Cast Mates: Australian Actors in Hollywood and at Home

by Sam Twyford-Moore

Cast Mates is a group biography of Australian acting giants across the ages. Australia has a long cinema history – starting with the world’ s first feature film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, made in Melbourne and released in 1906. Today, much of Australia’ s film talent goes to the United States, looking for bigger and more lucrative opportunities overseas. But what does this mean for Australian film industry? The larger-than-life personalities that form the heart of book ¬ ¬ – Errol Flynn, Peter Finch, David Dhalatnghu Gulpilil, and Nicole Kidman ¬ – have dominated cinema screens both locally and internationally, and star in some of the biggest films of their eras – from The Adventures of Robin Hood, Network to Crocodile Dundee and Eyes Wide Shut among others. From the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930s, until the streaming wars and Marvel domination of screens today, the lives of these four actors, and their many cast mates, tell a story about the progress of cinema, as well as the future of homegrown stars since the advent of sound.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2023

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling and comprehensive look through the careers of four major Australian actors and their work in and out of Australia. STM ensures to colour in their background with the work of others, and in doing so presents a complex narrative about the Australian Film industry, the film industry in Australia, and those who work in the art of film.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relatively succinct history of both some of our biggest acting exports and the movie business within Australia. There's four chapters named after four actors for particular periods of time, though the chapters do not exclusively follow those actors but use them as a vehicle to explain the time they occupied, government policy, their experiences within the Australian industry and Hollywood.

By far the most engaging chapter is the one on David Gulpilil, as it not only covers the mistreatment of the Indigenous creatives within the industry but also the many opportunities that were scuttled. Reading the many directorial aspirations and movies that remained unfinanced is effecting and you come away with a strong belief that we never truly saw all that Gulpilil was capable of.

Twyford-Moore is also damning in his epilogue, pointing out how many Australian actors have little opportunities at home due to their not being white. He used both Chris Pang and Geraldine Viswanathan as examples of actors who have had steady careers in Hollywood while being ignored at home. I also liked the way Twyford-Moore explained a lot of actors interaction with politics, their stances and engagement with both the government at home and aboard while contrasting that with an Australian public who prefers their celebrity to be apolitical.

A lot of interesting concepts and engaging history and how that has shaped the current social strata.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fantastic and engaging read on the intertwined relationship between Australia and America via Hollywood. Wonderfully written and researched, it definitely has made me add quite a few films to my Letterboxd watch list.
Highly recommend to anyone that has ever watched a film, looked up an actor, and exclaimed 'oh they're Australian?!?!'

[Jayden Masciulli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, in-depth look at several iconic Australian figures that have made it big in Hollywood (and then a few more for good measure). All told with humour and a generous bite; I fear for not only the future of Australian cinema, but the overall culture surrounding our industry right now, and this book outlines our feelings and attitudes towards it in such a clear and heartbreaking way... while still being able to add a bunch of films to my watch list, of course.

[Saturday's Child · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite each chapter being named after an actor it has much more details about the Australian film industry than just the named person. This was a well researched and written and worth my reading time.

[Ruthie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely interesting!

[Andrew Lynch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light, entertaining and eye-opening look at a film industry that has been floundering for decades and missed so many sliding door moments to become a powerhouse of film production.

Using iconic/notable actors of each era I feel did limit the extent of how in-depth the research could go, especially in the modern era where there are many Australian actors with unique Hollywood experiences (Eric Bana, Hugh Jackman, Geoffrey Rush, Rose Byrne to name a few). The epilogue I felt rushed through a massive period of cinema and could have touched on the advent of streaming and the rise of local productions made for streaming services like Stan to meet quotas.

As an entry point into Australian film history, this is a great jumping off point for readers to research further or for future writers to expand further on Indigenous actors like Miranda Tapsell or look at the Kiwi film industry or directors from both sides.