About The Cast

I would rather do many small roles on TV, stage or film than one blockbuster that made me rich but had no acting. And if that's the choice I have to make, I think I've already made it." Internationally acclaimed actress MIRANDA RICHARDSON.

International music star Ben Lee is Placid Lake. Lee made his stage debut in 1993 fronting the rock band 'Noise Addicts'. In 1994 Mike D of the 'Beastie Boys' signed the band to the Grand Royal Records label. In 1995 at the age of 16 Lee made his solo debut with "Grandpaw Would". This was followed by the album "Something To Remember Me By" in 1997 and "Breathing Tornados" in 1999. Since then he has based himself in New York and regularly travels back to Australia. "The Rage In Placid Lake" is his first feature film role.
Australian actress Rose Byrne seems to popping up in front of the camera every time one turns their head. The 2000 Venice Film Festivals Best Actress Award winner has gone from strength to strength and can currently be seen in not only "The Rage In Placid Lake" but also in "Take Away" and "The Night We Called It A Day". Byrne was more recently seen in "I Capture The Castle" and received critical acclaim for her role in the film "Two Hands" starring alongside Bryan Brown and Heath Ledger.
He's an aussie icon and much loved by audiences throughout the country. Who am I refering to? Gary McDonald who co-stars as Placids father Doug Lake. A graduate of NIDA, McDonalds career spans stage , television and the big screen. He endeared himself to millions of viewers worldwide as the bleeding, little aussie battler Norman Gunston and later as the seemingly luckless son starring with the great Ruth Cracknell in "Mother and Son". His career has spanned four decades since graduating from NIDA in 1967. His film appearances includes, "Picnic At Hanging Rock", "Moulin Rouge", "The Picture Show Man" and "Rabbit Proof Fence". His television roles have includes the "Norman Gunston Show", "Halifax f.p", "Medivac" and another iconic comeday series "The Aunty Jack Show". He received a Gold Logie for his role as Norman Gunston and in 1988 Garry McDonald was honoured as a National Treasure.
Rounding out the cast is Internationally acclaimed actress Miranda Richardson as Sylvia Lake, Placids doting mother. Born in England in 1958 Richardson grew up in Southport and at the age of 17 left Southport High School for Girls with every intention of becoming a vet. She soon set her sights on drama and enrolled at the famed Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Graduating after three years study she moved into repertory theatre becomimg affiliated in 1979 with the Library Theatre in Manchester. She appeared on the London stage in 1981 and it wasn't long before she had moved into television and film. Her film career has seen her working on productions in America, France and Spain. Her film appearances include "The Crying Game", "Sleepy Hollow", "Dance With A Stranger" and "Kansas City". Richardson has been nominated twice at the Academy Awards, 5 times in the BAFTA Awards, 6 times for the Golden Globe Awards. She has been rewarded with 2 Golden Globes ["Fatherland" & "Enchanted"], British Actress of the Year for "Damage" [London Critics Circle Film Awards], Best Actress for "Tom & Viv" [USA National Board of Review] and Best Supporting Actress for "The Crying Game" [New York Film Critics Circle Awards]. At A Glance "The Rage In Placid Lake" is based on Director/Writer Tony McNamara's stage play "The Cafe` Latte Kid" which premiered in 1998 with the Sydney Theatre Company. But how much of the original remains? "In the end I really only kept four characters, Mum, Dad, Placid and Gemma. Actually Gemma wasn't in the play", he explained. "Just talked about'. I liked the play, thought it would make a good movie and then of course it bears no resemblance to the play at all," he says. In fact the script would take some two years to develope and while it was taking shape the search for the cast was undertaken. So how did Ben Lee get the gig? "I saw Ben being interviewed on television. He had a lot of charisma and was really kind of odd but very sure of himself, he had this weird frankness that is not typical of Australian youth", McNamara said. Tony travelled to Los Angeles and ran several screen tests with Lee.It seems Lee just got better and better, truning out to be a very gifter comic actor. Ben Lee is used to being different and related well to the character of Placid Lake. "He couldn't stop laughing," says McNamara.
Next on the shopping list was Gemma. Rose Byrne had read the script in its earliest stages but didn't get the role straight up. "We tested several women", McNamara said, "and even though I hadn't seen enough of her work to think 'Boy, she's gonna be the one', in the tests she was a better Gemma than I thought I'd ever get, she was just a knockout." Now all they needed was the parents.
Producer Marian Macgowan evidently asked McNamara, "If you could have anyone in the world who would it be?" McNamara quickly put forward Miranda Richardson, after all "I love Miranda Richardson." He went on to say that "We laughed and thought, Yeh that'll happen". Well it did. They sent the script off and hit the jackpot. Richardson loved the script and in just two weeks commited to the film telling them, "It's great, I'll do it." Three down and just one to go.
Of course McNamara had alway wanted Garry McDonald in the role of Doug Lake but would there be the right chemistry between Richardson and McDonald? "For a while we thought it might be too much as we got a kind of neurotic energy, a neurotic quality on screen, but they are both such great comic actors and keen to do it. I knew Garry wanted to do it, so then we had to grab them both", he elaborated. With a generous commitment from Showtime, Moviehouse [a UK sales agency] came on board as did distributor Palace Films Australia. Final funding was provided by the Australia Film Finance Corporation. Now production could get underway. It began in March 2002 and took seven weeks. Production ran smoothly thanks to "Tony McNamaras ability to listen to everyone and take on new ideas as well." "Good ideas are good ideas and you want them to make your film better and listening is one of the most important things about film production, "says producer Marian Mcgowan. One of the biggest plus's for the film is its ability to appeal to a wide generation of viewers. "The core emotional story is about people in their late teens and early twenties but the film appeals to an older demographic because of the observations it makes about the central characters and also the characters around it", explains Mcgowan. And theres a real quality of worldliness about "The Rage In Placid Lake" too. "It's almost Disneyesque, there's a simplicity, it's about someone who thinks that they're their own worst enemy." It would be a sin to elaborate on that point as it would be giving the plot away but it can be said that according to Placid Lake, "You have the freedom to make a choice and it's better to choose yourself than it is to choose anyone else. It's funny and it's simple." The Story Placid Lakes life has, in many ways been a living hell ever since his mother sent him to school in a dress. The forward thinking Sylvia saw it as a challenge to other five year old 'preconceived notions of sexuality'. Poor Placid. Thank goodness Gemma was there to lift his spirits. This incident has plagued him throughout his school years and now, on graduation nigth he's still be set on by three bullying classmates. Placids attempts at bravado just land him in hospital where he makes medical history. For the most broken bones ever recorded in the one body. Encased in plaster from head to toe allows Placid to come up with a plan. Out of hospital he decides to join the enemy. He's modelling himself on President George W Bush and famed motivationalist Anthony Robbins. PLacid Lake is going straight and heading for the a career in the one corporation that will rock his parents to their hippy socks. He's going to become a mover and shaker, a wheeler dealer, a true company man in the high flying Insurance Industry. Oh Placid, what have you done? The Verdict "This is one very clever comedy and that may be its downfall. Many may miss the sheer irony, the clever connotations, the quirkiness that builds throughout "The Rage In Placid Lake" and that will be a real pity for this is another fine example of our unique humour and the way we aussies look at life. Well at least in the film sense. Definately a lot of fun and worth the effort." The Cast

