Eli makes the best of his tumultuous childhood, despite the odds: His stepdad is a drug dealer, his mom lives with addiction, his elderly babysitter just served 25 years in jail, and his brother’s a poetic clairvoyant with selective mutism. As he faces the harsh realities of life — and the looming dangers that threaten his family — Eli tries to follow his heart and understand what it means to be a good person. Directed by Bharat Nalluri (Shantaram), Jocelyn Moorhouse (The Dressmaker), and Kim Mordaunt (The Rocket), and written by John Collee (Hotel Mumbai), the coming-of-age slash crime thriller series Boy Swallows Universe stars Travis Fimmel, Phoebe Tonkin, Emmy nominee Simon Baker, and Sophie Wilde. It was executive produced by Andrew Mason and Troy Lum.
Felix Cameron as Eli Bell, Phoebe Tonkin as Frances Bell, Travis Fimmel as Lyle Orlik, and Lee Halley as Gus Bell in Boy Swallows Universe
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“What attracted me to Lyle the most is his heart,” Fimmel, who plays Lyle, told Netflix. “He’s always trying to do what he thinks is best for his family, even though sometimes it might be an odd direction that he takes.”
Felix Cameron as Eli Bell and Bryan Brown as Slim Halliday in Boy Swallows Universe
It’s 1985 in a dusty suburb in Brisbane. Middle schooler Eli Bell (Cameron) and his older brother, Gus (Tiger Halley), live in a working-class neighborhood with their mom, Frankie (Tonkin), and their stepdad, Lyle (Fimmel). Eli’s just trying to get by and make the best out of things — he’s mentored by a warmhearted convicted felon (Brown) and gets life advice from a pen pal serving jail time (Briggs) — but the school bullies and his stepdad don’t make it easy. Eli’s coerced into troublemaking at school, and at home he’s desperate to find out if Lyle’s fallen back into dealing heroin. As he investigates what his stepdad’s really up to (fearing that his mom, an addict, has begun using again), he gets mixed up in the criminal underbelly of his town. Boy Swallows Universe follows Eli through his dark but often magical teenage years as he stumbles toward adulthood.
“One of the things [Dalton] said to me… was that this is basically a story about a boy’s love for his mum,” production designer Michelle McGahey told Netflix.
Yes. The series is adapted from the bestselling semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by author and journalist Trent Dalton.
“The tone [of the book] is very unique, and whenever we felt like we were drifting from that tone, we just thought about Trent as a person,” Lum, one of the series producers, told Netflix. “His spirit, his positivity, his love of life, his ability to see the positive in everything that he’s been through… that’s what Boy Swallows Universe is: a joyful expression of dark times.”
Yes. While the series and book are fictionalized, they were inspired by Dalton’s real-life upbringing in Australia.
“[Dalton’s] father was equal parts the most terrifying person he knew and also the most beautiful person he knew,” Baker, who plays Eli’s father Robert, told Netflix. “I thought that was a really interesting hook to get into the character of Robert Bell and a good challenge to understand how a person like that can exist.”
Yes. The character of Slim, played by Brown, is based on Arthur “Slim” Halliday — a convicted murderer who was known as the Houdini of Boggo Road for his notorious escapes from Brisbane’s Boggo Road Gaol. Dalton grew up with Halliday, who he looked to as a father figure. “I think in his last term, Slim’s really thinking, ‘I want to contribute in some bloody way, and here’s a couple of kids, and maybe that’s the answer,’” Brown, who plays Slim, told Netflix.
Boy Swallows Universe takes place in the Brisbane suburb of Darra in Queensland, Australia.
The series was filmed in Brisbane.
