Boy Swallows Universe 2024 Tv Show Series Cast Crew Online
Dalton’s debut novel tells the story of Eli Bell as he navigates growing up in 1980’s Australia. However, unlike the clucky coming-of-age classics that have swept Australia in the past (Puberty Blues, anyone?) Bell’s tale is equal parts heart-wrenching and heartwarming, with a peppering of brutal realism.
Boy Swallows Universe explores Eli’s upbringing surrounded by drug dealers and thieves, beginning when he is only 12 years old and living amongst violence with his drug-addicted mother and heroin-dealing stepfather. He finds support in his nonverbal older brother, Gus, and an ex-con named Slim, who poses as somewhat of a father figure to the young boy.
Eli’s tale is intertwined with the anecdotes of these characters, an almost-crime novel that touches on human themes of growing up, brotherhood and young love.
The official log line from Netflix describing the series speaks of “the story of a boy doing his best to hold his fractured family together in 1980’s Brisbane“.
“An epic coming-of-age story set in 1980s Brisbane that blends the magic and innocence of youth with the brutal reality of the adult world. A lost father, a mute brother, a recovering addict mum, a heroin dealer for a stepfather, and a notorious criminal for a babysitter. Eli Bell is just trying to follow his heart and understand what it means to become a good man, but fate keeps throwing obstacles in his way,” the Netflix description reads.
The novel is chronically Australian, so it is only fitting that a true-blue cast is onboarded to tell the tale.
Young actor Felix Cameron plays the lead role of Eli. This will be the Victorian’s second major role, having acted alongside Naomi Watts in 2020’s Penguin Bloom. Lee Tiger Halley will take on the role of his brother, Gus.
When it comes to film and TV, no young actress is perhaps as synonymous with Australian production as Phoebe Tonkin. While many younger viewers may remember her for her roles in Aussie classics H2O: Just Add Water and Tomorrow When the War Began, Tonkin will resume a grittier part in Boy Swallows Universe, taking on the role of Gus and Eli’s mother, Frances.
Warcraft’s Travis Fimmel will play Tonkin’s partner and the boys’ drug dealer stepfather Lyle Orlik. Fresh off his role in Del Kathryn Barton’s debut feature film Blaze, Simon Baker is also onboard as Eli’s absent father Robert.
Emmy Award-winner Anthony LaPaglia will appear as Tytus Broz, and screen legends Bryan Brown and Eden and Talk to Me‘s Sophie Wilde are also set to appear in the series as Slim and Caitlin Spies, respectively. Deborah Mailman also appears as Poppy Birkbeck.
