When a major Australian commercial network announced three months ago it was making a two-part series on the late cricket legend Shane Warne, it was met with criticism by the family.

Daughters Brooke and Summer Warne called out Nine in September, saying the plan to dramatise their father’s life was “beyond disrespectful”.

Warne died suddenly on March 4, aged 52, while on a trip to Thailand.

“Do any of you have any respect for Dad? Or his family? Who did so much for Channel [Nine] and now you want to dramatise his life and our families (sic) life 6 months after he has passed away?

“You are beyond disrespectful,” wrote Brooke Warne on her Instagram.

Fast forward three months and there’s been a surprise breakthrough.

Alex Williams has had roles in four TV mini-series since 2014, including playing Kirk Pengilly from rock band INXS and Julian Assange. Photo: IMDb

On Wednesday, Nine issued a statement saying the Warne family has offered its support for what is being described as the biggest drama of 2023.

And a relatively unknown Australian actor, Alex Williams, who received critical acclaim for playing Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in 2012, has landed the lead role.

“During pre-production, the 9Network and Screentime have met with the Warne family who have offered their support for the series.

“The 9Network looks forward to collaborating with the family as filming continues,” the network said in a statement.

In April, Nine’s head of drama Andy Ryan told TV Tonight there would be consultations with Warne’s family.

“His life was so intriguing, and a work in progress,” he said.

“It became more intriguing and interesting with every passing year and it’s a tragedy that Shane died so young.

“But the outpouring of grief adds an extra dimension. He’s definitely flawed, but a genius, a rogue and a rascal.”

Tweet from @alexwilliams282

‘Intense, confident’

Originally from Perth, Williams’ first professional project was in 2012, when he played WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in TV biopic Underground: The Julian Assange Story.

Variety described Williams’ 2012 portrayal of Assange as the teenage computer hacker as “intense, confident, straight out of drama school”.

At the time, he told the Community Newspaper Group it felt like the role of a lifetime.

“I tried to do as much research into Julian Assange as I could. I didn’t want to portray him as a villain,” Williams said.

“It was very much like being thrown in the deep end, but I learnt so much during the shoot.

“Getting to work with people like Anthony LaPaglia and Rachel Griffiths was amazing.”

Williams as a young Assange in a 2012 biopic. Photo: IMDb

Two years later he played guitarist Kirk Pengilly in two episodes of Never Tear Us Apart: The Untold Story of INXS in 2014 and scored a role in The Reckoning, and in the international hit Paper Planes the same year.

He then played key witness Paul Onions in the Catching Milat crime series in 2015, followed by a portrayal of the late racing car driver John Harvey in Brock in 2016.

He has had small roles over the past six years, including appearances in Friday on My Mind, The Heights and a voice-over in an animated series.

In 2022, he has been in popular TV series Home and Away and Rock Island Mysteries.

Now, Williams – an AFL supporter of the Greater Western Sydney Giants – is set to play the larrikin who was “an Aussie legend, a cultural icon, a cricketing genius, a charmer and a loveable rogue”, according to Nine.

With a little over 3000 Instagram followers and a wrap on the Home and Away set, Williams is now focused on Warnie, which began production in Melbourne this week.

“Like all great characters, [Warne] inspired extreme reactions from people from all walks of life, in Australia and around the world.”

No pressure.