Tot Mom opens at Wharf 1 on December 23

Torn between two countries and juggling the demands of career and motherhood, Essie Davis returns to the Sydney stage in a play by Steven Soderbergh, based on tragic events that are still unfolding.

…Despite relishing the words of Shakespeare and Williams and seducing audiences with her eloquent and bravura theatre work, including Judy Davis’s sparkling version of Sheridan’s classic satire The School for Scandal eight years ago, Davis insists she has tried many times to turn away from the theatre.

“There was a time when I solely wanted to pursue film but for whatever reason various film projects kept bringing me back to the theatre,” says Davis, acutely aware of the irony of working with the prolific filmmaker Soderbergh on his stage debut.

…Davis will appear in two Australian films next year: Kin, by the first-time director Amanda Jane, about a Russian woman who flees her homeland to be with the man of her dreams; and Shirley Barrett’s South Solitary, a drama set in the 1920s and co-starring Barry and Miranda Otto.

See the entire story in the Sydney Morning Herald

Technorati Tags:
sucessful actors, Sydney Theatre Company, Sydney Morning Herald, sydney morning herald, sydney theatre company

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 2 (UPI) – Australian film actor Hugh Jackman dropped out of talks to star in “Cleo,” director Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming 3-D, live-action musical, Variety.com said.

The $30 million film with a rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack is to co-star “Chicago” Oscar winner Catherine Zeta-Jones as the ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra.

The entertainment industry trade newspaper said Soderbergh wanted “Australia” and “X-Men” star Jackman to play her lover, the Roman general Marc Antony, however, the actor declined after giving the role some consideration.

Ray Winstone, a British actor whose film credits include “Beowulf” and the upcoming “Edge of Darkness,” reportedly is in discussions to play Julius Caesar in Soderbergh’s first movie musical.

Soderbergh and Zeta-Jones previously worked together on “Traffic.”