DePharao Unatai, star of the acclaimed FX series and Emmy-nominated “Reservation Dogs,” has signed on to star opposite Antony Starr in the Australia-based Netflix series “The Breakers.” Also joining the cast are series regulars Oliver Edith (“Gnomes”) and Annabelle Wolfe (“Surviving Summer”).
As previously announced, the star (The Boys, Banshee) is also an executive producer on the project and will play Brando on the show. In Breakers, Oon Ah Tai plays Elliott, a shy, working-class teenager from Rhode Island who “travels to an Australian commune for a surfing trip before he’s an adult.” Edith will play Flynn and Wolfe will play Harper.
The show’s supporting cast includes Asher Jasvinczek (Heartbreak High) as Maggie, David Howell (Run) as Iggy, Tyloh Muhafiddin (The Lord of the Rings: The Ring of Power) as Danno, Tom Dawson (Tenzing) as Don, Sherry-Lee Watson (Heartbreak High) as Astrid, and Lou Miller (Nancy). Amara, Eliza Learmonth (Baby Shower) plays Clementine, and Brody Townsend (Heartbreak High) plays Kurt.
Production on Breakers is currently underway in Western Australia. The logline is: “Two best friends go backpacking to Australia and are soon drawn into a seemingly perfect community of surfers led by a charismatic but mysterious figure.”
Pete Jackson (The Death of Bunny Munro, Somewhere Boy) will serve as writer and executive producer. In addition to Starr and Jackson, EPs have been released by Gavin O’Grady (“Somewhere Boy,” “This Way Up”), Petra Fried (“Baby Reindeer,” “End of the F-ing World”) and Wim De Greef (“Baby Reindeer,” “End of the F-ing World”), among others.
Directed by Mary Nye (Say Nothing, Industry) and Ng Chun Ping (What It Feels Like for a Girl, Fam) and produced by Nick Pitt (Black Mirror – Hang the DJ). Clerkenwell Films (Baby Reindeer, The End Of The F-ing World), part of BBC Studios, is responsible for the studio, along with BBC Studio Productions Australia.
“Filming ‘The Breakers’ in Western Australia allows us to tell this story the way we envisioned, partnering with an incredible local crew in a truly unique location and bringing this incredible coastline to life on screen,” DeGreef said in a statement.
Best known for his breakout role as Bear in Reservation Dogs, Oon Ah Tai has starred in the Emmy-nominated comedy and has been nominated twice for the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actor, making him the first Indigenous actor to be nominated in the Best Actor category.
Woon-A-Tai’s other credits include “Warfare” with Alex Garland and “Caught Stealing” with Darren Aronofsky. Additional credits include Beans, which won Best Film at the Canadian Screen Awards, as well as the coming-of-age film Fit In with Emily Hampshire and Maddie Ziegler, the indie thriller Only the Good Survive, Hell of a Summer starring Finn Wolfhard and Fred Hechinger, and the digital series Normal Ain’t Normal.
