An Almanac Proposal: Subjects Worthy of a Biopic

 

 

Biopics can be a risky business for film makers. These days there is a plethora of mini-documentaries and rare footage on the internet, so they have to be smart when picking their subjects to ensure authenticity is maintained.

Directors can, however, also seize on a young actor to play these roles, knowing how good the performance is likely to be and, therefore, turn it into a box office success.

Many biopics have launched careers or consolidated an actor’s credibility in the space of two hours.

A few that come to mind are Charlize Theron in Monster, Gary Oldman in Prick Up Your Ears, Robert De Niro in Raging Bull, Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Capote, Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot and Jim Carrey in Man On The Moon.

With that in mind, I have picked five subjects whose life stories I’d love to see on the big screen. Four of these would be enormous opportunities for up and coming Australian actors and one for a couple of Americans.

Apologies to the great marathon swimmer Shelley Taylor-Smith and arguably the greatest runner of all time, Emile Zatopek, who already has a Czech film made about him.

Dick and Rick Hoyt. To this day I’ve never seen anything as emotional as when these two crossed the finish line of the 1991 Hawaiian Ironman. This is a story I wrote years ago which covers off their extraordinary achievements and legacy.

Anna Meares OAM. An inspiration to women everywhere, Anna is the greatest track cyclist of all time, but it’s her capacity to overcome a broken neck in 2008 that will live in my memory. After seven months off cycling to recover from her neck injury, Anna incredibly won silver at the 2008 Olympics, losing to Englishwoman Victoria Pendleton. That set the scene for a dramatic comeback at the 2012 Olympics in London when she came up against former friend, now enemy Pendleton and took out the gold medal. Anna’s childhood also makes for a great story, having been raised two hours west of Mackay and relying on her devoted parents taking her to training. A humble champion with fierce competitive instincts, Anna has been an Olympic flag bearer and is now Chef de Mission for the Australian Olympic Team for Paris 2024.

Sir Doug Nicholls. As far as I know there’s never been a film made of this great Australian but the synopsis is all there for the taking. Raised in a white mission, watched his sister removed from the family, a genuine boxer, brilliant runner, footballer for Fitzroy, pastor, pioneering campaigner for reconciliation and Governor of South Australia. Not only would it be a great challenge for a couple of Indigenous actors but it would be an inspiration for all Australians to see what this (little) giant of our country achieved in his life.

Dr Shane Gould AM MBE. For those of us old enough to remember the Munich Olympic Games, they were definitely the most controversial. To have a terrorist invasion at an Olympics was beyond your wildest imagination and, along with the US basketball team refusing to turn up to the Russian gold medal presentation, it seemed that nothing was out of bounds. Whilst all this was happening a shy fifteen-year-old Australian girl was winning three gold medals, one silver and one bronze. She is the first female swimmer ever to win three Olympic gold medals in world record time, and the first swimmer, male or female, to win Olympic medals in five individual events in a single Olympics. She is also the only Australian to win three individual gold medals at a single Olympics. Then she retired aged 16. Over two decades later she returned to Masters swimming and broke multiple world records for her age group. She pretty much disappeared from public life and suddenly reappeared in 2018 to win the reality TV series, Survivor. She now lives in Bicheno, Tasmania and swims almost every day. Her PhD was completed a few years ago, and was an academic study into swimming strangely enough! Shane is a legend of Australian sport who has always lived to the beat to a different drum. A great challenge for a young actor.

Stevie Wright. I don’t think there’s a better synopsis for a rock’n’roll biography than the late Stevie Wright. There’s been some solid shows focussed on The Alberts story but, sadly, Stevie gets overlooked, mostly because of his addiction issues. Australian Story did a terrific show on Stevie about ten years ago when he wasn’t long off passing. It focussed in on the unconditional love of his partner Fay who was his primary carer. Stevie was bloated from the methadone and other drugs he was taking but, overall, still in good spirits and as cheeky as ever. His journey from the Villawood migrant facility to lead singer of the Easybeats is fascinating. At sixteen he was fronting a band that had Australia’s first number one hit in the UK, Friday On My Mind. Ten years later, despite spasmodic successes, no record company wanted him. Then when all seemed lost, in late 1979, Alberts put on a Concert of The Decade at The Opera House in front of a couple of hundred thousand people. To Stevie’s surprise he got a late call-up and brought the house down with Evie Parts 1, 2 and 3. It’s an amazing impromptu performance and highlights just what a great rock singer Stevie was even in the midst of heroin addiction. For any young actor this would be a cracking role to undertake. For book lovers The Hard Road is a fantastic biography of Stevie and this is that seminal performance at the Opera House.

 

 

 

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