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The Moth Effect Season Finale Fri 3 Sep on Amazon Prime, Bobby Cannavale guests

Published

2 years ago

September 2, 2021

The final episode of Australian sketch comedy The Moth Effect airs Fri 3 Sep on Amazon and features a pair of unlikely guest stars in the shape of Bobby Cannavale and Vincent D’Onofrio.

Co-creator Jazz Twemlow says the final sketch didn’t come about the same way as most others in the show, which were written first and then cast second.

“We knew Vincent was keen to work with us but we’d already wrapped shooting weeks before and were into post-production. Suddenly we had this opportunity to write towards a revered actor known for conjuring distinct characters. Anyone who doesn’t have “Edgar the Bug” from Men in Black seared into their brain has something wrong with them! We knew a Bond villain would give Vincent a lot of room to play, so we got to brainstorming how we could use a Bond parody to say something the show hadn’t already said.”

Cannavale stars as James Bond opposite D’Onofrio’s arch-villain, “Stavrick Varatanga”. Like much of the show, the sketch explores a contemporary problem through a daft execution of a pop culture reference. Given the name of the show, it was a great send off, as Bond is quite literally distracted by a superficial, “bright shiny thing” which impacts his ability to connect with something more important. It’s this approach that The Moth Effect has explored so successfully to date: big topics tackled in an absurd way.

“This really was a case of stars aligning to create a sketch that plays off their insane talents perfectly. Bobby gave us a Bond that’s so true to the character yet is also definitely a sketch comedy version of that archetype. It was amazing being on set watching him elicit his version of Bond that’s a tightrope walk between believable yet also totally daft. We were so lucky,” said Nick Boshier.

Vincent D’Onofrio and Bobby Cannavale join an already impressive cast including Bryan Brown, David Wenham, Miranda Otto, Kate Box, Peter O’Brien, Sam Cotton, Mark Humphries, Nazeem Hussain, Steen Raskopoulos, Zoë Coombs Marr, Jonny Brugh, Lucinda Price, Zoe Terakes, David Woodhead, Louis Hanson, Ell Foreman, Tim Franklin, Meyne Wyatt, Christiaan van Vuuren, Sarah Bishop, Ursula Yovich, Natalie Abbott, Sam Campbell, Megan Wilding, Brooke Boney and many more.

The Moth Effect was directed by Craig Anderson (Double the Fist, Review with Myles Barlow, Laid, Black Comedy) and Gracie Otto (Under the Volcano, The Other Guy, Bump). Produced by Lauren Elliott (KGB, Small Town Hackers, DAFUQ?) and Jordana Johnson (Nice Shorts), and Executive Produced by Sophia Zachariou (Nice Shorts, The Checkout, Gruen, The Chaser, Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell and Judith Lucy’s Spiritual Journey).