Aden Young
Encyclopedia
Aden Young is an Australian actor. In recent years he has also turned his hand to filmmaking, directing and writing short films The Rose of Ba Ziz (2007) and The Order (1998).
, Canada. Young's first role was in Bruce Beresford
's acclaimed film Black Robe
(1991) and they recently teamed up for the third time with Mao's Last Dancer, based on the best selling autobiography of Chinese ballet dancer Li Cunxin. Young portrays the Texan playboy who helps Li's defection to the West. Beresford states "He hasn’t changed that much, he is a very accomplished actor...We picked up just where we left off. We always got along well; he’s a very cooperative and thoughtful actor. Most of the actors who are well known and do lots of roles are incredibly good to work with. "
Young appears as Charlotte Gainsbourg
's husband on French/Australian/Italian co-production from director Julie Bertucelli The Tree (2010) – the story of eight-year-old Simone who believes her dead father's spirit has taken up residence in a Moreton Bay fig tree on the family property. The film is adapted from the book Our Father Who Art In The Tree, by Australian author Judy Pascoe and made its premiere on the closing night of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
In Kriv Stender's period western Lucky Country, released 2009, Young "spent a lot of time...chained inside a little wood locker" as unlucky landholder Nat, who as the film begins has suffered the recent loss of his wife in childbirth and must attempt to protect his home and children and survive the arrival of three gold hungry strangers, while fighting the debilitating onset of tetanus
.
Young played Cate Blanchett
's tortured lover Ejlert Lovborg in Andrew Upton
's adaptation of Hedda Gabler
by Henrik Ibsen
. After a 2005 debut season at the Sydney Theatre Company the production was invited to Brooklyn Academy of Music
in New York. The process of restaging the production in New York was filmed for the acclaimed documentary In the Company of Actors (2007).
Metal Skin
, Geoffrey Wright's 1994 examination of suburban hopelessness and revhead subculture saw Young win an Australian Film Institute
nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for a 'powerful, brooding performance' as social misfit Psycho Joe whose 'edgy, simmering personality threatens to boil over into madness ... Young's depiction of this unsettling metamorphosis is central to the film's success.'
Directing was a 'natural progression' for Young. Acclaimed short film The Rose of Ba Ziz, "a beautifully simple fable narrated by Hugo Weaving
" (Andrew Urban), is about a much-loved king who leaves his kingdom because he has an allergy and doesn't want the flowers that set it off to be destroyed. The film was made over five days on a shoestring budget of $700.
"It's basically like a folk-fairytale parable," says St Kilda Film Festival director Paul Harris, "a series of stills that look like coloured postcards from the turn of the century... It has a very haunting quality to it. Conceptually, it's very unique and very endearing. I think it's got the ability to inspire filmmakers who are suffering from some kind of block about 'How do I go out and make films, how do I go out and compete with the big guys?' If you think just outside of the square you can really surprise and delight audiences.
Young describes his first film "The Order" as being "about a soldier who returns from the Vietnam War with the news that his best friend has died during the war and he chooses to inform the man's widow. By doing this onerous task he becomes haunted by an action that happened in his childhood and he believes that it might have started the course towards his friend's death."
"I'd definitely like to continue making films. Paul Cox constantly talks about getting this terrible disease called film making. It takes over your life and destroys every relationship and does all these terrible things to you...l. I think I've got that hideous disease. Film making is just a different commitment that I love – why just sit on the wings when you can really get in and sculpt something."
Young has assisted veteran independent Australian filmmaker, Dutch born Paul Cox
in various capacities since starring in Cox's film Exile
in 1994.
A portrait of Young by artist James Powditch (entitled Once Upon A Time in the Inner West) was an Archibald Prize
2008 finalist.
Featuring Roy Billing
. Narrated by Hugo Weaving
Featuring David Field
.
Life and career
Young was born in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada. Young's first role was in Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford is an Australian film director who has made more than 30 feature films over a 40-year career.-Early life:...
