Actors Liam Hemsworth and Yvonne Strahovski are the joint recipients of the Breakthrough Award, which honours their international success and will be presented to them at an Australians in Film (AIF) awards benefit dinner in Los Angeles on June 27.
John Polson, actor, director, producer and the founder of short film competition Tropfest, and the legendary US distributor Harvey Weinstein – who purchased many rights to The Sapphires during Cannes — will also be recognised at the event for their contribution to Australian film and television.
Hemsworth’s breakout performance was in The Hunger Games, which has now grossed more than $650 million worldwide and is the second most popular film so far this year in Australia, having sold more than $30 million worth of tickets.
He is expected to also appear in the sequel, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and is also attached to Paranoia, alongside Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford, Arabian Nights, with Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Hopkins,and The Expendables 2, with Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Jet Li. Liam is younger than both his brothers Chris and Luke, who are also actors.
Strahovski moved to the US in 2007 after getting the major role of Sarah Walker in the US series Chuck, but has returned to Australia for the films I Love You Too, Matching Jack, Killer Elite and, most recently, I, Frankenstein.
The 2012 recipient of the Heath Ledger Scholarship will be announced at the event, which is being held at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, and all proceeds will go towards the continuation of the scholarship and to helping and supporting Australian film and television people in the US.
AIF’s directors include manager Rob Marsala, lawyer Paula Paizes, showbiz reporter Andrew Warne and Ausfilm’s Tracey Vieira. The mission statement says it aims to “celebrate outstanding Australian filmmakers and performers in the US, while inspiring, uniting and developing the next generation”.