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.

Sam Twyford-Moore is a writer and cultural critic. His first book, The Rapids: Ways of looking at mania, was published by NewSouth and University of Toronto Press in North America. He was formerly the founding host of The Rereaders, a fortnightly literary and cultural podcast, and Festival Director and CEO of the Emerging Writers’ Festival. As a writer he has contributed to a wide range of publications, including the Monthly, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and many others.

Prologue: The Sydney to Los Angeles Psychic Gangway Part 1 – Desperate Journey: Errol Flynn Part 2 – This Isn’ t Hollywood: Peter Finch Part 3 – The Right Stuff: David Dhalatnghu Gulpilil Part 4 – The Interpreter: Nicole Kidman Epilogue: Westward Expansion