's acclaimed film Black Robe
Black Robe
Black Robe is a historical novel by Brian Moore based on the Jesuit missionaries in New France. It was published in 1985.The novel takes place in the 17th century in New France. It follows Father Laforgue, a French Jesuit priest traveling up river to repopulate the mission to the Huron Indians...
(1991) and they recently teamed up for the third time with Mao's Last Dancer, based on the best selling autobiography of Chinese ballet dancer Li Cunxin. Young portrays the Texan playboy who helps Li's defection to the West. Beresford states "He hasn’t changed that much, he is a very accomplished actor...We picked up just where we left off. We always got along well; he’s a very cooperative and thoughtful actor. Most of the actors who are well known and do lots of roles are incredibly good to work with. "
Young appears as Charlotte Gainsbourg
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg is an Anglo-French actress and singer. After releasing an album with her father at the age of fifteen, more than twenty years passed before she released two albums as an adult to commercial and critical success...
's husband on French/Australian/Italian co-production from director Julie Bertucelli The Tree (2010) – the story of eight-year-old Simone who believes her dead father's spirit has taken up residence in a Moreton Bay fig tree on the family property. The film is adapted from the book Our Father Who Art In The Tree, by Australian author Judy Pascoe and made its premiere on the closing night of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
In Kriv Stender's period western Lucky Country, released 2009, Young "spent a lot of time...chained inside a little wood locker" as unlucky landholder Nat, who as the film begins has suffered the recent loss of his wife in childbirth and must attempt to protect his home and children and survive the arrival of three gold hungry strangers, while fighting the debilitating onset of tetanus
Tetanus
Tetanus is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, rod-shaped, obligate anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani...
.
Young played Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
's tortured lover Ejlert Lovborg in Andrew Upton
Andrew Upton
Andrew Upton is an Australian playwright, screenwriter, and director. He is the husband of the actress Cate Blanchett.-Career:As a playwright, Upton created adaptations of Hedda Gabler, The Cherry Orchard, Cyrano de Bergerac, Don Juan and Uncle Vanya for the Sydney Theatre Company and Maxim...
's adaptation of Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
by Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
. After a 2005 debut season at the Sydney Theatre Company the production was invited to Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
in New York. The process of restaging the production in New York was filmed for the acclaimed documentary In the Company of Actors (2007).
Metal Skin
Metal Skin
Metal Skin is a 1994 Australian film written and directed by Geoffrey Wright, starring Aden Young Tara Morice, Nadine Garner and Ben Mendelsohn. The film follows the lives of four adolescents in and around the blue-collar suburb of Altona, Melbourne....
, Geoffrey Wright's 1994 examination of suburban hopelessness and revhead subculture saw Young win an Australian Film Institute
Australian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry...
nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for a 'powerful, brooding performance' as social misfit Psycho Joe whose 'edgy, simmering personality threatens to boil over into madness ... Young's depiction of this unsettling metamorphosis is central to the film's success.'
Directing was a 'natural progression' for Young. Acclaimed short film The Rose of Ba Ziz, "a beautifully simple fable narrated by Hugo Weaving
Hugo Weaving
Hugo Wallace Weaving is a Nigerian born, English-Australian film actor and voice artist. He is best known for his roles as Agent Smith in the Matrix trilogy, Elrond in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, "V" in V for Vendetta, and performances in numerous Australian character dramas.-Early...
" (Andrew Urban), is about a much-loved king who leaves his kingdom because he has an allergy and doesn't want the flowers that set it off to be destroyed. The film was made over five days on a shoestring budget of $700.
"It's basically like a folk-fairytale parable," says St Kilda Film Festival director Paul Harris, "a series of stills that look like coloured postcards from the turn of the century... It has a very haunting quality to it. Conceptually, it's very unique and very endearing. I think it's got the ability to inspire filmmakers who are suffering from some kind of block about 'How do I go out and make films, how do I go out and compete with the big guys?' If you think just outside of the square you can really surprise and delight audiences.
Young describes his first film "The Order" as being "about a soldier who returns from the Vietnam War with the news that his best friend has died during the war and he chooses to inform the man's widow. By doing this onerous task he becomes haunted by an action that happened in his childhood and he believes that it might have started the course towards his friend's death."