Placid Lake Ben Lee Miranda Richardson Rose Byrne Garry McDonald Christopher Stollery Taylor Nicholas Hammond Francis McMahon Saskia Smith Toby Schmitz Nathaniel Dean Stephen James King Socratis Otto Jordan Brooking Eleeza Hooker Lucas Fraccaro Cruise Moylan Zan Cross Jesse Spence Simone Cullinan David James Helen Thomson Sean O'Shea Johnny Lockwood Jeanette Cronin Belinda Bromilow William Zappa Errol Henderson John Marsh Angelica La Bozzetta Felix Williamson Garry West Claire Danes

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Placid Lake Sylvia Lake Gemma Taylor Doug Lake Joel Bill Taylor Anton Jane Bull Lachie Angus Bozo Young Placid Young Gemma Bull (5 years old) Angus (5 years old) Lachie (5 years old) Jenny Sharon Lloyd Teacher Teacher Barber Doctor Nurse Doreen Ralph Ellison Headmaster Policeman Sylvia's Friend Lift Guy Commissioner/Bull's Dad Girl at Seminar

The Crew Directed & Written by Tony McNamara Produced by Marian Mcgowan Co-Produced by Louise Smith Associate Producer Jane Smith Prodution Manager Michelle Russell Location Manager Della Churchill Editor Lee Smith Sound Supervisor John Willstead Original Music Composed by Cezary Skubiszewski Director of Photography Ellery Ryan Costume Designer Lisa Meagher Art Director Elaine Kusmishko Casting by Nikki Barrett Stunts Coordinator Rocky McDonald Run Time 90 minutes Rated M15+ [AUST] Copyright © 2003 - Palace Films Australia - All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2003 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved