Boy Swallows Logies? It was an enormous night for Boy Swallows Universe at this year’s Logies, with the hit drama winning Best Miniseries or Telemovie, Best Actor, the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.
And it was 14-year-old Felix Cameron who stole the show with an emotional hand-written speech expressing his gratitude for working on the miniseries, which is based on the best-selling semi-autobiographical novel by Australian author Trent Dalton.
Felix, who plays teenager Eli Bell in the often confronting coming-of-age story, took out two Logies on the night: Best Actor and Most Popular New Talent. There was good reason he was so emotional when accepting his awards.
“It was awesome on set,” Felix says. “I was thinking of lots of things: how many people it took to get here, my family and how far I’ve come.”
The cricket-loving youngster from Western Australia couldn’t have imagined his acting career taking off the way it has.
“When I first started [acting], people were saying, ‘Maybe it [winning a Logie] could happen,’” he says. “My dad was saying, ‘Make sure to prepare two speeches,’ and I told him, ‘I’m not going to win – not even one.’”
Eighteen-year-old Lee Tiger Halley, who plays Felix’s on-screen older brother Gus in Boy Swallows Universe, says he knew “straight away” the show was special.
And while he confesses some of the gritty content took “an emotional toll”, the actors were happy to commit to something they cared deeply about.
Lee says he’s just finished shooting a film and has another project on the horizon he’s excited about.
“It [Boy Swallows Universe] has definitely given me access to further opportunities,” he says.
Bryan Brown and Sophie Wilde, who won Logies for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress – Bryan for his role as Gus and Eli’s babysitter Slim Halliday, and Sophie as newspaper journalist Caitlyn Spies – were unable to attend the Sydney ceremony.
Boy Swallows Universe, which met with immediate success when it was published in 2018, is loosely based on author Trent’s own experiences growing up in Brisbane.
“It was the most surreal thing to watch [the show] back,” Trent, 44, tells TV WEEK. “It was deeply moving to sit on my lounge with my daughters and have them understand where they come from. We were literally weeping as we watched the show.”
And what’s to come for the author?
“Lola In The Mirror,” Trent hints. “It’s my latest novel [it was published to acclaim in October last year] and let’s just say, ‘Watch that space.’”
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