"I'd definitely like to continue making films. Paul Cox constantly talks about getting this terrible disease called film making. It takes over your life and destroys every relationship and does all these terrible things to you...l. I think I've got that hideous disease. Film making is just a different commitment that I love – why just sit on the wings when you can really get in and sculpt something."
Young has assisted veteran independent Australian filmmaker, Dutch born Paul Cox
Paul Cox
Paulus Henriqus Benedictus "Paul" Cox is an award-winning Australian film director.Cox was born in Venlo, Limburg, the Netherlands, the son of Else , a native of Germany, and Wim Cox, a documentary film producer. Cox emigrated to Australia in 1965...
in various capacities since starring in Cox's film Exile
Exile (1994 film)
Exile is a 1994 Australian drama film directed by Paul Cox. It was entered into the 44th Berlin International Film Festival. The film was shot entirely on location in Tasmania.-Cast:* Aden Young as Peter Costello* Beth Champion as Mary...
in 1994.
A portrait of Young by artist James Powditch (entitled Once Upon A Time in the Inner West) was an Archibald Prize
Archibald Prize
The Archibald Prize is regarded as the most important portraiture prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor of The Bulletin who died in 1919...
2008 finalist.
Filmography
- Killer Elite (2011)
- The TreeThe TreeThe Tree is an autobiographical book by John Fowles. In it, Fowles discusses the essence of nature and its relation to the creative arts and especially writing....
(2010) ... Peter - Beneath Hill 60 (2010) ... Major North
- Mao's Last Dancer (2009) ... Dilworth
- Lucky CountryLucky Country"The Lucky Country" is a nickname sometimes used to describe Australia, taken from the 1964 book of the same name by social critic Donald Horne....
(2009) ... Nat Doole - In the Company of Actors (2007) .... Himself/Ejlert Lovburg
- The Goat That Ate Time (2007) (voice) .... Narrator
- The Starter Wife (2007) (TV mini-series) .... Jorge Stewart
- Two Twisted- Soft Boiled Luck (2006) (TV episode) .... Patrick Dempsey
- The Bet (2006) .... Angus
- Human Touch (2004) .... George
- After the Deluge (2003) (TV mini-series) .... Young Cliff
- The Crocodile Hunter: Collision CourseThe Crocodile Hunter: Collision CourseThe Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course is a 2002 Australian comedy-adventure film based on the nature documentary series The Crocodile Hunter, starring Steve Irwin and his wife Terri Irwin. The Irwins play themselves filming an episode of The Crocodile Hunter while trying to protect a crocodile....
(2002) .... Ron Buckwhiler - Serenades (2001) .... Johann
- The War Bride (2001) .... Charlie
- Molokai: The Story of Father DamienFather DamienFather Damien or Saint Damien of Molokai, SS.CC. , born Jozef De Veuster, was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium and member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a missionary religious order...
(1999) .... Dr. Kalewis - Cousin Bette (1998) .... Count Wenceslas Steinbach
- Under Heaven (1998) .... Buck
- Paradise Road (1997) .... Bill Seary
- Hotel de LoveHotel de LoveHotel de Love is a 1996 Australian film written and directed by Craig Rosenberg.-Plot:Fraternal twin brothers meet a childhood crush at a rundown hotel and rediscover their love as they renew their competition for her affection.-Principal cast:...
(1996) .... Rick Dunne - River Street (1996) .... Ben
- CosiCosi (film)Cosi is a 1996 Australian comedy-drama-musical film directed by Mark Joffe. Louis Nowra wrote both the screenplay and the play it is based on.-Plot summary:...
(1996) .... Nick - Audacious (1995) .... Stanley
- Metal Skin (1994) .... Joe
- ExileExile (1994 film)Exile is a 1994 Australian drama film directed by Paul Cox. It was entered into the 44th Berlin International Film Festival. The film was shot entirely on location in Tasmania.-Cast:* Aden Young as Peter Costello* Beth Champion as Mary...
