Hugh Jackman introduces the child star who will appear in his upcoming film “Son.” “Son” focuses on Jackman’s character Peter as his and his new partner’s lives are turned upside down when Peter’s ex-wife Kate shows up with their teenage son Nicholas after Nicholas is going through a mental health crisis. Jackman also serves as the film’s executive producer. “Son” will be presented this fall at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022.
In addition to the superstar Jackman himself, “Son” is filled with serious talents, and the supporting cast includes Laura Dern, Anthony Hopkins and Vanessa Kirby. The director of “Son” is Florian Zeller, a playwright-turned-director who made his feature film debut in the 2020 film “Father.” Zeller adapted his own screenplay for “Father,” which earned him an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Hopkins an Oscar for his performance. “Son” will see Zeller and Hopkins team up again, this time adding extra star power to this new family drama.
Jackman just shared a cute photo of himself and one of his Son’s child stars in a recent Twitter post. The mentioned star is George Kobell, who plays a younger version of Nicholas in the film. In the picture, Jackman looks down, and Kobell smiles at him.
Kobell is a brand new child actor on stage. His only other professional merit is a small role in the film “The Last Train for Christmas” (2021). The actor who plays the elder Nicholas, Zen McGrath, is also a relative newcomer to the professional acting world. Based on the original synopsis of the film, it is likely that Kobell’s role in the film will be minimal, as the story will focus on Nicholas as a teenager and how his mixed-race family works together to cope with a difficult period in his adolescence. However, given the way Zeller played with time and memory in “Father,” it’s still possible that “Son” is ripe for memories and therefore could give Kobell a more important role in the story.
Like “Father,” “Son” is based on one of Zeller’s plays, and he will team up again with writer Christopher Hampton, with whom he co-wrote the script for “Father.” In “Father,” Zeller has already demonstrated incredible strength in his ability to capture intimate family stories with increased drama and exciting emotional complexity. It seems that in “Son” Zeller will continue to explore this topic, extending it to family relationships. Viewers will have to wait to see Kobell in Son, but it looks like Jackman is looking forward to his role in the film.
