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Ned Kelly marks the first feature film
to be made through Working Title’s Australian subsidiary WTA,
headed by Ned Kelly’s executive producer Tim White. The film
is based on the Robert Drewe book Our Sunshine and adapted
for the screen by John Michael McDonagh, who together with producer,
Nelson Woss, brought the project to Working Title Films.
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Australia, 1880s. After a brutal childhood at
the hands of the police and the subsequent death of his father, 16-year-old
Ned Kelly is imprisoned on the trumped up charge of stealing a horse.
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©
2002 Universal pictures International Photos by: Carolyn Johns
Ned Kelly marks the first feature film
to be made through Working Title’s Australian subsidiary WTA,
headed by Ned Kelly’s executive producer Tim White. The film
is based on the Robert Drewe bookOur Sunshine and adapted for
the screen by John Michael McDonagh, who together with producer, Nelson
Woss, brought the project to Working Title Films.
When thought turned to finding a director all involved felt Gregor
Jordan (Two Hands, Buffalo Soldiers) would be an exciting choice.
As committed to the idea as he was, Jordan was quick to identify that
the only actor to portray Ned Kelly would be Heath Ledger (Two
Hands, 10 Things I Hate About You, A Knight’s Tale, Four Feathers).
Once Ledger was on board, things moved fast.
The first task was to expand the screenplay. One of the challenges
of the adaptation was working with a screenplay that was based on
a fictional novel about actual historical events. “We did not
set out to make a biopic or a documentary. What we wanted was to reveal
the underlying themes of the Ned Kelly story in an entertaining way”,
explains Woss.
Another challenge was to condense a true story that lasted over ten
years into two hours. With that in mind, the filmmakers agreed to
focus on a five-year period within Ned’s life.
Meanwhile, the important process of assembling the cast began. With
Ledger signed on to play Ned, the director needed to find the three
young actors to join his gang. It was on the director’s trip
to Dublin that he was invited to the Abbey Theatre to see 19-year-old
Laurence Kinlan (Angela’s Ashes) for the role of Dan Kelly.
The following day, Kinlan was called to an audition with fellow newcomer,
Philip Barantini (Steve Hart), from Liverpool.
For Kinlan, it was the role he had always wanted to play. “It
was everything — the fact Ned and Dan were Irish and their Dad
came from around where I am from, and the idea of making a film about
a bunch of outlaws riding horses — that was very appealing.”
With three of the Kelly gang cast, there still remained the pivotal
role of Joe Byrne, Ned’s best friend and accomplice. When Jordan
met Orlando Bloom (Black Hawk Down, Lord of The Rings) in Los
Angeles, Bloom was aware of the project but did not know the history
of Ned Kelly.
Originally, Bloom had been asked to have a look at the parts of Steve
Hart and Joe Byrne, but he was immediately drawn to the role of Joe.
“He was Ned’s right hand man, his first lieutenant”,
describes Bloom of his character. “Joe would live or die for
the loyalty of his friends, especially Ned. He would go to hell and
back, and that is what he does. I felt this was the foundation for
a strong character.”
Once casting was completed in London, Jordan headed back to Australia
where he reunited with Steven Jones-Evans, his production designer
on Two Hands and Buffalo Soldiers.
For Jones-Evans, “One of the hardest things was to find the kind
of landscape that existed then. We didn’t want pristine beautiful
wilderness. We wanted a darker, more brooding landscape to undercut
the story”. Stapleton adds, “We wanted a departure from
the romanticised look of the Australian landscape and worked towards
a much more brooding look to the film”.
With the film already in pre-production, Jordan was occupied with
assembling the final cast. One of the most significant roles to be
cast was that of Superintendent Hare, who is brought in on behalf
of the law and given carte blanche to track down, capture, or if necessary,
kill Ned Kelly.
Jordan found his perfect Hare in Geoffrey Rush (Shine, Elizabeth,
Shakespeare in Love, Quills, Lantana). For him, the project was
alluring: "I read the script, the role jumped out at me because
Hare doesn’t actually say much, but he is very much an encroaching
presence on the lives of these four youths. To me, the story is really
about doomed youth, and my character is the perpetrator of that doom”.
