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Lachy Hulme to play Kerry Packer in Nine miniseries

Actor Lachy Hulme will play the role of Kerry Packer in Nine's miniseries on its former mogul, instead of Paper Giants' Rob Carlton.

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Actor Lachy Hulme (Offspring, The Hollowmen) will play the role of Kerry Packer in Nine’s miniseries on its former mogul, instead of Rob Carlton.

Hulme is said to have impressed Nine’s David Gyngell and producer John Edwards in an audition tape. Howzat: The Kerry Packer Story is due to air on Nine in 2012.

Hulme will also appear in the Beaconsfield telemovie for Nine this year, also produced by Edwards.

Carlton has been widely acclaimed for his performance as Packer in the ABC miniseries Paper Giants, and is nominated for an AACTA Award this week against Alex Dimitriades, Don Hany and Jonathan LaPaglia. He is also a presenter of the Awards, set to screen on Nine on Tuesday.

“I had a fantastic time on Paper Giants and was proud of the work I did,” Carlton tells the Sunday Telegraph. “Obviously I was really looking forward to doing Kerry Packer with Channel Nine and I thought that’s what we were all moving towards.”

Carlton is currently appearing in Conspiracy 365 for Family Movie Channel and will also be seen in ABC’s Mabo telemovie and Andrew Denton’s Randling.

It’s unclear whether he could still reprise his role in a potential sequel to Paper Giants for the ABC, tipped to focus on the magazine wars.

30 Responses

  1. Occassionally an actor comes along like Rob Carlton who captures a character as he did in Paper Giants. Clearly Southern Star and Nine weren’t prepared to pay him a fee which reflects his success. Was the fee so high that he couldn’t be accomodated? This happens frequently in TV and people rarely walk . Sounds like a network stuff up to me. Meanwhile Nine still has not appointed a head of drama and its new series Tricky Business is about a happy family of debt collectors. Sounds like a train wreck to me.

  2. Surprising casting, but then again nothing Nine does surprises me any more, the once king of Australian TV is the station I do not watch, what with The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half men and the illogical screening of Top Gears you do not know where you are anymore.

    But not being logical is not only the realm of Channel Nine, Channel Seven quickly put in an episode of Heartbeat last Thursday night, from Season 12 and not the current season 13, no wonder viewers were confused with Mike Bradley back and no sign of Steve Crane, the EPG description is still one episode out, well it was last night when I looked. You phone up Southern Cross and tell them and nothing happens !

  4. Note to Rob Carlton: Conclude. There are no endless pots of money no matter how good you are. The series was not financed with you attached and both the producer and the network will move on. Get on this train before it leaves the station.

  5. I cannot undertsand this. Bob Carlton’s performance in Paper Giants would have been the perfect audition for the upcoming mini series.Lachy Hume looks nothing like Kerry Packer sure he is a good actor in his own right but it would be rather unconvincing performance compared to Carlton’s.

    What next Channel 9? Produce a mini series based on life of Bert Newton and have Humprey B Bear play the lead role????

  6. Which basically says that we the viewers apparently know more about who Kerry Packer was, just by watching one TV mini-series, than a man who was close to the man himself for many many years.

  8. As reported in the Sunday papers, Gyngell and Hulme are “very close”. “Hulme is said to have impressed Nine’s David Gyngell and producer John Edwards in an audition tape.”
    More jobs for mates.

    1. Kenny: Think you better read that article again. It’s not Gyngell and Hulme who are very close, but Gyngell and the late Packer (the elder was godfather to the younger) hence his knowledge coming in to play for casting.

  9. Thats funny. Because Nine are producing it, they pick a typical leading man to play Packer. Indulgent? I dont want to dismiss the guys acting, for all we know, he could transform into Kerry Packers character in an amazing way. its just that Carlton looks and convinces as the character and is a kind of accepted portrayal of the character, one would have thought a no-brainer decision.

    Seems like Bob Carlton’s “Shandon Pictures” is coming true with unlucky decisions being made that effect him. I think the public would have enjoyed Carlton. It is possible that the sequel to Paper Giants could get a boost from any dissatisfaction that comes from the Nine Biopic.

    Lets see how it goes. i never knew Gyngell was an expert in casting for the dramatic arts but Nine always surprises with their decisions…

  11. I thought Carlton made Paper Giants – I didn’t rate him as a serious actor before I saw it but he really changed my mind. This is disappointing – is this a case of Nine trying to make Kerry look sexier?? Don’t think its going to work! Rob was brilliant – if it aint broke don’t fix it!!

  13. Rob Carlton portrayed Kerry Packer excellently in Paper Giants. I’ve nothing against Lachy Hulme as I think he’s a good actor and could well do a good job here, but Carlton made that role his own and I hope he wins the AACTA award.

  14. Another genius decision by Gyngell. He knows how to take something and destroy it. Whether it be a specific show such as Top Gear or a network such as Channel 9. Give it to Gyngell and expect it back in worse shape than when he started with it.

  16. Rob did an awesome job playing Packer – he had the stature, the voice, and the hair/make up people really excelled. Isn’t Hulme too olive complexioned? (not sure that is a word, but anyway). Lachy is a great actor too – terrific in his guest role on The Librarians and of course the lovelorn doc in Offspring. Hopefully Rob Carlton will get a Logie nom as well.

  20. Seems to be another example of Edwards casting the same actors over and over and over again. Don’t be surprised if Asher Keddie & Claudia Karvan play the leads in the upcoming “Puberty Blues”?

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