Every now and then, Hollywood delivers a heartwarming, unscripted story for the ages.
Back in February 2020, a distressing video posted by the mother of Quaden Bayles, a then nine-year-old Indigenous boy with dwarfism, made global headlines after her inconsolable son cried about being bullied at school.
Dressed in his school uniform, and sitting in the back seat of the car, he urged his mother Yarraka to “give me a knife, I’m going to kill myself”.
The clip was met with an outpouring of support from around the world, but there were some, including Daily Telegraph columnist Miranda Devine, who suggested Quaden faked being a bullying victim and was being coached by his mother.
She later posted a “sincere and detailed apology”, acknowledging the comments ‘‘were hurtful and untrue’’.
Watching the news story unfold on every TV news channel was Sydney-based legendary Mad Max film director, George Miller, who was affected by the whole episode.
Two years later, in an extensive interview with The Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Weekend magazine on August 20, Miller reveals it ‘‘really fired me up’’.
Celebrities including Hugh Jackman and Indigenous NRL players reached out to Quaden via social media and through invitations to football games. But Miller went one step further.
He cast Quaden, now 11, in two of his upcoming blockbuster movies.
So what happened?
When one of Devine’s 71,000 followers replied: “It’s a crime if it is a scam. Child abuse. How could any parent do this?”; the New York-based News Corp columnist tweeted: “Yep. Exactly. On the case.”
She added a comment: “That’s really rotten if this was a scam. Hurts genuine bullying victims. Over to @dailytelegraph.”
In subsequent tweets, Devine also alleged that Quaden’s mother had been “coaching the kid to say those things that no nine-year-old would say”.
Quaden and his mother sued Devine and her employer for tweeting suggestions it was all a ruse and that the boy was actually an adult actor.
On September 25 that year, a confidential settlement was approved by Justice Anna Katzmann in the Federal Court, who was advised Devine had tweeted a “sincere and detailed apology”.
“In February this year I posted some comments on my personal Twitter account about Quaden Bayles and his mother Yarraka. I now know those comments were hurtful and untrue. I sincerely apologise to the Bayles for those comments,’’ the columnist wrote.
In the background, Miller was already making calls.
As the SMH writes: ‘‘Miller was affected by the video, then upset by a suggestion by News Corp columnist Miranda Devine that Yarraka might have coached Quaden in what could be a scam.
‘‘He figured that as a director who had also been a doctor, he could recognise acting – and that wasn’t it.
‘‘Miller said: ‘I thought, What the hell would she know about that?’
‘‘That really fired me up.’’
Bayles an extra on Three Thousand Years of Longing
The SMH reported Australian actor Lachy Hulme, who plays Sultan Suleiman, was sitting at a video monitor on the set of Three Thousand Years of Longing, watching a scene full of extras.
An old industrial building in Sydney’s north-west had been transformed into a lavishly decorated Ottoman Empire palace, ‘‘full of ornate architecture and characters dressed in bright silks and satins’’.
He saw Miller walk onto the set with ‘‘generosity and geniality’’ and ‘‘among the vividly dressed extras is Quaden Bayles’’.
“It was good for us and it was good for him,” said Miller about his invitation to Quaden to act in the production, which is scheduled for a September 1 national release in cinemas.
But the Queensland teenager’s acting experience didn’t end there.
‘He did such a good job’
In August last year, the New South Wales government announced production of Miller’s Mad Max prequel Furiosa was under way, starring Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Anja Taylor-Joy (Last Night in Soho).
Shot entirely in NSW, it is expected to inject $350 million into the economy and deliver jobs to more than 850 people.
Among those who scored a job was Quaden.
Miller said ‘‘he did such a good job [in Three Thousand Years] that he’s got a small role in Furiosa”.
If the success of Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015 is anything to go by – the film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won six, including for production design, sound mixing and editing and costume design – then the hugely anticipated Furiosa should see massive receipts at the box office.
Fury Road reportedly made $375 million against a total production cost of up to $185 million.
What next for Quaden?
A cryptic Instagram post on July 14 said he was heading to Sydney ‘‘for something very exciting that we can’t wait to share’’.
‘‘Watch this space.’’