Australian actress Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive, The Ring)
plays Julia Cook, the gentrified, married, English lover of Ned and
a fictional character. Watts liked her character because she saw “a
parallel between Julia and Ned, even though they are from vastly different
backgrounds.”
Rounding out the rest of the cast are Joel Edgerton (Aaron Sherritt),
Kerry Condon (Kate Kelly) and Rachel Griffiths (Mrs Scott).
A challenge for the filmmakers occurred when Rush was cast. The production
was planning to shoot the final sequence ‘The Glenrowan shoot-out’,
in the last week of filming. But Rush’s availability meant the
biggest and most complicated scene had to be shot on the second day.
The decision meant shooting in the night with a cast and crew of 350
people, along with special effects.
Shooting this scene was pivotal in getting them into character and
really understanding what the film was about. “Shooting ‘Glenrowan’,
when we stepped out in the rain with our armour on and hundreds of
police were firing metal pellets at us, it really felt like we were
there. I realised how crazy they must have been to do that. It also
showed us that there must have been real fire inside their bellies
and that the Ned Kelly gang were fighting for something” reflects
Ledger.
White adds, “We all agreed it was awe-inspiring seeing the actors
in their suits of armour at Glenrowan. Undoubtedly, the single most
famous moment in the Ned Kelly story is this surreal image of four
strange-looking medieval knights, armed with pistols, facing lines
of police. There was definitely a collective sense of connection to
the story that came alive that night.”
The making of the armour had had its problems in pre-production. According
to Borghesi (Costume designer), the central question was always going
to be the weight. Could the actors work and move in suits made from
75 or 80 pounds of steel? “We made the armour out of 4mm thick
steel to give it its authenticity, but it meant it was heavy. In case
the actors had rejected the armour, we made fibreglass versions as
a back up, but thankfully, there was no debate”, remarks Leahey.
Borghesi was adamant that the armour should be as genuine as possible.
“I had made the commitment to make the armour out of steel and
to make it exactly as the original suits would have been made. The
process involved them forging the hot steel over trees and working
in the same way as the original blacksmiths. Research showed that
four different blacksmiths made the real armour. Hiring two different
armour makers for the task ensured that the suits did not look the
same.”
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Australia, 1880s. After a brutal childhood at
the hands of the police and the subsequent death of his father, 16-year-old
Ned Kelly is imprisoned on the trumped up charge of stealing a horse.
Emerging four years later, Ned is hardened but vows
to go straight. He works as a farm-hand on the estate of an English
land-owner, while making money on the side as a bare-knuckle boxer.
But the system is prejudiced against first-generation
Irish immigrants, to the point that when a police officer assaults
Ned’s sister Kate, it is Ned and his mother who are charged
with attempted murder.
Forced to go on the run, Ned is determined to avenge
his family and strike back at a system that wrongs them all. He
forms a gang with his young brother, Dan and two friends, Steve
Hart and Joe Byrne. Together, they cut a trail through the Outback,
holding up towns and robbing banks while giving the police the run-around.
Ned's reputation as an invincible outlaw grows.
But while a folk hero to the masses; to the establishment, Ned Kelly
is the most wanted man in Australia. When the authorities bring
in the formidable Superindentent Hare and an army of police to catch
Ned Kelly, Ned plans an extraordinary showdown at the Inn at Glenrowan.
It is an event which will cement his status as the legendary revolutionary
hero of the Australian underclass forever.
www.nedkellythemovie.com
www.uip.com
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1 Shelter For My Soul — performed
by Bernard Fanning
2 Saving A Life
3 Ned Kelly
4 Destiny
5 The Light
6 Julia
7 Stringybark Creek
8 Back Home
9 Moreton Bay — performed by Bernard Fanning
10 Doomed
11 Outlaws
12 The Jerilderie Letter
13 Father
14 The Glenrowan Inn
15 Remembering Ned Kelly
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Ned Kelly Heath Ledger
Joe Byrne Orlando Bloom
Francis Hare Geoffrey Rush
Julia Cook Naomi Watts
Dan Kelly Laurence Kinlan
Steve Hart Philip Barantini
Aaron Sherritt Joel Edgerton
Kate Kelly Kerry Condon
Ellen Kelly Kris McQuade
Grace Kelly Emily Browning
Mrs Scott Rachel Griffiths
About
the cast
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