Quaden Bayles, the indigenous boy with dwarfism whose battle against bullying shocked the world, has revealed that he has completed filming for his role in the latest installment of the Mad Max film franchise and has two special projects in the works.
Director George Miller cast the now 11-year-old opposite Chris Hemsworth in his upcoming film Furiosa, a prequel to his 2015 post-apocalyptic action hit Fury Road.
Now, Quaden has another big film project on his way, and he’s also working on his own original music.
“I am filming something small, something that is happening. I can’t say,” the 11-year-old told NITV.
“I’ve been working on some music, doing some beats at school. I go to the studio and do some crazy raps with my friends.
“I want to start learning how to rap, start freestyling,” Quaden explained.
‘Mad Max, that’s over. I have something coming up so stay tuned. I have a big surprise.
Furiosa, the fifth film in the Max Max series that began with Mel Gibson playing the title character in 1979, will also star Chris Hemsworth and Tom Burke.
It will tell the backstory of Fury Road’s fearsome heroine Furiosa, played in the previous film by Charlize Theron.
Quaden Bayles (pictured at the Three Thousand Years of Longing premiere in 2022) revealed that he’s starring in another movie and is working on some rap music.
Quaden also took the opportunity to thank his followers who helped him rise to stardom after his mother shared a video of him crying uncontrollably after being teased about his dwarfism at school.
“Mad Max was my first role in a big movie. For me, I was like “wow”. I didn’t know I was going to be who I am today, Quaden Bayles,’ he said.
Quaden is also getting recognition on the street.
Everybody’s like, “there’s that guy Quaden Bayles, oh my gosh. Bro, can I take a picture with you?” Like yeah, bro, you can get a picture.
“I appreciate all the support from everyone who has seen my documentary and listens to what I say.”
Quaden rose to stardom after his mother shared a clip of the nine-year-old crying over school bullies (above), prompting people from all over the world to rally behind him.
Miller revealed in an interview with Good Weekend how he felt compelled to put Quaden on camera after his mother, Yarraka Bayles, posted a distressing video of her son on Facebook in February 2020.
In the video, Quaden, who was born with a type of dwarfism known as achondroplasia, is shown sobbing uncontrollably and asking for a knife to kill himself after being bullied at school.
At the start of the five-minute clip, Ms Bayles said: “I just picked up my son from school, witnessed bullying, called the principal and I want people to know this is the effect bullying has.” . This is what bullying does.
‘So can you educate your children, your families, your friends because all it takes is one more instance… and you wonder why children are killing themselves?
“We try to be as strong as possible and only share the highlights… but this is how bullying affects a nine-year-old.”
The viral video caught the attention of celebrities around the world who gave their support to Quaden and his family’s fight against bullying.
Hollywood superstar Jackman posted a video on Twitter saying, “Quaden you’re stronger than you think mate.” And no matter what, you have a friend in me.
The Wolverine actor urged his fans to “be nice to each other.”
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 trained Quaden.
Devine, who repeated claims that the video could be a scam, later apologized and settled with the Bayles family ahead of the Federal Court action.
Miller, who trained and worked as a doctor before becoming an Oscar-winning filmmaker, acknowledged that Quaden had not been acting.
‘What the hell was she going to know about that?’ she told Good Weekend of Devine’s comments. ‘That really turned me on.’
Ms. Bayles shared Quaden’s original video in an attempt to raise awareness about the impact of bullying.
She said at the time that while she would have preferred to keep such a heartbreaking moment private, she felt she had no choice but to go public.
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