Quaden Bayles to star alongside Chris Hemsworth when Mad Max prequel Furiosa hits cinemas
The indigenous boy who broke Australia’s hearts in harrowing images will hit the big screen alongside one of the world’s biggest stars as his own film career takes off.
Quaden Bayles, 12, hasn’t started high school yet, but he already has a thriving life as a movie star and influencer, less than three years after he was bullied so badly he wanted to die.
The Queensland boy made headlines in early 2020 when his mother, Yarraka, posted a heartbreaking video of him sobbing and calling for “rope” to kill himself after being bullied at school due to his dwarfism.
High-profile names around the world and at home supported Quaden, including Oscar-winning filmmaker George Miller, who cast him in his latest blockbuster Furiosa, the fifth film in the Mad Max franchise.
It will tell the backstory of Fury Road’s fearsome heroine Furiosa, played in the previous film by Charlize Theron.
Quaden will star alongside Australian Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth and actress Anya Taylor-Joy when the action blockbuster hits theaters in May 2024.
Quaden Bayles (pictured on the red carpet in August) starred opposite Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy in his latest film.
Quaden’s new career move follows successful forays into Instagram and TikTok. He recently met indigenous rapper The Kid Laroi.
“I can’t wait to see him on the big screen next year,” Quaden told his 273,000 Instagram followers on Monday.
He was quickly inundated with messages of support.
“It’s going to be an epic movie bro, your role was absolutely great,” one follower commented.
Another added: ‘Congratulations Quaden. You are such a wonderful young man. I can’t wait to see this myself.
Furiosa was filmed in New South Wales and was expected to become the biggest film ever made in Australia. Filming wrapped up in September.
Furiosa won’t be Quaden’s first appearance on the big screen.
His acting debut was as an extra opposite Hollywood heavyweights Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton in Miller’s most recent film Three Thousand Years of Longing.
Quaden Byales (pictured with mom Yarraka) celebrated his 12th birthday in December
At the premiere in August, Quaden stole the show on the red carpet.
“I love acting, I want to do loads of it,” Quaden said. NITV News at the time.
‘I can’t believe I’m in Mad Max. I never knew what it was, my brother was the one who showed me what it was and he blew my eyes out.
“I was like ‘wow, that’s crazy,’ and I love working with George Miller.
“It’s a big job for me because of what I’ve been through.”
The filmmaker described his young star as “very film smart” and skilled.
‘Like everyone else, I saw the pictures your mother uploaded. I was incredibly moved by her,” Miller said.
‘And I thought, ‘if anything good can come out of bullying’… and we offered him a small role in the film. It is wonderful to work with him.
“It was good for us and it was good for him,” Miller said. “And he did such a good job that he got a small part in Furiosa.”
It’s been less than three years since images of a distraught Quaden made headlines around the world.
Quaden was born with achondroplasia, a type of dwarfism.
In 2020, heartbreaking footage was shared of Quaden sobbing uncontrollably and asking for a knife to kill himself after being bullied at school.
‘I just want to stab myself in the heart… I want someone to kill me,’ she cried.
He was then trolled again for the viral video, falsely accused of being an 18-year-old actor who had lied about his age as part of a money-raising scam.
Quaden was only nine years old at the time.
He was photographed looking happy-go-lucky while celebrating his 12th birthday last month.
“I can’t believe my baby is 12 and going to high school next month,” her mom wrote.
Rapper The Kid Laroi (left) is among many of Quaden’s high-profile fans