For many, it’s the glitz and the glamour, the dreams of the red carpet, paparazzi and long-term fame.

Newcastle’s Zac Garred sees it differently after years living in the capital of US cinema – it’s a pleasure to work doing something you love, and a “wonderful thing” to bring it back to Australia.

Perhaps it’s ironic that Garred’s latest release is a movie – the first he’s worked on since Newcastle in 2008 – exploring a potential invasion in the Land Down Under.

“It’s a high concept movie that we haven’t really seen in Australia since the days of Mad Max,” Garred said. “It was so special to come back here and get to play around in the bush and explore these really cool stories and characters. It was a treat.”

His character, Dennis, is part of a group of residents forced to unite to resist and fight invaders in Occupation, with the science fiction action movie set to be released later in 2018.

It’s also a change of pace for Garred, after years of working on television programs and series in America.

“It’s really cool, I can honestly say that coming back home is always really cool, especially when it’s to do with work,” he said. “We’re really lucky to be working on a movie that is so rooted in Australia too, as opposed to just using it for location.”

"When I first flew over [to Los Angeles] it felt like it was all this big, amazing place ... now coming home feels like the best thing in the world. Living overseas is amazing but to bring your work back to Australia and just be surrounded by people that make it feel like home – there’s nothing else like it.”

Perhaps one of the reasons that Australia feels like a “homecoming of sorts” for the New Lambton local was the absence of cars piling up – around award season Garred often finds limousines lining his street.

“It’s a funny experience, where I live is a stone’s throw from where they [the Golden Globes] are held, so there’s cars littered everywhere,” he laughed. “In terms of home, it’s like living at Fort Scratchley and then walking to the Hunter Street mall.”

The ambitious 2018 sci-fi movie is set for release later in the year with a trailer on the horizon, and there will be plenty of local faces across the feature film.

Garred is joined by veteran Australia and New Zealand talents Temeura Morrison, Jacqueline McKenzie and Bruce Spence. Dan Ewing, Stephany Jacobsen, Rhiannon Fish, Charles Mesure and Aaron Jeffrey round out the star-studded cast.