Mandy Griffiths
Legendary Australian actor Jack Thompson will reunite with “Breaker Morant” and “The Club” director Bruce Beresford for a 4-hour mini-series based on the bank robbing exploits of the similarly victorious Bonnie & Clyde.
The Lifetime/A&E mini-series has already attracted William Hurt and Holly Hunter to its ensemble.
Written by John Rice and Joe Batteer, the series tells of teenage bankrobbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, and their knack for evading authorities. Hurt plays Texas ranger Frank Harmer, the man who caught and killed the teenage criminals; Hunter is playing Emma Parker, Bonnie’s mother.
Thompson, known to international audiences for his roles in such films as the “Star Wars” prequels, “Broken Arrow” and “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”, tells Moviehole he’s looking forward to returning to America and working with good friend and regular collaborator Beresford on the mini-series.
The actor, who last worked with Beresford on the 2009 drama “Mao’s Last Dancer”, meanwhile fronts the well-received new Australian drama “Blinder”, opening this week across the country.
Talking exclusively to Moviehole, Thompson says it was great to play a footy coach again, all these years after working on “The Club”.
“When I got the script from [Blinder writer/director] Richard Gray, I was stunned; I said ‘You want me to play a coach? 33 years ago I played a coach’ in “The Club”. How can I be the coach again?’ But once I saw it there was really something you could get your teeth into. There’s something more than just revving up the players as a coach. You’re there to inspire an attitude. And l love the speech about the mother and the child and the motivational speech in the final.”
To read more about what Thompson has to say about “Blinder”, check out our interview here.
