Family ties: Meet Qld’s new generation of rising stars from well-known families
Queensland is playing host to a new generation of talent with impressive pedigree. Meet the relatives of some of Australia’s biggest names who are paving their own way in the industry.
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A new generation of talent has been emerging in Queensland, with the relatives of some of Australia’s biggest names stepping into the spotlight.
From actors to models, presenters and athletes, here are some of the next generation stars in the making who are paving their own way in the industry.
JEM CASSAR-DALEY, SINGER
Jem Cassar-Daley has well and truly broken into the Australian music scene in 2022.
The daughter of acclaimed country singer Troy Cassar-Daley and TV presenter and breakfast radio star Laurel Edwards, Jem grew up singing and playing music around the piano with her family in Brisbane.
After touring with her father in 2019, she set about pursuing a music career full-time and releasing her own music.
This year, she won her first Queensland Music Award in the indigenous category and also performed with her father at the awards ceremony in March – a duet that caught the attention of singer Thelma Plum, who would later invite Jem to support her on her Australian tour.
“She took my breath away,” Plum said.
“I thought she was amazing. Her music is so good. I couldn’t think of anyone better to open (my) show.”
Cassar-Daley later won new talent of the year at The National indigenous Music Awards, played at The Gabba for an AFL round, and supported the likes of Casey Donovan.
She also teamed up with Rural Aid to record a version of Carole King’s iconic “You’ve Got A Friend” for its annual Mates Day fundraiser, and has been named on the bill for the 2022 Woodford Folk Festival.
“What this year has proved to me is there are so many wonderful people … There’s a great scene in Australia. There’s been so much support,” she said recently.
“Everyone has self doubt relating to first albums so to be able to feel that love has been really cool. It makes me realise … this is why dad loves it so much.”
Cassar-Daley hopes to release an album next year, “if it all goes to plan”.
“I’m doing a whole lot of writing at the moment,” she said.
“I’m just loving the journey of music in general.”
BRONTE LANGBROEK, RADIO PERSONALITY
The newest on-air Langbroek has cemented herself as one to watch in the radio industry.
In October, Langbroek, who is the daughter of politician John-Paul Langbroek and niece of radio star Kate Langbroek, landed a major role as co-host of the Hit Queensland breakfast show, joining co-host Guy “Cliffo” Clifton in Townsville.
It was a big move for Langbroek, who had left Nova Brisbane less than a year earlier to cut her teeth on breakfast radio, hosting a show in Canberra, before being plucked out by Southern Cross Austereo.
“Bronte’s been one to watch for a number of years now, and having her move back to her home state and to pair her up with Cliffo is really exciting,” said Blair Woodcock, SCA’s head of regional content.
Langbroek filled in for Susie O’Neill on Nova’s top-rating breakfast show when O’Neill was attending the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, before landing the gig in Canberra, and shifting to Townsville less than a year later.
She was nine when she first visited her aunt in the Nova studio in Melbourne, when she was on air with Dave Hughes, and discovered an instant affinity for the buzz of live radio.
“I just remember walking in (to the studio) and just feeling this energy of live radio, it was something that I remembered then for the next 10 years,” she said in 2021.
While studying at the University of Queensland, Langbroek asked Kate if she had any connections at Nova Brisbane – on the day Kate coincidentally was having lunch with the Nova Brisbane general manager in Sydney – and nabbed her first internship at the station when she was 19.
“I remember feeling the exact same energy walking into that building.”
Bronte ended up working in various departments at Nova for four years before working for ARN in Melbourne, SCA on the Gold Coast and regionally in Wagga Wagga before returning to the Nova Brisbane studio.
She has worked in sales and reception, street team and promotions.
“I admire Kate so much … but I kind of knew I wanted to learn different departments in radio and use eventually those skills hopefully as an announcer” she said.
GRACE HAYDEN, MODEL AND PRESENTER
Grace Hayden has made an instant mark on the Australian sporting scene in 2022.
The daughter of Queensland cricket great Matt Hayden has enjoyed a breakout year, signing on as Channel 7 Oaks Day ambassador at just 19 and fronting the major race day at Eagle Farm in June.
She had travelled to Melbourne earlier in the year to do some TV production training, and, showing her star quality, she was incredibly picked out by Channel 7 nationally to become the network’s spring racing reporter during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
The role has opened doors for the young model in coming years.
She even interviewed her father during the coverage.
“I come from a very loving family and I have seen that hard work and love for what you do pays off,” she said in June.
“I am very lucky my parents are very supportive of me and always encourage my two brothers and I to chase our dreams, whatever we may choose.”
Despite her pedigree, it was model and now friend Emma Chen who contacted Hayden when she was in high school and gave her the opportunity to work with her.
She introduced Hayden to local modelling agency Chic Brisbane, who signed her, and she landed consistent work for well-known local designers in recent years, including fronting a collection by Brisbane’s White Label Noba in 2021.
