STACK #163 May 2018

NEWS EXTRAS

STACK SELECTS Must-see film andTV this month

SIMON BAKER

B orn in Launceston, Tasmania, Simon Baker has become a familiar face on our TV screens from his roles in The Guardian (2001- 2004) and The Mentalist (2008-2015). Back when he was known as Simon Baker Denny, the handsome actor won

THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro restores a sense of magic and wonder to the movies.

by a former pro surfer named Sando (Baker). "It had an immediately profound effect on me," Baker says of first reading Winton's novel. "Having grown up in a coastal town in Australia, and knowing the characters in the book, I was drawn in." Having directed episodes of The

viewers' hearts as Constable Sam on Aussie soap E Street (1993), winning the Logie for Best NewTalent – and

Mentalist and The Guardian , Baker felt comfortable in his dual role of director and actor. "It's not easy and wouldn't work for many roles; in this case, Sando is a character that I know, and have known for some time. I imagine that gave

Tim [Winton] was incredibly gracious and supportive. He let me play with the material in my own way

like many of our other talented exports, he also gained experience on Home and Away. Relocating to

PHANTOM THREAD A superb gothic melodrama and Daniel Day-Lewis's acting swan song.

Hollywood, Baker made his movie debut in L.A. Confidential (1997) and followed with steady work in films like George Romero's Land of the Dead (2005), The Ring Two (2005) and The Devil Wears Prada (2006). After seven seasons of The Mentalist , Baker is back on the big screen this month, starring in, co-writing and directing an adaptation of TimWinton's best-selling novel Breath . A soulful coming-of-age tale set in coastal WA during the 1970s, the story follows two teenaged boys who are mentored

me some kind of advantage. “Tim was incredibly gracious

and supportive. He let me play with the material in my own way. I needed to know that he would be okay with that. He said something to me that was very simple but profound: ‘When I finish writing a book, it’s no longer mine, it belongs to whomever reads it’. That statement is something that will always stick with me.”

THREE BILLBOARDS... Frances McDormand is a force of nature in this unpredictable pressure cooker tale.

Breath is in cinemas on May 3 and is reviewed on page 18.

I, TONYA A blackly comic biopic that doesn’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.

MR. ROBOT: SEASON 3 This return to form for the tech-savvy series will melt your brain all over again.

Simon Baker in Breath

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