Indigenous Boy Quaden Bayles Whose Bullying Video Went Viral To Star In Next Mad Max Film Furiosa

The latest Mad Max movie will feature Quaden Bayles, the dwarf Indigenous youngster whose struggle with bullying made headlines around the globe.

The now 11-year-old has been given a small part in director George Miller's next film Furiosa, a prequel to his 2015 post-apocalyptic action sensation Fury Road.

Following a successful venture onto Instagram, where he has 288,000 followers and can earn up to $2,600 for each sponsored post, Quaden is now moving to the big screen.

Hugh Jackman recently met with Indigenous rap singer The Kid Laroi. He is one of Quaden's many well-known fans.

The Queensland boy was already confirmed as an extra in Miller's next film Three Thousand Years of Longing, which also stars Idris Ilba and Tilda Swinton.

But Miller has also cast Quaden in the 2024 film Furiosa, which stars Anya Taylor-Joy in the lead role.

Along with Chris Hemsworth and Tom Burke, Furiosa is the fifth installment in the Max Max film series, which was launched in 1979 with Mel Gibson as the lead role.

It will describe the early life of Charlize Theron's fearsome Furiosa, the character of Fury Road.

Miller discussed his reason for putting Quaden in front of the camera in an interview with Good Weekend. In February 2020, Quaden's mother Yarraka Bayles shared a sad video of her son on Facebook.

Quaden, who was ridiculed at school and was born with achondroplasia, a type of dwarfism, was seen in the video sobbing uncontrollably and pleading for a knife to kill himself.

At the start of the five-minute clip, Ms. Bayles said: 'I just picked my son up from school, witnessed a bullying episode, rang the principal and I want people to know this is the effect bullying has. This is what bullying does.'

'So can you please educate your children, your families, your friends because all it takes is one more instance... and you wonder why kids are killing themselves.’

'We try to be as strong as positive as possible and only share the highlights... but this is how bullying affects a nine-year-old kid.' 

Celebrities from all around the world were drawn to the viral video and joined Quaden and his family in their fight against bullying.

Hollywood superstar Jackman posted a video on Twitter in which he said: 'Quaden, you are stronger than you know, mate. And no matter what, you've got a friend in me.'

The Wolverine star continued by asking his followers to "please be kind to each other."

Miller was upset by a claim made by News Corp columnist Miranda Devine that Ms. Bayles might have coached Quaden and was also affected by the footage, according to Good Weekend.

Devine eventually expressed regret and reached an agreement with the Bayles family before filing a lawsuit in federal court, despite his repeated warnings that the video might be a scam.

Quaden had not been acting, according to Miller, an Oscar-winning director who was schooled as a doctor and practiced medicine.

'What the hell would she know about that?' he told Good Weekend of Devine's comments. 'That fired me up.'

Before Devine's apologies, Miller had asked Quaden to take part in Three Thousand Years of Longing, a dark fantasy movie.

'It was good for us and it was good for him,' Miller told the magazine. 'And he did such a good job that's he's got a small role in Furiosa.'

To increase awareness of the effects of bullying, Ms. Bayles published the original video of Quaden.

Even though she would have wanted to keep such a frightening experience private, she admitted at the time that she felt forced to go public.

Brad Williams, a US comedian, gathered more than $700,000 for Quaden via a GoFundMe campaign to take the mother and son to Disneyland, but the family gave the funds.

By the end of 2020, Quaden had more users searching for his name than any other person under the age of 18 in Australia, making him Google's top "trending kid."

Since then, Quaden has become well-known on Instagram and has a well-liked TikTok account.

Quaden's family-run Instagram account, which is used to promote various brands, also features inspirational anti-bullying messages.

The Instagram Money Calculator estimates that Quaden might earn up to $2,600 for each sponsored post.

At its May world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Three Thousand Years of Longing was given a six-minute standing ovation by the audience.

On September 1, it is scheduled for release in Australia.