Disney has finally cast the cherry on top of its long-gestating revisionist take on the Sleeping Beauty myth, setting up young Aussie actor Brenton Thwaites to play the prince to Angelina Jolie’s evil Maleficent and Elle Fanning’s innocent Princess Aurora. In the classic fairy tale, the part is generally referred to as Prince Phillip, but Deadline Evil Dark Woods doesn’t let on if that will be the case in Robert Stromberg’s take on the tale.
Despite his name, Thwaites is not a type of bread and he’s also not a knock-off of clothing brand Benetton, he’s one of those Aussie actor kids who cut his teeth on two of their many, many television series. Thwaites did a ten-episode run on SLiDe and also starred on continual favorite, Home and Away. He’ll next be seen as the male star in Lifetime’s take on The Blue Lagoon, next month’s Blue Lagoon: The Awakening (ew). Other stars who did their time on Aussie TV? Chris Hemsworth, Ryan Kwanten, Rose Byrne, Toni Collette, Portia di Rossi, and Liam Hemsworth. It’s nothing to sniff at and no one should be surprised if Thwaites ends up the next Hollywood It Boy. Hey! Maybe we can cast him in Catching Fire!
Recently, I wondered about the lack of prince-casting in Maleficent, and whether it meant that Disney was just looking for the right head to wear the crowd or if this take on Sleeping Beauty wouldn’t even feature a prince. After all, the film is supposed to focus on Maleficent’s journey to evil, and the prince doesn’t pop up until ol’ Aurora has zonked out into Dreamland, long after Mally has turned truly wretched. A prince is good. A prince means that Aurora still stands a chance.
And it also means that Maleficent isn’t nearly as revisionist as we all thought it could be. Unless, of course, Thwaites cuts bait and ends up with Jolie. And that would just be strange, not bold.
Maleficent will open on March 14, 2014.
Related Topics: Angelina Jolie
