Down Under Upward

With a series of solid roles under his belt—Hacksaw Ridge, Detroit, and this month’s 12 Strong—Ben O’Toole becomes the latest Aussie actor to conquer Hollywood.

- Keith Staskiewicz

Everybody knows how to get out of Oz—just follow the yellow brick road. At this point, the path from Australia’s local acting community to Hollywood fame is practically a well-trod thoroughfare. Starting in the 1980s, folks like Nicole Kidman and Mel Gibson made the antipodean voyage, and they were soon followed by wave after wave of improbably good-looking blokes and sheilas, all practicing their North Midland accents. And as with any good immigrant community, they will occasionally lend one another a hand. At least, that’s what Ben O’Toole discovered when Gibson cast him alongside a slew of other Aussies in 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge.

O’Toole is poised to become the latest to go from Down Under to the top. He stars in 12 Strong (in theaters Jan. 19), based on the real-life tale of the first American soldiers deployed to Afghanistan during the initial months of the war. The 28-year-old actor plays one of the film’s dirty dozen, led by none other than, yep, another Aussie expat: Chris Hemsworth. “Hollywood’s a big place but they seem to really like Australians for some reason,” O’Toole says. “Trust me: We’re happy for the work.”