Michael Caton is one of Australia’s greatest advocates and supporters of the nations cinema, with his work on screen driving the vibe of Aussie films leading into his work off screen supporting and working with emerging filmmakers and embracing the role of being a festival ambassador for local film festivals, including the aptly named Stellar Short Film Festival. The festival is run by the wonderful married team of Jasmine and Stuart Charles, exemplars of how to build a festival that champions Aussie talent on screen.
Regular readers will know how much I like to amplify and support short films. They are more than just testing grounds for ideas or concepts for feature length films. They are a justifiable form of filmmaking and creative expression. After all, the word ‘film’ is still in the definition of what we call them.
With that in mind, I caught up with Michael Caton over the phone for a casual chat ahead of the 2025 Stellar Short Film Festival (read the who, what, when of the fest here) to talk about his work as an ambassador for the festival, what it means to support Aussie talents, and more.
I started our conversation by asking how he came to be the ambassador for a festival that amplifies, supports, and nurtures the world of short films on screen:
“Oh, look, it was completely random. An old friend of mine approached me. She has a niece, Jasmine Charles. I got in contact with Jasmine when they were just starting out. They’re a great group of people who are really imaginative and thorough. It’s become a pleasure. I'm sad that this year is the first year I won’t be there. I've had to forego this year, but I'll be back.
“It's such a great day because it's in a sculpture park. They do it proud. They really do a great job and are so lovely to deal with, really. It's always been wonderful for me, because I've got friends on the peninsula, and so I go to the festival, and then I can come and visit my friends down there for a couple of days and then make my way back to Sydney.”
While we may all know him as the loveable dad of the Kerrigan family in the iconic Aussie classic The Castle, Caton’s work spans across forms, flitting between features to TV to short films to theatre. With a deep, varied filmography, Caton brings a levity and warmth to each of the entries in his deep and varied filmography, even when the films skew towards darker themes, like his enduring classic Last Cab to Darwin or the WA made Rams, which saw Caton comfortably slide into the role of a curmudgeon.
But it’s in one of his most recent films, the AACTA nominated Ashes by Georgina Haig, which featured at the 2024 Stellar Short Film Festival, that Caton crafts one of his most impactful roles yet: a father who plays a posthumous prank on his habitually late daughter who misses the appointment to pick up his ashes.
I asked Michael about the importance of supporting short films, and what was the decision process to working on Ashes:
“It's a no brainer to work with young people who have directorial ambitions. Let's get the next generation on our side. [With Ashes] it was the script. It didn't really hurt that I had some connection with her late father, who the film was based on. He was a real character and part of that Crawford bunch, that’s where I got my start So that was just another plus to doing it.
“I made a wonderful friend in Georgia. She became pretty good mates with my son and his missus and our grandchildren get on.”
I asked Michael about the responsibility of taking an a role that was inspired by the directors father, Russell Hagg:
“Look, you’ve just got to do the best job you can. Physically, we're like chalk and cheese really. There's no physical resemblance between us. His attitude to his daughter, which is slightly reprehensible, because he's a stickler for time and she's not, that's real.”
There is a level of emotionality that comes with the roles that Caton chooses to bring to life, a notion that is amplified by condensed experience of laughter, sorrow, and familial bonds that make up the thematic heft of Ashes. It’s part of the reason why short films endure as a powerful form of art. After all, where else can you experience such a wide array of emotions in a short period of time? I ask Michael about where he learned the ability to bring that variety of emotions to life:
”Mate, that's just par for the course, really, isn't it? When you're doing television, it's a new page every week, unlike feature film where you'd really have the luxury of taking a bit more time. We’re sort of weird creatures of habit, really.
“I was blessed when I did The Sullivans. We had that gun crew from Channel Nine, and they insisted that scene that we just shot be played back to the floor for them, so they could see if they liked it, which was unheard of for actors. They wouldn't have done that for actors. They did it for that the gun cameraman and floor managers from Channel Nine.
