Anna Paquin, Cliff Curtis and Josh Lawson join cast of Netflix’s Jessica Watson biopic filmed in Qld

Oscar-winning actor Anna Paquin, Cliff Curtis and Aussie Josh Lawson will star in the Jessica Watson biopic, set to film in Queensland later this year.

Anna Paquin and Josh Lawson will star in Netflix’s anticipated Jessica Watson biopic, True Spirit, set to film in Queensland this year.

The top-billed actors have been cast as the teen sailor’s parents, Julie and Roger Watson, in the streaming giant’s movie adaptation of her 2010 solo sailing triumph, while New Zealand actor Cliff Curtis will play her coach, Ben Bryant.

They join Sydney teenager Teagan Croft, who was previously cast as Watson.

Anna Paquin has been cast in Netflix movie True Spirit as Julie Watson. Picture: Kevin Scanlon

Brisbane actor Josh Lawson will play Roger Watson. Picture: Oly Begg

True Spirit, based on Watson’s best-selling memoir, will follow the 16-year-old sailor as she spends 210 days at sea, surviving seven knockdowns to become the youngest person to sail around the world unassisted.

It will be filmed at Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast and on location in Queensland and Sydney later this year with a predominantly local cast and crew.

Watson is set to consult on the biopic, which is backed by Screen Queensland’s Production Attraction Strategy and is estimated to inject $24 million into the Queensland economy and create more than 300 jobs for cast, crew and extras.

Sailor Jessica Watson (16) poses with her parents Julie and Roger having moored her yacht Ella's Pink Lady at Opera House in Sydney on completion and becoming the youngest to sail solo on a non-stop unassisted voyage around the World.

Paquin, a New Zealand-Canadian actor, will travel to Queensland to film her part in the movie.

The 38-year-old won an Academy Award for her debut supporting role in The Piano (1993) when she was 11, launching a successful career in film and television for almost three decades, including a Golden Globe win for her starring role in HBO series True Blood.

The production is a homecoming for Brisbane actor Lawson, who recently starred in Mortal Kombat and wrote and directed romantic comedy Long Story Short.

New Zealand actor Cliff Curtis joins the cast of True Spirit in Queensland. Picture: Peter Wallis

True Spirit joins a slate of productions set to film in Queensland in the second half of 2021, including Ticket to Paradise starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts and Love Island in Port Douglas while NBC series Joe Exotic is currently filming at Brisbane’s Screen Queensland Studios.

It follows Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis movie and Ron Howard’s Thirteen Lives, about the 2018 Thai cave rescue, which have both taken up residency at Village Roadshow Studios this year.

Originally published as Anna Paquin, Cliff Curtis and Josh Lawson join cast of Netflix’s Jessica Watson biopic filmed in Qld