Brandon Walters (born January 1996) is an

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

Australian actor known for his performance as Nullah in the 2008 film ''

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Broome, Western Australia Broome, also known as Rubibi by the Yawuru people, is a coastal pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. In the the population was recorded as 14,660. It is the largest town in the Kimberley reg ...

, Walters was diagnosed with

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

at the age of 6, but overcame the cancer after spending a year in a

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

hospital in 2003.

Career

'' director

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...

had been searching for a young aboriginal boy to fill the role of "Nullah" for over 12 months when one of the film's casting directors saw Walters with his father at a Broome swimming pool in 2007; he also responded to an Australia-wide radio callout for auditions. He later received a letter from Luhrmann saying that he was "very, very interested" in him. Walters, who had never before left Western Australia, and a group of other boys who had auditioned for the role were flown to Sydney to attend acting workshops at

Fox Studios Australia Disney Studios Australia (formerly Fox Studios Australia) is a motion picture and television production facility in Sydney that has operated as part of The Walt Disney Company since 2019. Occupying the site of the former Sydney Showground at ...

. He and his family went camping with Luhrmann at Broome's

Eighty Mile Beach Eighty Mile Beach, also spelled Eighty-mile Beach or 80-mile Beach, lies along the north-west coast of Western Australia about half-way between the towns of Broome and Port Hedland. It is a beach some in length, forming the coastline where t ...

, which was when Walters decided to take the role and become involved in the film. When Walters joined the cast, he had never heard of the film's stars

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...

. Walters had only ever seen a few films, but was nevertheless quoted by Luhrmann as having "natural cinematic chemistry". Though Kidman and Walters were shy upon their first meeting with each other, she said that they bonded on the set of the film and "I feel very protective of him... ndif the film does really well he's going to need a lot of protection"; reportedly, Kidman and Luhrmann set up a trust fund for Walters to secure his future. Luhrmann, who also cast Walters in a

Tourism Australia Tourism Australia is the Australian Government agency responsible for promoting Australian locations as business and leisure travel destinations. The agency is part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and employs 187 staff (inclu ...

advertising campaign, claimed, "Our next leading man is about four-foot high,

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

long, sort of gold hair, and is an Aboriginal boy." For his performance as Nullah, Walters won a

Satellite Award The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...

for New Talent and received nominations for Best Young Actor at the

Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards The Critics' Choice Movie Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American-Canadian Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Writt ...

and Most Promising Performer at the

Chicago Film Critics Association The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) is an association of professional film critics, who work in print, broadcast and online media, based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The organization was founded in 1990 by film critics Sharon LeMa ...

Awards. He also starred in the first (2012) season of the

ABC3 ABC Me (stylised as ABC ME) is an Australian English language children's free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2009 as ABC3. Hist ...

series ''

Bushwhacked! ''Bushwhacked!'' is an Australian children's adventure television series which first aired on ABC3 on 6 October 2012. ''Bushwacked!'' follows hosts on weird and sometimes deadly wildlife missions around Australia. Hosts * Kayne Tremills 2012&nd ...

'', but was replaced in the second (2014) season by

Kamil Ellis Kamil Ellis is an Australian actor. He has appeared on TV in ''Cleverman'', ''Nowhere Boys,'' ''Bushwhacked!'', and ''SeaChange''. He was an original cast member of the stage play ''The Secret River''. He is of Wiradjuri Aboriginal descent. Tog ...

. In 2020, Walters appeared in two television series: the comedy-drama

Operation Buffalo Operation Buffalo may refer to: * Operation Buffalo, 1944 military operation, part of the Battle of Anzio in WW2 * Operation Buffalo (1956), four open-air nuclear tests at Maralinga, South Australia * Operation Buffalo (1967), a Vietnam War opera ...

and the murder mystery series Mystery Road.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walters, Brandon Living people 1996 births Australian male child actors Australian male film actors Indigenous Australian male actors Indigenous Australians from Western Australia Male actors from Western Australia People from Broome, Western Australia