Oh boy! Acting royalty swallows Trent Dalton’s universe

Trent Dalton’s debut novel, Boy Swallows Universe, is being filmed by Netflix, and they’ve cast the young hero.

Trent Dalton on the set of Netflix’s adaptation of his novel Boy Swallows Universe. Picture: Kane Skennar / Netflix

He is a boy who lives in the hearts of millions, a boy beloved across the land. No pressure, obviously, but quite a few Australians have been waiting to hear who will play Eli Bell, the young hero of best-selling author Trent Dalton’s first novel, Boy Swallows Universe, in the Netflix series.

They have chosen the perfect person: young Victorian actor Felix Cameron, last seen in the film adaptation of Penguin Bloom, a book about a cheeky magpie that heals a family after a trauma.

Another inspired choice announced on Thursday is Travis Fimmel, who has precisely the right amount of menace to play Eli’s mother’s drug-dealer boyfriend, Lyle Orlik.

Fimmel, who has worked as a model, has also played Ragnar Lothbrok in the History Channel television series Vikings, and ­Anduin Lothar in the live-action adaptation of Warcraft.

Felix Cameron will play the young Eli Bell.

Eli’s rugged “babysitter” Slim Halliday will be played by the great Bryan Brown; his brother, Gus, will be played by Fremantle-born Lee Tiger Halley; and Simon Baker, most famous for The Mentalist, will play Robert Bell.

Dalton, a writer on The Weekend Australian Magazine, could barely contain himself, saying from Brisbane: “I can’t remember the last time I saw such a powerful collection of brilliant Australian actors in the one place. This is all my favourite people in the acting world essentially playing all my favourite people in the real world.

“My wife and I have been secretly high-fiving in the kitchen for the past six months as every star-studded email came through confirming who wanted to be a part of it. Stunned and honoured. All these beautiful stars in my universe! I’m hosting a Netflix party at my house when the first episode drops and I’m kinda tempted to ­invite the entire city of Brisbane.”

And they would come, because many people describe Boy Swallows Universe as their favourite Australian novel. Originally published by HarperCollins, it holds the record as the nation’s fastest-selling debut novel. It has already been a stage play – reducing audiences to tears, and whoops of joy.

Bryan Brown has been cast as Slim Halliday. Picture: Toby Zerna

The cast for the eight-part Netflix series, also including Deborah Mailman and Anthony LaPaglia, was announced in Queensland and production has already begun in Brisbane. The novel is being adapted by Australian production company Brouhaha Entertainment together with Anonymous Content, and Chapter One.

Eli Bell grows over the course of the story from 12 to 19. He starts living with is mum, his brother, and his Mum’s boyfriend. They are drug dealers, and his mum ends up in prison. A strange red pay phone keeps them connected.

It is a story about criminals, poverty, violence; but also the possibility of redemption, through love – a subject which fascinates Dalton. His latest book, Love ­Stories, is about how it saves you.