his partner, Sidney (Richard Carter), who ultimately acquiesced and turned on the crime lord leading the mission against the sisters. Mac and Sidney ended up helping the girls defeat the gang leader so they could return to their regular lives.

Clarke recently opened up about his experience on the film during an appearance on SiriusXM’s The Julia Cunningham ShowHe explained that it was his “first experience of an American production coming to Australia,” and said he took the role because he “was young and needed the money.”

Jason Clarke and Ashley Olsen

Dualstar Pictures

Still, he admitted to being “incredibly grateful” for booking the job. “It gave me probably, you know, more money than you could be getting paid in Australia,” Clarke explained. “So that money, [I] used it to come to America, you know? So these little things, they just, they tick over in different ways.”

To this day, Clarke said he still gets fans coming up to him and mentioning the movie. “It’s surprising how many people know that movie because, I’ll be standing there thinking, you know, somebody’s coming like, ‘Oh my God, I loved you,’ And I’m thinking [they’re] about to say, Zero Dark Thirty or maybe Chappaquiddick. [But no]. Our Lips Are Sealed,” he revealed.

Now, Clarke is portraying the real-life Alex Murdaugh, a man who was convicted of murdering his wife and one of their sons. Murdaugh is currently serving two life sentences without parole.

Murdaugh: Death in the Family, Wednesdays, Hulu

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Originally published on tvinsider.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.

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