Georgia Flood is among the topline cast of Disney+ series Nautilus, starring alongside Shazad Latif and Thierry Frémont.
Based on Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and now shooting on the Gold Coast at Village Roadshow Studios, the 10-part Nautilus puts a spin on the epic, telling it from Captain Nemo’s (Latif) point of view: as an Indian Prince robbed of his birthright and family, a prisoner of the East India Mercantile Company and a man bent on revenge against the forces that have taken everything from him.
Once Nemo sets sail with his ragtag crew on board the awe-inspiring Nautilus, he not only battles with his enemy, but discovers a wondrous underwater world, learns to take his place as leader of the crew, and goes on an unforgettable adventure beneath the sea.
Flood, who recently starred in Liam Neeson-actioner Blacklight and as the lead in Steve Jaggi Company film Sit. Stay. Love, will play Humility Lucas, a privileged daughter of the British Empire who is taken hostage on board the ship. Frémont (Allied) is Gustave Benoit, a French engineer and architect of the submarine.
Hot on the heels of the Nautilus is the East India Mercantile Company, who will stop at nothing to capture their precious submarine. Among them is ruthless Director Crawley, to played by another Aussie, Damien Garvey.
Other local talent in the production as Nemo’s crew are Pacharo Mzembe as Boniface, a trader from Zanzibar, Ling Cooper Tang as Suyin, a mother separated from her children by the East India Mercantile Company, Andrew Shaw as Jiacomo, a man of mysterious origins who speaks in a language no one can understand, recent NIDA grad Ashan Kumar as Ranbir, a young and impressionable dreamer, and Chum Ehelepola as Jagadish, a would-be social reformer and rabble-rouser.
New Zealanders Arlo Green and Tyrone Ngatai respectively play Turan, a poet from the Middle East, and Kai, a Māori with a gentle heart.
The series also stars French actress Céline Menville as Loti, Humility’s world-weary minder; and US newcomer Kayden Price as Blaster, a young boy desperately in search of a family of his own.
The series is jointly produced by UK companies Moonriver TV and Seven Stories, and was attracted to Australia by $23.3 million in assistance from the Federal Government’s Location Incentive program on the expectation it generate $172 million for the local economy, create 290 cast and crew roles, 2,200 extra roles, and use of 200 service businesses.
Developed and co-produced by Moonriver TV’s Xavier Marchand and Seven Stories’ Anand Tucker, Nautilus is written and executive produced by James Dormer (Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands) and is executive produced by Johanna Devereaux and Chris Loveall for Disney+.
Cameron Welsh is producing the series, and Love and Monsters‘ Michael Matthews will direct.
Ben Nott is the cinematographer, with casting by Tom McSweeney, David Newman and Mathilde Snodgrass.