Also studying occupational therapy part-time and doing an acting course one night a week, Hayden’s future is full of opportunities.
“For now I’m just very interested in growing my skills and experience,” she said.
BILLY WALTERS, NRL PLAYER
Billy Walters has made his mark on the NRL in 2022.
The son of Brisbane Broncos coach Kevin Walters, Billy, 28, previously made his NRL debut in 2019 for the Melbourne Storm.
But it was signing with the Broncos for the 2022 season that kickstarted his career.
He played 23 games during the NRL season as a key playmaker for the Brisbane club, under his father’s guidance.
Brisbane won seven games in a row when he was the starting No.9.
He is now enjoying his first full pre-season with the club in a bid to secure the hooker role in 2023.
Walters recently said he was “stoked” to have certainty over his future in the NRL after signing a two-year extension to his contract that will keep him at the club until the end of 2024.
Following the footsteps of his father, he is also the nephew of former Maroons players Kerrod Walters and Steve Walters.
TEAGAN CROFT, ACTOR
An 18-year-old actor from Sydney, Teagan Croft is about to have her biggest break yet, starring as Jessica Watson in the Gold Coast filmed Netflix blockbuster, True Spirit.
Croft has a strong lineage in acting as the niece of Australian acting successes Jessica and Penny McNamee.
She got her start on Home and Away as a child actor, before roles in The Osiris Child and massive TV series Titans.
But playing an Australian icon in sailor Jessica Watson is a big moment for the teen.
She was in grade 11 when she moved to the Gold Coast to film True Spirit for a number of months in 2021.
“It was tough. I was doing year 11 while I was filming True Spirit,” she said. “It’s a crazy combo, but I love it.”
Having now graduated high school she is preparing for the film to drop globally on Netflix on February 3, walking red carpets at premieres in January.
“I do feel pressure and nerves but it’s positive, I’m excited to be part of telling such a great story and something that we are all so proud of as a nation.”
CRUZ HEWITT, TENNIS PLAYER
The son of Australian tennis great Lleyton Hewitt has always been a chip off the old block.
Cruz, 14, showed an interest in tennis as a young child in Victoria and began competing from a young age.
In 2021, the family relocated to the Gold Coast, a move believed to be motivated by a desire to foster Cruz’s tennis ambitions and begin serious training.
The Gold Coast boasts sprawling tennis centres and a multimillion-dollar KDV tennis academy in Carrara.
In November, Cruz won his first ITF title, beating the top seed to triumph at the Tennis International Federation juniors competition in Fiji.
He thanked his father and coach Matt Reid in an Instagram post, writing “thanks so much for the help and support.”
It is likely Australian tennis fans will see him on the junior touring circuit in the coming years.
ROBERT IRWIN, WILDLIFE WARRIOR
Robert Irwin, 19, has been following his father’s footsteps since he was born.
Working at Australia Zoo and continuing the late Steve Irwin’s animal conservation work is a rite of passage for the Irwin family.
Bindi Irwin has long been a star in her own right, hosting her own animal shows and even winning Dancing With The Stars in the US.
However youngest child Robert has been taking a step forward with his public work in recent years and his popularity has increased with it – alongside his now 3.2m Instagram audience.
While he has been a hit on American talk shows, bringing exotic animals on with him in the past, Robert is now making more regular TV appearances solo in Australia.
He recently appeared as a guest host on The Project, for which he was heavily praised.
It came after he joined Bindi and mother Terri on Celebrity Gogglebox and stars in reality series Crikey! It’s The Irwins.
He’s also achieved success in photography, releasing a photography book in November that features powerful native Australian images that show the effects of climate change.
It also includes several new pictures, including one of Steve introducing Robert to a professional camera.
“My dad was a very, very passionate photographer,” Robert said at the time.
“It sort of runs in the family. He was equally enthusiastic behind the lens as in front of it. And it’s just always kind of been there and been part of my life.”
INDIA HEMSWORTH, ACTOR
Chris Hemsworth’s eldest child, daughter India Rose, made her Marvel debut in his latest film, Thor: Love and Thunder, this year.
India played the daughter of Christian Bale’s character, and while it might have seemed like her star dad – or actor mum Elsa Pataky – pulled strings, it was the Byron Bay-based kids themselves who expressed a desire to be involved in their parents’ work.
“That role was like, ‘Well, it’d be kind of nice if I can do that with her, we’ve got to tie everything up and it’s just a nice thing for us’,” director Taika Waititi told news.com.au.
“And she was wonderful, and it was great.”
Chris posted to Instagram at the time, sharing a photo one of her first time on set 11 years ago and one acting alongside each other now.
He described the role as a “one-off, fun, family experience” and said he doesn’t want his children to become child actors.
“It was just a special sort of experience we all had, and I loved it,” he said.
But considering India’s performance and eager involvement, it seems she might have caught the acting bug from her parents.
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Originally published as Family ties: Meet Qld’s new generation of rising stars from well-known families
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