Anthony LaPaglia, who currently stars on Without a Trace, has just signed on to play the lead for a thriller film entitled Balibo.  This marks the 48-year-old actor's first appearance in an Australian movie since his performance in the 2001 Lantana where he won an AFI Award for Best Actor.

Written by David Williamson and Robert Connolly, Balibo is described as a tense political thriller that recreates the events surrounding the murders of the Balibo Five, a group of journalists working for Australian television networks who were based in the town of Balibo in East Timor and were killed in 1975.

LaPaglia, who was born in Australia, is slated to head back to his homeland next year to start filming the movie.  He'll be playing an Australian war correspondent named Roger East, who went to investigate the deaths of the Balibo five, only to be shot dead the day after the Indonesian invasion.

"I'm looking forward to returning home to work again," the Without a Trace star said.  "It's such an inspiring team and an important story for Australia and the region."

Connolly, who also serves as the film's director, has declined to say if the movie would show that Indonesian troops executed the five newsmen or whether they were accidentally killed in crossfire. So far, inquiries, reports, and United Nations investigations have all been inconclusive. Nevertheless, the findings of the investigation of the death of Brian Peters, one of Balibo five, are due in November.

Apart from playing his award-winning role, FBI agent Jack Malone, on Without a Trace, LaPaglia is also known for his roles on Murder One, where he played Jimmy Wyler, and movies like So I Married an Axe Murderer, Looking for Alibrandi and Summer of Sam, just to name a few.

Meanwhile, fans can catch LaPaglia on Without a Trace, which airs every Thursday at 10pm ET/PT on CBS.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: ABC.net
(Image courtesy of TV Guide)