All star cast for The Slap mini-series
Melissa George (Rosie), Sophie Okonedo (Aisha), Essie Davis (Anouk) and Jonathan LaPaglia (Hector) will star in the ABC TV adaptation of Christos Tsiolka’s novel The Slap.
Filming on the 8×60-minute series is set to begin on January 19 in Melbourne.
“Thanks to the incredible success of the novel we’ve been able to attract the best writers, directors and now an amazing cast to bring The Slap to television. With ‘hot button’ issues in every episode, we’re hoping that the series will continue the Australia-wide discussion that Christos started with his book,” said producer Helen Bowden.
The series is produced by Matchbox Pictures (Bowden, Tony Ayres, Michael McMahon), with a team of writers that includes Emily Ballou, Alice Bell, Brendan Cowell, Kris Mrksa and Cate Shortland. It will be directed by Jessica Hobbs, Matthew Saville, Tony Ayres and Robert Connolly, who will each be responsible for two episodes.
The Slap traces the repercussions of a single event on a group of family and friends. At an Australian backyard barbeque, a man slaps a child who is not his son. The boy’s parents are so affronted by the assault that they call the police and legal action results. Friends and family are forced to take sides. The Slap brings to life questions of parenting, the rights of children, race, class, sexuality, and the different perspectives of men and women.
