Canadian-New Zealand actor Daniel Gillies is best known for his role as Elijah Mackelson in The Vampire Diaries and its spin-off series, The Originals. Gillies is heading to Canberra as one of the guests at our first ever Oz Comic-Con event at EPIC this weekend, 27-28 August.

CW had a quick chat with Gillies to talk about moustaches, Australian cities, and dress-ups.

You’re in Melbourne working on The Newsreader, how are you finding it?

I love it here; I’ve been here a couple of times before. My sister lives out on the peninsula but I got to know it better this time because I got to stay in the city.

I’ve got to go to different places; Fitzroy I’ve been there a couple of times. I’m going to go back; I’m going to watch the UFC fights and have a beer and eat my nachos in the corner.

The Newsreader is set in the 1980s. How are you liking the Australian fashion choices from the time?

I just removed my moustache which was satisfying. It was a bit strange to see my face because I’ve had it for the last three months.

The team wasn’t sure about it, they were like we’ve got a moustache quota on the show. I stood my ground, I said my mother only talked about one man circa 1988, Tom Selleck. All my gym teachers around the time, pretty much all my teachers were sporting the thick moustache.

It worked for the character; I wanted him to flaunt something. I hated it in life, but I loved it for the character. They are inconvenient in life.

Your Instagram links to a film being made by a friend. Can you tell us about it?

Ishmael Bae is an incredible writer. I met him because both our children went to Montessori school in Los Angeles. I met him and his wife, who I found out is an international human rights lawyer for the United Nations.

He sent me one of his books to read; I neglected to do so for eight or nine months. One day I opened it up and said I’m going to read this book and talk to him about it. I looked up other books he had written and found one called A Long Way Home, the stories of a child soldier and I was like ‘no, that’s not Ishmael’; you are talking about one of the most gregarious, emotionally friendly human beings.

I couldn’t put it down and the stories in there destroyed me. I called him in tears saying to him ‘I read your book, I am just so moved’. I would like to make a documentary film about his life, he is a remarkable human. There was a five-year period where he saw daily things that would emotionally scar people for the rest of their lives. The stories are crippling and devastating but inspiring because of the man he has become.

The movie he is making isn’t about his life. The movie is about the environment and protecting local mythology told through the eyes of children.

Whatever that guy does, I’m going to be the first in line and the loudest applause.

You are heading to Canberra for Comic-Con. Are you looking forward to it?

I’ve never been to Canberra, and I am hearing some lovely things; I am hearing the food is good.

I love meeting fans from all over the place, I feel incredibly lucky to be able to meet fans this way. I did one in Adelaide, and one in Brisbane. I really like the diversity of Australian cities, you can’t find easy parallels, there is nothing similar.

I’ve only been to the four so far – Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney, and Melbourne – and they are just nothing alike and I think that is kind of amazing.

I know Canberra is the political centre but I don’t know what to expect. I love Australian people; I find them incredibly humorous and self-deprecating.

There will be a lot of cosplay. Who would you dress up as?

I don’t have any desire to cosplay, but my son got me dressed up, he insisted last Halloween. He was a ninja, and my daughter was an enchantress or someone who had a magical ability, she was definitely brandishing a wand.

I think we threw a belt around my waist; we threw on some war paint. Nothing like Braveheart but certainly it looked Viking-esque. I don’t know what I was, I was a sword-wielding Viking but looked too contemporary because I didn’t have enough costume.

What is next for you?

I would like to pursue this documentary about Ishmael but that is contingent on a lot of factors, including his time.

I would like to direct my own material; I directed a film before I got more acting work I could handle for a decade. I directed some of the originals, material that I have written. When I write, and I write daily, I write about what scares me and what threatens people the most.

Catch Daniel Gillies at Oz Comic-Con Homegrown Canberra at EPIC, 27-28 August;  ozcomiccon.com

Get all the latest Canberra news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Canberra Daily Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.