Quaden Bayles, the Indigenous boy with dwarfism whose battle with bullying touched the world, is set to appear in the latest instalment of the Mad Max film franchise.
Director George Miller has cast the now 11-year-old in a small role in his upcoming movie Furiosa, a prequel to his 2015 post-apocalyptic action hit Fury Road.
Quaden’s move to the big screen follows a successful foray onto Instagram, where he has 288,000 followers and can command up to $2,600 per sponsored post.
Hugh Jackman is among Quaden’s many high-profile supporters and he recently met up with Indigenous rap star The Kid Laroi.
Quaden Bayles, the Indigenous boy with dwarfism whose battle with bullying touched the world, is set to appear in the latest instalment of the Mad Max film franchise. Director George Miller has cast the now 11-year-old in a small role in his upcoming movie Furiosa
The Queensland boy will appear as an extra in Miller’s next film, Three Thousand Years of Longing, which stars Idris Ilba and Tilda Swinton. Quaden’s new career move follows success forays onto Instagram and TikTok. He recently met Indigenous rapper The Kid Laroi
It was already known the Queensland boy would appear as an extra in Miller’s next film Three Thousand Years of Longing starring Idris Ilba and Tilda Swinton.
But Miller has also cast Quaden in Furiosa – set for release in 2024 and featuring Anya Taylor-Joy in the feature role.
Furiosa, the fifth film in the Max Max series which began with Mel Gibson playing the title character in 1979, will also star with Chris Hemsworth and Tom Burke.
It will tell the backstory of Fury Road’s fearsome heroine Furiosa, played in the earlier movie by Charlize Theron.
Miller revealed in an interview with Good Weekend how he was moved to put Quaden in front of the camera after his mother Yarraka Bayles posted a distressing video of her son to Facebook in February 2020.
In the video, Quaden, who was born with a type of dwarfism known as achondroplasia, was shown sobbing uncontrollably and asking for a knife to kill himself after being bullied at school.
Miller was moved to put Quaden in front of the camera after his mother Yarraka Bayles posted a distressing video of her son to Facebook in February 2020. In the video, Quaden ,was shown sobbing uncontrollably and asking for a knife to kill himself after being bullied at school
Furiosa, the fifth film in the Max Max series, starred Tom Hardy (above) in the role made famous by Mel Gibson. It will tell the backstory of Fury Road’s fearsome heroine Furiosa, played in the earlier movie by Charlize Theron
At the start of the five-minute clip, Ms Bayles said: ‘I just picked my son up from school, witnessed a bullying episode, rang the principal and I want people to know this is the effect bullying has. This is what bullying does.’
‘So can you please educate your children, your families, your friends because all it takes is one more instance… and you wonder why kids are killing themselves.
‘We try to be as strong as positive as possible and only share the highlights… but this is how bullying affects a nine-year-old kid.’
The viral video caught the attention of celebrities from around the world who threw their support behind Quaden and his family’s fight against bullying.
Hollywood superstar Jackman posted a video on Twitter in which he said: ‘Quaden, you are stronger than you know, mate. And no matter what, you’ve got a friend in me.’
The Wolverine actor went on to urge his fans to ‘please be kind to each other’.
Quaden’s video caught the attention of celebrities including Hugh Jackman who threw their support behind the boy, ‘You’re stronger than you know,’ Jackman said on Twitter (above)
Miller was also affected by the video and according to Good Weekend was upset by a suggestion by News Corp columnist Miranda Devine that Ms Bayles might have coached Quaden.
George Miller was moved to put Quaden in front of the camera after his mother Yarraka Bayles posted a distressing video of her son to Facebook in February 2020
Devine, who repeated claims the video might be a scam, later apologised and reached a settlement with the Bayles family ahead of Federal Court action.
Miller, who trained and worked as a doctor before becoming an Oscar-winning filmmaker, recognised Quaden had not been acting.
‘What the hell would she know about that?’ he told Good Weekend of Devine’s comments. ‘That really fired me up.’
Miller had invited Quaden to appear in Three Thousand Years of Longing – described as a dark fantasy film – before Devine’s apology.
‘It was good for us and it was good for him,’ Miller told the magazine. ‘And he did such a good job that’s he’s got a small role in Furiosa.’
Ms Bayles shared the original video of Quaden in a bid to raise awareness about the impact of bullying.
She said at the time that while she would have preferred to keep such a harrowing moment private, she felt she had no choice but to go public.
In addition to sharing inspirational anti-bullying messages, Quaden’s Instagram account is used to advertise various brands. According to Instagram Money Calculator, Quaden could be making up to $2,600 per sponsored post on the platform
The same month the video was released Quaden led out the NRL’s Indigenous All-Stars team against the New Zealand Maori Kiwis at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast.
He was photographed with Aboriginal rugby league stars Johnathan Thurston, Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker.
US comedian Brad Williams raised more than $700,000 for Quaden through a GoFundMe page to send mother and son to Disneyland but the family gave the money to charity.
By the end of 2020, Quaden was Google’s top ‘trending kid’ in Australia with more users searching for his name than anyone else under the age of 18.
Quaden has since found fame on Instagram and has a popular TikTok account.
In addition to sharing inspirational anti-bullying messages, Quaden’s Instagram account – which is managed by his family – is used to advertise various brands.
According to Instagram Money Calculator, Quaden could be making up to $2,600 per sponsored post on the platform.
Three Thousand Years of Longing had its world premier at the Cannes Film Festival in May when it received a six-minute standing ovation from the audience.
It is set to be released in Australia on September 1.
If you or someone you know needs help, you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit: or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636
Quaden is pictured at an Invasion Day rally in Brisbane on January 26 last year
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