Tim
White is the head of Working Title Australia and has a
wide range of production credits including notable
Australian films "Two Hands" (directed by Gregor
Jordan and starring Heath Ledger), "The Big Steal",
"Malcolm" and "Death In Brunswick".
White says
Working Title had been interested in the story of Ned
Kelly for some time and discovered the script by John
McDonagh, based on Robert Drewe's novel "Our Sunshine",
through a filmmaker friend.
"It's the story of a
larrikin, a character with an incredible force of
personality and a determination to overcome injustices,"
he says. "It's a story in the mould of William Wallace
and "Braveheart", an inspiring tale that I think
will speak to an international audience."
White
immediately thought that Gregor Jordan, whom he had
worked with on "Two Hands", would be a good
director for the project. Jordan was in London when
White phoned to say he wanted to send him the
screenplay. At the time, Jordan was deeply involved in
editing his film "Buffalo Soldiers", and was not
responsive to looking at new material.
But
knowing Jordan was interested in the Ned Kelly story,
White, who had collaborated with him on "Two
Hands", persisted and sent the script. "Gregor
called at 1am the following morning to say he wanted to
do it," recalls White.
Once Gregor was on board,
the next question was 'who would play Ned?' Both White
and Jordan had worked with Heath Ledger on Two Hands and
were keen to get the young actor to portray
Ned.
"Gregor was really determined that Heath
should do it and also had reservations about whether he
would really want to make the film without Heath," White
explains. "At that time Heath was extremely busy and it
was hard to get the script to him and for him to find
the time to read it."
Once Ledger had read the
script and spoken to Jordan about the project, he
committed whole-heartedly to the film. "From that point
on the movie was happening," says White.
"The
biggest challenge with this is telling the story in a
cohesive way that retains a balanced point of view, that
doesn't idolise or romanticise this character too much,"
says White.
"We've tended to focus our story on
a five year period… but it was hard still,
even with a period of just five or six years, to tell
all of the story we wanted to tell. There were many
absolutely fantastic anecdotes that had been passed down
through oral history about Ned's antics that we just
couldn't include.
"It does draw upon historical
facts, but that at the same time takes some dramatic
licence with the material, while keeping true to the
spirit of the story and the
character." | |
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Naomi Watts’ character Julia Cook is
fictional, but a real woman named Julia is mentioned in
the Jerilderie Letter |
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Executive Producer Tim White |
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