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Top cast join The Slap

Melissa George, Sophie Okonedo, Essie Davis and Jonathan LaPaglia join ABC's drama based on a novel by Christos Tsiolkas.

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The ABC announced its cast for The Slap, based on Christos Tsiolkas’s best-selling novel, late last week.

It includes Melissa George (Grey’s Anatomy, Alias, In Treatment), Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda, Dirty Pretty Things), Essie Davis (Australia, Girl With A Pearl Earring) and, in his first Australian role, Jonathan LaPaglia (NCIS, Bones, Brothers and Sisters).

The Slap comprises eight one-hour episodes, each told from the perspective of one of the main characters. It traces the repercussions of a single event at an Australian backyard barbeque, when a man slaps a child who is not his son.

Carole Sklan, ABC TV Head of Fiction, says, “We’re thrilled to be working with such an outstanding creative team and extraordinary cast to bring to the screen this acclaimed, controversial novel which has generated so much passion and debate. It’s a compelling portrayal of contemporary family, friendship, parenting and relationships.”

Produced by Matchbox Pictures’ Helen Bowden, Tony Ayres and Michael McMahon, the writing team includes Emily Ballou, Alice Bell, Brendan Cowell, Kris Mrksa and Cate Shortland. Directors are Jessica Hobbs, Matthew Saville, Tony Ayres and Robert Connolly, who will each direct two episodes.

Filming commences on Wednesday, January 19, 2011 in Melbourne, although in late 2009 ABC had announced filming would begin in 2010.

The series will screen on ABC TV at a later date.

6 Responses

  2. Very excited about this. Another example of thoughtful program choice – and tapping into a rich vein of drama, from contemporary Australian fiction. There’s much there to use.

  3. @ dAN…if you read the comments on this site you’ll notice that there are many people annoyed by the way HD is treated in this country, especially after being inveigled into buying large-screen TVs.

  4. Ah I’ve been waiting to hear about the cast for this! Sounds good. Melissa George as Rosie apparently. I hope they don’t change the trajectory or likeability factor of the character to suit the actress, though I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t happen.

    Good to hear someone other than Vince Colosimo is playing Hector. I think this show is going to be brilliant, and hopefully just keep the stories contained to what happens in the book, because you never know, the ABC may be tempted to produce another season because of the quality, cast, response etc.

  5. Here we go… the HD comments again.

    Who cares if you don’t see it in HD? It’s just a mini series based on the book – I wonder if they’ll take a different approach with some of the material that’s in the book – coz some of it was just weird, especially the young teenage kid. lol

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