Australian acting stars including Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham cast in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis movie on the Gold Coast
An incredible list of top-billed Australian actors have been ushered in to join Tom Hanks and star in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis movie on the Gold Coast – some replacing previously cast international stars – including Richard Roxburgh in a pivotal role.
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A host of Australia’s top acting stars including Richard Roxburgh, Helen Thomson, David Wenham, Luke Bracey and Dacre Montgomery have been ushered in to join the cast of Elvis on the Gold Coast.
Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann announced what he described as a “tremendous cast” uniting “Australia’s finest actors” on Thursday ahead of the start of filming on the musical drama at Village Roadshow Studios on September 23.
Roxburgh, who also starred in Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!, will play Elvis’s father, Vernon Presley, and his Rake co-star Thomson has been cast as Elvis’s mother Gladys Presley.
They replace previously cast international actors Rufus Sewell and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Wenham, of Luhrmann’s film Australia, will portray country music artist Hank Snow, Natasha Bassett plays Dixie Locke, Xavier Samuel plays Scotty Moore, Luke Bracey is Jerry Schilling, and rising star Dacre Montgomery, of Stranger Things and The Broken Heart Gallery, will play TV director Steve Binder.
They join stars Austin Butler, as Elvis, Olivia Dejonge as Priscilla Presley and Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker.
Hanks is currently completing his two-week quarantine in a Gold Coast hotel before filming, which has been delayed seven months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, can begin.
All cast will complete the mandatory quarantine upon arriving in Queensland.
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“Elvis was surrounded by an extraordinary array of rich personalities, and we are very fortunate to pull together a tremendous ensemble to tell this story,” Luhrmann said in a statement.
“It’s exciting to unite some of Australia’s finest actors, from longtime collaborators from Moulin Rouge!, Australia and The Great Gatsby like Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham and Kate Mulvany, to exciting new faces such as Dacre Montgomery, Helen Thomson, Luke Bracey, Natasha Bassett and many more.”
“With the world as it is right now, our entire company is grateful that we can join together in this creative venture to bring employment and opportunity in front of and behind the camera, and to the community at large.”
Australian actors including Leon Ford, Kate Mulvany, Gareth Davies, Charles Grounds, Josh McConville and Adam Dunn have also joined the ensemble cast for the film.
Elvis, a big-budget Warner Bros production, is said to bring in $100 million to the local economy.
It will explore the life and music of Elvis Presley, seen through his complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker over 20 years.
It was due to begin in February before Hanks contracted COVID-19 on the Gold Coast and temporarily shut down the production.
Lurhmann and the Queensland Government have spent months developing a COVID-safe plan to get Hanks back to Queensland and restart the production.
