George Clooney praises Australia’s ‘brave’ lockdowns after Covid interrupted Ticket to Paradise filming in Queensland
A Hollywood megastar has defended Queensland’s tough Covid lockdowns, despite getting caught up in the chaos here. WHAT THEY SAID
QLD News
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Hollywood star George Clooney has praised Australians for their bravery in handling the global pandemic after he and co-star Julia Roberts got caught up in the Omicron outbreak in Queensland.
The A-listers filmed romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise across Queensland for three months over the festive period, completing hotel quarantine late last year before filming on Hamilton Island for six weeks unimpeded.
When Queensland opened its borders to vaccinated travellers before Christmas the subsequent Omicron outbreak in the state led to a temporary suspension of the production in January.
“It got tricky after (the borders opened)”,” director Ol Parker said during a global press conference for the film in London. “It all got very chaotic.”
Clooney interjected to defend the state’s handling of the outbreak, saying it was “important to remember that what we got to do in this, compared to what everyone else was going through, is nothing”.
“The people of Australia really put their head down and got through this. They really took a big sacrifice,” he continued.
“And had we in the United States done that we would’ve had 900,000 more people alive today, so what they did was incredibly brave and very hard on their economy, and so for us coming in, that was nothing.
“We had some inconveniences but they went through a long hard slog so we felt very honoured to be around and be with people who were dealing with things very seriously, so it was nice.”
Clooney travelled to Queensland with wife Amal Clooney and their twin children, spending six weeks on Hamilton Island before shifting to the Gold Coast.
Roberts, who travelled without her family, had rented the house just below the Clooneys at the Queensland holiday destination and the pair would yell ‘caa-caa’ to check in with each other early in the mornings.
In Ticket to Paradise, which is in Australian cinemas from September 15, the pair play divorced parents who travel to Bali to stop their daughter from rushing into a marriage as they did.
The acting stars first met filming Oceans 11 (2001) and Clooney said at the time they “sat on the floor of a hotel and made jokes for about five hours”.
When they were both sent the script for Ticket to Paradise simultaneously, they agreed they would only do it if the other signed on.
The cast also included Kaitlyn Dever, Billie Lourd, Maxime Bouttier and Lucas Bravo.
“George and I are both really motivated by making people laugh and it was our great joy whenever we would do something where we could hear all laughing across the set at the monitor,” Roberts said.
“To work in an environment like this was really joyful. And to be on an island with no place to run, we got to spend really sweet time all together, just getting to know one another and sharing that space in a really unique way, which was something that isn’t always afforded when you’re going home to your regular life every day after work.”
Clooney jibed, “it’s fun to work with friends – and Julia.”
Locations locals will spot in the film other than Hamilton Island include Brisbane’s CBD, Brisbane International Airport, Tangalooma and Mount Tamborine.
The cast joked about the variety of Australian wildlife they were warned about, with crew members monitoring Irukandji jellyfish and cone shells during filming.
“Everything is trying to kill you,” Roberts said.
“There’s a little frog that big, and ‘don’t touch it it’ll kill you’,” Clooney added, with Roberts continuing “A sea shell? No, that’s actually something that will kill you.”
“You had the world’s smallest jellyfish. They’re like, you get in the water they’ll kill you,” Clooney laughed.
The production was expected to generate $47m for the local economy and created more than 270 jobs for Queenslanders.
Ticket to Paradise is in cinemas Thursday, September 15
More Coverage
Armed to the teeth: Secrets of Brisbane’s most exclusive club
Neither money nor influence can buy you membership to this exclusive Brisbane club that boasts a guest list so high-profile it is kept top secret.
Damning waitlist stat sure to get under Queenslanders’ skin
People in Queensland have a harder time securing appointments and pay more for specialist dermatologists than anywhere else in Australia, new figures show, despite the state being the skin cancer capital of the world.