Child star Felix Cameron shines at TV Week Logie Awards after wins

Boy Swallows Universe star Felix Cameron stole Australia’s heart when he broke down while accepting the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent at the 2024 TV Week Logie Awards in Sydney.

The 15-year-old, who shines in the Australian drama series inspired by Trent Dalton’s best-selling novel of the same name, choked up as he thanked his parents, brother and sister, as well as Dalton, Netflix and the production crew.

He recovered his emotions to thank his drama teacher Nadia Towns.

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” he said.

“She had a saying, that we were climbing a mountain. She never clarified whether it was Everest* or the Dandenongs*, but I think we got there.”

Cameron picked up his second Logie for Best Lead Actor in a Drama for the show.

In accepting his award, he said: “Actually, the last award that I won before tonight was, um, Student of the Week in grade five. So … this is quite a big deal.”

“This was such a team effort,” Felix said. “And each week an extraordinary actor from Hollywood, they’d fly in and I’d get to work with them, and it was an amazing experience.

“But I think the thing that really was the best for me was being able to work with all the cast and crew, from make-up, who always brightened my day, to wardrobe, to the ADs* and everyone in between, thank you for the most amazing experience of my life.”

Netflix’s Boy Swallows Universe stars were the early winners of the 2024 Logies on Sunday night, with Sophie Wilde claiming Best Supporting Actress and veteran* actor Bryan Brown winning the award for Best Supporting Actor.

Later in the night, HarperCollins Australia author Trent Dalton and producer Troy Lum said a TV adaptation* of Dalton’s most recent book, Lola in the Mirror, has been confirmed.

“I can’t say much, but it’s coming,” Lum said.

Lola in the Mirror is Dalton’s third novel and tells the story of a girl and her mother, who have been on the run for 16 years. It is set in Brisbane in the 1980s.

After winning the Logie, Dalton said: “The most real thing was the stuff with my mum. I really wanted to thank my mum up there (while accepting the Logie). That poor woman for six years has had to hear her son sort of vaguely dodge questions about her 1980s.”

“She would have been watching this tonight just weeping with pride,” he said.

“(The show) is absolutely 50/50 (about my life). Eli Bell, played by Felix, did everything I wish I could have done when I was a young kid.

“The secret room was absolutely real. It still exists in Ipswich, Queensland. I had a thing with my brothers where we found this secret room … and all we found was a red telephone. A lot of my dreaming was of that and what turned into a book, because I wanted to find out who was on the telephone.”

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GLOSSARY

• Everest: Mt Everest the world’s highest peak in the Himalayas between Nepal and Tibet
• Dandenongs: Dandenong Ranges, a low mountain range rising to approximately 633m, about 33km east of Melbourne
• ADs: assistant directors, who help on set by working between the director, cast and crew
• veteran: someone with a lot of experience in a certain field
• adaptation: turning a work of art, usually a written work, into another artistic form, as with turning Trent Dalton’s novel into a film and now TV series

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QUICK QUIZ

1. Felix Cameron won which two Logie Awards on Sunday night?
2. He was awarded for his performance in which TV show?
3. Who wrote the novel on which the series is based?
4. As well as his family, the cast, crew and author, who else did Felix thank at the Logies?
5. What mysterious place did the author discover with his brothers when they were boys?

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Felix for the win
As a 15-year-old, two-time Logie winning actor, what sentiments do you take from Felix Cameron’s acceptance speech after he won the Most Popular New Talent award?

• How did it make you feel?
• What sort of young person is he?
• Is he someone you’d like to meet or be friends with?
• What do you think might be next for Felix?
• What sort of family do you think he comes from?

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Felix’s drama teacher used to tell him that “he was climbing a mountain”. What do you think she meant when saying that to a young actor like Felix?

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Drama, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Imaginative dialogue
Imagine you were there during the Logies.

Create a conversation between two of the people mentioned in the article – or you may need or want to include yourself. Don’t forget to try to use facts and details from the article to help make your dialogue as realistic as possible.

Go through your writing and highlight any punctuation you have used in green. Make sure you carefully check the punctuation used for the dialogue and ensure you have opened and closed the speaking in the correct places.