The Diary

Edited by Simon Kent

26/04/1998

Sun Herald

 

DAVID IN BIG LEAGUE

 

LOCAL actor David Wenham is poised to sign up for the year's most coveted role, opposite screen greats Peter O'Toole, Christopher Walken, Leo McKern and Derek Jacobi.

 

The part is the lead in a new international film Damien, to be directed by Man of Flowers' Paul Cox. It is the biography of 19th century Belgian priest and national hero Father Damien of Molokai.

 

"His work with leprosy sufferers," said COSI star Wenham, "not only gave the world new insight into the disease but also inspired Mother Theresa who petitioned the Pope to declare him a saint."

 

Wenham, 32, is riding a wave of success. His new comedy-drama television series Seachange, with Sigrid Thornton, screens on the ABC next month.

 

And the hard-hitting urban drama The Boys, already attracting international attention, also opens in May.