“So, we got to see what we had done immediately. What a wonderful way to learn. You realised, ‘Oh, you've got to keep your head up when you sit down, otherwise you lose all the pressure.’ ‘Don't stand there with your mouth open.’ There was a lot. It was just a really crash course in filmmaking. And if it hadn't been for that group, we wouldn't have seen those scenes til months later. We were very lucky in that regard.”
What Michael is talking about here is the ability to build community and open forms of collaboration on set. That sense of community is one that carries through with his most notable work, 1997’s The Castle. It’s a film that’s shaped Aussie vernacular, shifting how we see our world, and it wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Working Dog productions, the minds behind countless comedy shows on TV and screen.
Working Dog were recently recognised at the 2025 AACTA Awards for their contribution to the industry. I asked Michael about how he felt getting to see a team he’s worked with be recognised in this way:
“It’s great mate. They really totally deserve it, too. What a wonderful team they are. I wish they would have done more films, but Utopia, for example, is a gem. Oh yeah, it is just a gem. It's just so real, which doesn't do anything for our politicians reputations. It does a lot for educating the public.”
It’s not just Working Dog, or The Sullivans, or Russell Hagg who Michael Caton has had a connection with, but also a certain local legend from Western Australia who he starred in a Chicken Treat commerical with. In the early 90s, before the heights of The Castle or Beastmaster, Michael starred as a manager alongside a young crew member, portrayed by future Oscar winner Heath Ledger.
It’s a slice of kitschy Australiana, full of a bunch of charm and cheek, and it’s one that us sandgropers have grown to have a certain level of affection for. Michael brings up his memories of working with Heath:
“I was on my computer the other day, and I don't know who sent it to me, but I just went, ‘Oh, wow!’ They actually asked me when they did that tribute to the lad at the Logies one year, and I think it was partly because of that bloody ad.
“I just remember that he was just so good. He was so young at the time, gosh. He was great. I followed his progress as he did that show on the Gold Coast, Beastmaster. From that, he got a real following in the US. He took off and followed his dream. Boom. What a great actor. He just developed and developed and developed. Never went to WAAPA, never went to NIDA, just an innate talent.”
That support for talent endures, from working with Heath at a young age, to supporting emerging voices on screen, to acting as an ambassador for the Stellar Short Film Festival. Michael comments on the importance of supporting an active industry:
”Give back. People give to you. You give back to others. Pass on the tips that you receive. I remember when I first came from Queensland down to Sydney. I got on stage in a musical, and I was working with Johnny Lockwood, who was an old vaudeville performer. I would just sit in the wings and eat it up all the techniques he had. I stole them, and then you pass them on to somebody else so they don't die.”
I recall seeing Michael Caton’s terrific, humane performance in Jeremy Sims’ Last Cab to Darwin, back in 2015 at Perth’s Revelation International Film Festival. He attended the festival, giving his time and generosity to an audience which was so deeply moved by his turn on screen.
Michael reflects on the role that LotteryWest has with screen culture: “I want to thank WA because they are the only state that's really doing a lot of film. I wish everyone would give a bit of their lottery money to Australian film, and that's what WA does.”
That connection with Western Australia continued with his work on Rams, a film marketed as a comedy, but was instead a much darker experience. As we close our chat, Michael talks about the his desire to do another comedy, something which our screens have been lacking for quite a while. Michael’s memorable performances are often the ones driven by a deep sense of comedy, whether it’s the cult classic series Chances, or The Castle, or his affable turn in Ben Elton’s charming West Aussie flick Three Summers, and, of course, the cheeky charm in Ashes. He closes our chat with some words for the Australian film industry:
“Sam got to do a bit of comedy in Rams. It's not fair! I'm hanging out to do a comedy. Of course there were elements of comedy in them all. Though nothing would be wrong with a small comedy.”
I personally feel we need a bit more comedy in the world too, and I’m grateful that Michael Caton, screen legend, all round great Aussie bloke, is out there pushing for it however he can. Through his work on screen, to being an ambassador for the Stellar Short Film Festival, to acting as a conduit for the art of others, to finally, teaching and sharing his skills with emerging generations, I want to say thank you Michael Caton.