(1994) .... Peter Costello - Shotgun Wedding (1993) .... Jimmy Becker
- Broken HighwayBroken HighwayBroken Highway is a 1993 Australian drama film directed by Laurie McInnes. It was entered into the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Aden Young - Angel* David Field - Tatts* Bill Hunter - Wilson* Claudia Karvan - Catherine* Norman Kaye - Elias Kidd...
(1993) .... Angel - Love in Limbo (1993) .... Barry McJannet
- Sniper (1993) .... Doug Papich
- Over the Hill (1992) .... Nick
- Black RobeBlack RobeBlack Robe is a historical novel by Brian Moore based on the Jesuit missionaries in New France. It was published in 1985.The novel takes place in the 17th century in New France. It follows Father Laforgue, a French Jesuit priest traveling up river to repopulate the mission to the Huron Indians...
(1991) .... Daniel
Filmography as director
- The Rose of Ba Ziz (2007) Writer/Director/Editor...
Featuring Roy Billing
Roy Billing
Roy Billing is a New Zealand television actor, now based in Sydney, Australia.-Career:Billing has starred in many television shows and had main roles on Bad Cop, Bad Cop, Dossa and Joe and Hell Has Harbour Views...
. Narrated by Hugo Weaving
Hugo Weaving
Hugo Wallace Weaving is a Nigerian born, English-Australian film actor and voice artist. He is best known for his roles as Agent Smith in the Matrix trilogy, Elrond in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, "V" in V for Vendetta, and performances in numerous Australian character dramas.-Early...
- Loene CarmenLoene CarmenLoene Carmen is an Australian singer/songwriter and actress.-Background:Carmen's father is rock/jazz/blues pianist Peter Head...
: Nashville High music video (2007)
- The Order (1998) Writer/Director...
Featuring David Field
David Field
David Dudley Field II was an American lawyer and law reformer who made major contributions to the development of American civil procedure...
.
Filmography as editor
- Kalaupapa Heaven (2009) documentary Dir: Paul Cox
- Salvation (2009) feature film Dir: Paul Cox
- "Mimic The Rain" (2009) Loene Carmen music video
Awards and nominations
- Australian Film Institute AwardsAustralian Film Institute AwardsThe Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Award , is an accolade presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts . The awards recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry and television industry, including directors,...
Nomination for Best Actor in a Lead Role for River Street (1996) - Australian Film Institute AwardsAustralian Film Institute AwardsThe Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Award , is an accolade presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts . The awards recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry and television industry, including directors,...
Nomination for Best Actor in a Lead Role for Metal Skin (1995) - Australian Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for Metal Skin (1995)
Personal life
- Son Dutch born 2007 with longtime partner, actor/singer Loene CarmenLoene CarmenLoene Carmen is an Australian singer/songwriter and actress.-Background:Carmen's father is rock/jazz/blues pianist Peter Head...
. - Young adapted The Rose of Ba Ziz from the children's book written by his father Chip Young, a well known CBC broadcaster in Canada and a children's author. "I was about to have my first son and thought that it would be a wonderful love letter from his grandfather."
- Young's family left Toronto for Australia in 1981 when Young was nine. The next decade was spent moving from town to town in NSW in search of the best medical care for Chip, who had contracted a mysterious lupus-like disease. "My mother is from Newcastle," says the actor, who still has a Canadian accent but can easily switch to an Australian drawl. "She had trained as a nurse there and maybe she thought that was where she would find the answer to my father's illness." Young attended Galston High and Australian Theatre For Young People as a teenager.
External links
- Aden Young Biography – Yahoo.com
- Aden Young article, SMH 2009
- Lucky Country review
- Triple J Interview 2009
Sources
- http://www.moviehole.net/201024729-purcell-dirani-young-de-niro-join-killer-elite
- "Lights Brighter Behind Camera" The Australian by Sandy George, Film writer | August 14, 2007
- www.thearchibaldprize.com.au/__data/page/11351/archibald08_Sect3.pdf
- "Making A Short Film – Aden Young" by Dov Kornits, Film Writer 05/16/99