PALMER ALONG FOR THE RIDE
AUSSIE actor Teresa Palmer will bring the inspirational story of Michelle Payne to life in the movie about the champion jockey.
Palmer, who recently starred in Hacksaw Ridge and
Berlin Syndrome, will return to Australia from her new home in the UK to take the lead role of the first woman to win the Melbourne Cup in
Ride Like A Girl.
It will be an all-star cast with Sam Neill to play Payne’s father Paddy, while Jacki Weaver will take on Payne’s manager Joan Sadler.
“Michelle was always warned she could never be a world-class jockey. She was not tough enough. She was not a man. Then she won the 2015 Melbourne Cup, one of the most prestigious horse races in the world,” Palmer said on social media.
The jockey herself has given Palmer the thumbs up.
“Couldn’t be happier with the choice in you @teresapalmer – I loved the script, very excited for the times ahead,” Payne wrote .
The film is the feature debut for actor Rachel Griffiths, who attended Magic Millions on the Gold Coast with Payne early this year in an effort to better understand her life.