A boy who was once relentlessly bullied will soon be part of the cast for the Mad Max: Fury Road prequel, Furiosa, thanks to director George Miller.
Back in 2020, the young Quaden Bayles’ story went viral after his mother filmed a video of him breaking into tears and begging for help after being bullied at his school in Australia. Numerous celebrities, including fellow Aussie and Logan star Hugh Jackman, Walking Dead actor Jon Bernthal, and Watchman actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, all voiced support for the then-9-year-old Bayles, who was born with achondroplasia, the most common version of dwarfism.
One of the famous people who vowed support to Bayles was Miller, who extended an invitation to the boy to appear in his newest film, Three Thousand Years of Longing, the director revealed in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald.
Bayles only appears as an extra in Three Thousand Years, which stars Idris Elba as a magical djinn and Tilda Swinton as the apathetically content scholar who doesn’t want any of his wishes, thank you very much. However, Miller revealed he was so impressed by Bayles, that he decided to put him in his next movie, too.
“It was good for us and it was good for him […] And he did such a good job that he’s got a small role in Furiosa.”
One of the things that Miller said really “fired” him up to include Bayles in his films, to begin with, was a stomach-churning accusation by News Corp columnist Miranda Devine that the boy’s mother simply made up the bullying claims to scam people.
Even though Devine “subsequently apologised and a settlement was reached,” according to the article, Miller was nevertheless appalled at the situation and that much more resolved to extend the invitation to the boy, with Miller unequivocally believing the boy’s story as a movie director and former doctor.
“I thought, ‘What the hell would she know about that?’ That really fired me up.”
Check out Three Thousand Years of Longing in theaters now.
