An irresponsible alcoholic talent scout. He meets the band back at their home country, Australia, where they are not accepted as part of society. Dave Lovelace was the piano player of a contest back in Australia; this is where he meets the “Cummeragunja Song Birds”, which was their original group name. Later, although being easily the best singers in the competition, they lose the competition, simply because they are black. Dave feels that there is no for this racism, so he signs them up for a gig. Dave also goes beyond racism and gets married to Gail showing that behind every dark cloud, there is a rainbow.
Deborah Mailman as Gail McCrae:
The eldest and the "Mama Bear" of the McCrae sisters/The Sapphires. She is the most protective and aggressive of the group and is actually sometimes racist against white people as well. When Gail was young, she was actually responsible for hiding of the children when an emergency occurred, leading her to blame herself for Kay’s transformation. As Dave told Gail, “There's a reason that you're this... terrible mouth, and it’s very simple. You're mama bear... and they're your little baby cubs.” She experiences prejudice throughout the film as she was an Aboriginal woman in the times when blacks weren’t accepted in the community. She does extremely well at ignoring the discrimination throughout the film and shows the advantages of being an Aboriginal.
Jessica Mauboy as Julie McCrae:
The youngest of the McCrae sisters and the lead singer of The Sapphires. As the youngest, she is uneasy about travelling through Vietnam at a time of war. Before their big break, Julie was actually just a backup singer. Originally her mother would not allow her to join the girl group, because of her young age and marital status, but that doesn't stop her from being the star of the show. During their gigs in Vietnam, Julie, being the youngest was afraid and terrified, and is found crying in couple of scenes, portraying her as the weakest of the four. She also experiences prejudice throughout the film not only for her race but for her marital status. She overcomes this by sneaking out to go to Vietnam then returning back to Australia and her mum realises that she shouldn’t be discriminated just because she has a child.
Shari Sebbens as Kay McCrae:
The white cousin of the McCrae sisters. Kay is the most pale of the three, and was grown up believing she was white, all because a horrible incident when she was young. A couple of people from the government specifically kidnapped her, because of how pale she was and how she could pass as a white person. This shows a form of prejudice in the film and juxtaposes the difference between the lifestyles of black people and white people. This obviously causes a feud between her and Gail; all because she immediately starts to believe she’s black once they are put together as a group. She was prejudiced at the start of the film when she doesn’t allow her cousins to come inside her home as she had white friends over and later on in the film she describes herself as a “black” which Gail does not accept therefore she is prejudice to Kay throughout the film. She later overcomes this when they start to build a stronger connection resulting in Kay performing the Aboriginal ceremony at the end getting more in touch with the Aboriginal culture.
Miranda Tapsell as Cynthia McCrae:
The middle child, the diva and party animal of the McCrae sisters/The Sapphires, getting with guys, drinking, and screaming. She denies that people don't like her because she's a black person, and she has the biggest ego in the group. During one of the gigs in the movie, Cynthia gets so out of hand, being the party animal, she actually stops singing, walks down to the crowd, grabs a bottle of vodka and was raised into the air by men. This resulted in her not being allowed to sing the next song. She experiences prejudice throughout the film but doesn’t take any offence to the discrimination as she thinks she is “perfect”.