Commenting on my review of Australia, and the fact that, in it, Nicole Kidman is cast as an Englishwoman, Matthew Yglesias notes:
Nicole Kidman is one of the world’s top two most famous Australians. And yet, she rarely gets to play an Australian character.... The quasi-continent of Australia has made really outsize contributions to the world of cinema (Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Mel Gibson, Peter Weir, etc. all from a country with basically no inhabitants) and if you’re going to make a film called Australia that would be a great opportunity to write some Australian parts.
If anything, he understates Australia's recent cinematic contributions, which have also included Cate Blanchett, the late Heath Ledger, Naomi Watts, Geoffrey Rush, Guy Pearce, Eric Bana, Bruce Beresford, Judy Davis, Phillip Noyce, Toni Collette, Fred Schepisi, Radha Mitchell, Robert Luketic, Sam Neill, Hugo Weaving, Andrew Dominik, Miranda Otto (and her dad, Barry), Isla Fisher, David Wenham, John Duigan, Bryan Brown, James McTeigue, Anthony LaPaglia, Rose Byrne, Richard Roxburgh, and, of course, Paul Hogan, among others.
I think it's safe to say that if Australia didn't exist, Hollywood would have to invent it.
--Christopher Orr