The Castle star Michael Caton is taking part in a new documentary about the grassroots fight to save an iconic Sydney landmark
In the 1997 film “The Castle,” actor Michael Caton played the role of a family man who wants to save his home from big government.
And now the Sydney-based actor has lent his name to a new documentary about the real-life attempt to save Sydney’s Bondi Pavilion from developers.
In 2016, Caton, 80, joined big names including actor Jack Thompson, Sam Neill and Midnight Oil’s Peter Garrett in a successful campaign to save the world-famous landmark for public use.
Caton is the narrator of the film Saving Bondi Pavilion, which chronicles the grassroots battle with Waverley council after it announced a $38 million upgrade that threatened to exclude community groups from using the pavilion.
After the council spent $48 million on a major redevelopment, the site reopened last September with communal spaces intact.
Sydney-based actor Michael Caton, famous for his role in The Castle, has given his name to a new documentary about the real-life attempt to save Sydney’s Bondi Pavilion from developers
In 2016, the actor joined big names including Midnight Oil’s Jack Thompson, Sam Neill and Peter Garrett in a successful campaign to save the world-famous landmark for public use
“It’s like our town hall,” Caton said in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday.
“Anything that happens in Bondi where we have to get together and do things usually happens in the pavilion.”
Caton, meanwhile, joked that he would like to use the pavilion for his memorial service and said he was happy with the end of the campaign.
“It’s beautiful,” he said. “There are a lot of things happening around Waverley that we don’t like and we don’t have a win,” he continued.
“But it’s good to get a victory every now and then. It gives you a kind of faith in the power of people.”
The community group, which calls itself the Friends of Bondi Pavilion, created more than 120 videos about their cause, eventually racking up more than 80,000 online views.
Caton is the narrator of the film Saving Bondi Pavilion, which chronicles the grassroots battle with Waverley council after it announced a $38 million upgrade that threatened to exclude community groups from using the pavilion
In the 1997 film “The Castle,” Caton played the role of a family man trying to save his home from big government
They also hosted a successful concert with the Hoodoo Gurus, hosted by Will Anderson.
The pavilion currently hosts a wide range of activities including yoga, Pilates and meditation classes, dance and music classes and the Diramu Aboriginal dance and didgeridoo event.
Caton, meanwhile, has become a household name after playing a Melbourne family man fighting to keep his home from being taken over by the government, which wants to expand a nearby airport.
Despite its extremely low budget of just $750,000, The Castle was a financial success, grossing $10.3 million at the Australian box office.
Since then, Caton has appeared in a number of top Australian dramas, including Packed to the Rafters, Strange Bedfellows, The Animal and All Saints.
“Saving Bondi Pavilion” screens for free at Bondi Pavilion on Wednesday.