Jacob Elordi Is Returning to Australia to Star in Five-Part Drama Series 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North'

Based on Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name, the Prime Video series hails from 'Snowtown' and 'Nitram' collaborators Justin Kurzel and Shaun Grant.
Sarah Ward
Published on November 20, 2023

Before he was a key member of Euphoria's cast, stepping into Elvis Presley's blue-suede shoes in Priscilla and proving a drawcard in Saltburn, Australia's own Jacob Elordi scored his first on-screen acting credit beyond short films in Aussie movie Swinging Safari. From there, once the three Kissing Booth films also helped boost his career, the Brisbane-born talent has largely focused on working overseas — but he's returning home to star in a new five-part streaming drama series.

Elordi leads the just-announced cast for The Narrow Road to the Deep North, which will make the leap to Prime Video from the page, adapting Richard Flanagan's Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name. Also set to feature among the show's starry lineup of talent: Olivia DeJonge, fresh from playing Priscilla Presley in Baz Luhrmann's Elvis; her The Staircase co-star Odessa Young; Limbo's Simon Baker; Heartbreak High's Thomas Weatherall; Love Me's Heather Mitchell; and Belfast's Ciarán Hinds.

Jacob Elordi in Saltburn

The project's impressive names extend behind the camera, with The Narrow Road to the Deep North hailing from Snowtown, True History of the Kelly Gang and Nitram collaborators Justin Kurzel and Shaun Grant. Kurzel will direct, while Grant is on adaptation duties — and both are also executive producing.

Exactly when the series will hit your streaming queue hasn't yet been announced, but production has just started on Prime Video's latest Australian original. No matter when it drops, it'll join 2023's Deadloch and Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles among the platform's Australian fare.

Odessa Young in Mothering Sunday

Elordi shares the role of Dorrigo Evans with Hinds, playing the younger version of the character in a tale that jumps between different time periods. The Narrow Road to the Deep North's protagonist is a Lieutenant who becomes a prisoner of war on the Thailand-Burma Railway. His story will encompasses becoming a surgeon and war hero, and a life-changing stint of falling in love with Amy Mulvaney (Young).

DeJonge and Baker will also feature with Elordi and Young in the show's 40s-set segments, where World War II obviously casts a shadow. Hinds hops in when the series gets to the 80s, which is where Mitchell, Weatherall, Show Kasamatsu (Tokyo Vice) and Charles An (Last King of the Cross) will also pop up.

Olivia DeJonge in The Staircase.

"With talents like Jacob Elordi, Ciarán Hinds and Odessa Young at the helm, The Narrow Road to the Deep North promises to be a cinematic, visceral, and undeniable contemporary love story, which explores the power of mateship and the strength of the human spirit in the face of adversity," said Sarah Christie, senior development executive at Amazon MGM Studios, announcing the series.

"We just know that this series is going to resonate with customers in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and are proud to be partnering with Curio Pictures' Jo Porter and Rachel Gardner, who will bring this incredible story to life alongside the award-winning director and executive producer Justin Kurzel, and award-winning writer and executive producer Shaun Grant."

Thomas Weatherall in Heartbreak High.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North doesn't yet have a release date, but will stream via Prime Video — we'll update you with more details when they're announced.

Top image: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic for HBO via Getty Images, supplied by Prime Video.

Published on November 20, 2023 by Sarah Ward
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