Surf's up for The Mentalist's Simon Baker
Story by Jack Foley
THE Mentalist’s Simon Baker is to play an enigmatic surfer in a new film called Breath.
Based on the 2008 book by acclaimed Australian novelist Tim Winton, the film will explore the relationship that develops between two 16-year-old boys and the enigmatic surf instructor (Baker) and his mysterious wife who tutor them.
Spurred on by their tutor, the boys take ever-increasing risks both on and off the water, according to Variety.
Baker acquired the rights to the book with the help of his long-time producer and friend Mark Johnson, who worked with him on The Mentalist as well as legal drama The Guardian.
The actor has been surfing the waters off Australia since childhood.
He will next be seen in the Michael Winterbottom directed thriller, The Killer Inside Me, an adaptation of the Jim Thompson novel.
Commenting on the appeal of the book, Baker told Variety: “Winton’s book beautifully captures the excitement and brutality of growing up in a way I’ve only experienced but have never been able to articulate.”
Johnson added: “While Breath is at its heart a coming of age story, I see it primarily as a celebration of teenage anarchy and a youthful rejection of anything that smacks of the ordinary. It reminds me of a uniquely Australian version of Y Tu Mama Tambien, one of my favorite films of the past dozen years.”
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