Young Aussie Underground stars go nova

 

Channel 10's Underground: The Julian Assange Story stars Jordan Raskopoulos, Alex Williams and Callan McAulliffe. Pic supplied/Channel 10. Source: Herald Sun

The Daily Telegraph reports

The magic dust surrounding the hit Aussie TV movie Underground: The Julian Assange Story continues to sparkle for its young cast, with all three male leads snapped up by major US talent agencies.

Callan McAuliffe, Benedict Samuel and Alex Williams (who played the title role) have all nabbed Hollywood representation from agencies CAA, WME and IFA respectively.

The big breaks come fresh from the TV movie's critical and commercial success both here and abroad, with the Channel Ten flick recently drawing rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Its actors subsequently earned their fair share of praise, with the three young male leads said to have instantly caught the attention of some Hollywood heavyweights.

Benedict - a NIDA grad - also has a stint on Home and Away under his belt as well as the mini-series Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo and will now be managed by WME's Boomer Malkin, who also counts Christian Bale, Joaquin Phoenix, Jude Law and fellow Aussie Rachael Taylor amongst his clients.

Having raised his profile on the back of being cast as a young Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby, McAuliffe has joined CAA under talent agent Tracy Brennan (who also manages Jennifer Lawrence) while Williams recently inked a deal with the Ilene Feldman Agency (IFA), which also looks after Ryan Gosling and Josh Hartnett.

McAuliffe also starred in 2011's sci-fi thriller I Am Number Four and in Rob Reiner's romcom Flipped in 2010.

Meanwhile, Benedict's older brother Xavier Samuel has also made a big impression Stateside with roles in the final two Twilight sagas as well as the upcoming drama Two Mothers (formerly The Grandmothers) opposite Naomi Watts.

Aussie teen grabs Hollywood lead

Callan McAuliffe. Photo: Ben Glass

Christine Sams, The Sun-Herald, reports

Sydney actor Callan McAuliffe will start filming new film next week.

Young Australian actor Callan McAuliffe has been named as the star of a new Hollywood indie film Blue Potato, playing opposite Sara Sutherland (actor Kiefer Sutherland’s daughter).

Seventeen-year-old McAuliffe from Sydney is a rising star in the US and his new role has been reported by the industry bible, Variety magazine.

The film, which will be made by indie director Aron Gaudet, explores the story of two teenage boys working on a potato farm. Sutherland will play McAuliffe’s love interest in the film. McAuliffe also appears as the young Jay Gatsby in the upcoming Baz Luhrmann film, The Great Gatsby.

He grew up in the Sydney suburb of Clontarf and started acting as an eight-year-old, making occasional appearances in local television shows including Blue Water High and Packed to the Rafters.

He received his first big break in the US when he scored the leading role in Flipped, which was directed by Rob Reiner. But it was his appearance in the Steven Spielberg produced sci fi teen genre film I Am Number Four which brought him to the attention of Hollywood’s heavy-hitters.

Filming for McAuliffe’s new movie Blue Potato begins in Maine, in the United States, next week.

Bradley Cooper heads Down Under

 Bound for Sydney: Bradley Cooper.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports

The "Sexiest Man Alive" is reportedly set to hit Australian shores in June.

Bradley Cooper will take up Sydney residency for three months, according to News Limited papers.

The 37-year-old star, who has starred in films such as The Hangover and Limitless, will move to the Harbour City to shoot Paradise Lost at Fox Studios.

Cooper is set to play Lucifer in what film website IMDB describes as an "action-heavy take on the epic poem centered on the war in heaven between archangels Michael and Lucifer".

Cooper was named 'The Sexiest Man Alive' by People Magazine last year.

Also listed among the cast are young Aussie actor Callan McAuliffe, Dominic Purcell, Rufus Sewell and Casey Affleck.

McAuliffe, 17, who will play Uriel in Paradise Lost, recently filmed with Baz Luhrmann on The Great Gatsby. He played the young Jay Gatsby.

IMDB states Paradise Lost as being in pre-production. The film will be directed by Alex Proyas.

AAP

Callan McAuliffe joins Paradise Lost cast

Report by Michael Bodey, The Australian

YOUNG Australian Callan McAuliffe has backed up his performances in Cloudstreet and I Am Number Four with a role in Alex Proyas's new film Paradise Lost.

The big-budget adaptation of John Milton's 17th-century poem will be filmed in Sydney, and Ben Walker, Casey Affleck and Djimon Hounsou have been confirmed as joining The Hangover's Bradley Cooper in the cast.

Cooper plays Lucifer, who rebels against God. Seven archangels lead heaven's army in what is expected to be a major aerial battle that may be shot in 3-D.

McAuliffe is already in Sydney playing the young Jay Gatsby to Leonardo DiCaprio's title character in Baz Luhrmann's 3-D adaptation of The Great Gatsby.