Bizarre way star landed his role in The Castle

Stephen Curry has revealed the surprising stroke of luck that landed him his iconic role as Dale Kerrigan in The Castle.

Stephen Curry has revealed the bizarre way he landed his role in the iconic Aussie movie, The Castle, saying it was the result of “pure dumb luck”.

The actor, best known for playing the quietly optimistic Dale Kerrigan, opened up about his casting during an interview to promote his role in a new Uber Green campaign.

Curry was only 20 years old when he landed a role in the film after catching the eyes of Jane Kennedy and Rob Sitch from Working Dog (the production company that made the movie).

Working Dog’s Michael Hirsh, Santo Cilauro, Jane Kennedy, Rob Sitch and Tom Gleisner.

“They’d cast the whole film but they hadn’t cast my character,” he recalled.

“Then, all of a sudden, while they’re (Sitch and Kennedy) sitting there on their couch talking about who they’re going to get to play Dale Kerrigan, an ad came on.”

The TV commercial was a lighthearted one that Curry had filmed a year earlier for the TAC (Transport Accident Commission), and clearly both Kennedy and Sitch were impressed by what they saw.

“They had no idea who I was,” Curry said. “The next day I had the script (for The Castle) in my hand.

“It was pure dumb luck.”

Anthony Simcoe, Stephen Curry and Michael Caton have reunited for a new Uber Green campaign. Picture: Uber Green

Almost 30 years later, Curry has reunited with castmates Anthony Simcoe and Michael Caton in a new Uber campaign, promoting the rideshare company’s EV offering.

“Uber Green is the same price as an Uber X, but they’re all electric vehicles … so you can save the planet and still get there on time in a nice, whisper quiet ride,” he told news.com.au.

The cultural impact of The Castle

The 1997 movie is full of memorable lines, including “tell him he’s dreaming”, “how’s the serenity?” and “this is going straight to the pool room”.

They’re lines that people have been repeating to Curry for more than 25 years, although not always accurately.

“Usually they get it wrong,” the actor said. “Someone came past on a bus and all I heard was, ‘how’s the serendipity?’”

Another line that people often misquote?

“‘Dad, I dug a ditch,’ I’ve heard numerous times,” Curry laughed.

The Castle cast.

Other fun facts about The Castle

A few months ago, the Working Dog team who made The Castleshared some little known facts about the film during a Q+A event at HOTA on the Gold Coast.

One of the most surprising was that they rejected an offer for a remake involving a Hollywood megastar.

“I think there was an offer to remake it in the United States with Tom Hanks playing the main role and it was going to be set next to O’Hare Airport in Chicago,” Working Dog’s Santo Cilauro said.

“I think they wanted to make the lawyer the main character and that he had to return to university to study law to do a constitutional case in the Supreme Court,” Cilauro recalled.

The Working Dog team’s response … tell em they’re dreamin!

Originally published as Bizarre way star landed his role in The Castle