(L-R) Genevieve O’Reilly, Keir O’Donnell, John Polson (Photo credit: Shutterstock)
Genevieve O’Reilly, Keir O’Donnell and John Polson have joined the cast of Robert Connolly’s The Dry, the crime thriller which is now shooting in Victoria.
Adapted by Connolly and Harry Cripps from the Jane Harper novel, the film stars Eric Bana as Aaron Falk, a federal cop who returns to his country hometown to attend the funeral of his childhood friend Luke.
The local cops believe Luke killed his wife and child before taking his own life. Falk reluctantly agrees to look into the crime but the investigation opens an old wound — the death of Ellie Deacon, Aaron and Luke’s childhood friend.
When he starts to suspect these two crimes, two decades apart, are connected, he finds himself pitted against the prejudice and pent-up rage of a terrified community.
Irish-born O’Reilly, who plays Falk’s childhood friend Gretchen, is best known for her recurring role of Mon Mothma in the Star Wars franchise. She will next appear in Dome Karukoski’s Tolkien, the biopic of the The Lord Of The Rings author, with Nicholas Hoult and Lily Collins. Her credits include Glitch, Tin Star and The Kid Who Would be King.
O’Donnell (Fargo, Ray Donovan) plays the local detective Raco, with Polson, a director and producer on the CBS series Elementary as school headmaster Scott Whitlam.
It is Bana’s first on-screen role in an Oz film since Connolly’s Romulus, My Father in 2007; he was among the voice cast of Adam Elliot’s animated comedy-drama Mary and Max in 2009.
Connolly said, “It’s an incredible gift in my career to be able to work with such a talented team to adapt Jane Harper’s wonderful detective thriller The Dry for the screen and begin the adventure of working with a stunning cast of established and emerging actors. The added bonus is the chance to film in my home of Victoria in the exceptional landscape depicted in the book.”
The producers are Made Up Stories’ Bruna Papandrea, Jodi Matterson and Steve Hutensky. The investors include Screen Australia and Film Victoria. Roadshow is the Australian/New Zealand distributor.