International celebrities still call Australia home after COVID closed borders
Overseas-based Aussie stars fled home, while Hollywood stalwarts moved here for work and found themselves putting down roots as COVID took hold.
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Overseas-based Aussie celebrities fled home and Hollywood stars moved here for work and found themselves putting down roots as COVID closed international borders and ravaged the US and Europe.
Some stars like Zac Efron and Kate Walsh initially came for short stays, but have found themselves staying indefinitely.
Take a peek at those who have called Australia home this year.
TOM HANKS AND RITA WILSON
It was a case of bad timing for Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, who tested positive for coronavirus the same day it was officially declared a global pandemic.
The 64-year-olds were in Brisbane at the time, telling fans via Instagram, “We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches … Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus, and were found to be positive.”
While Hanks was admitted to hospital for a period, the Forrest Gump star assured the public he was safe and well, and within weeks the duo returned to their home in the US.
The couple were even able to return to the Gold Coast in September to continue filming Baz Luhrmann’s latest biopic, Elvis, which Hanks is set to star.
ZAC EFRON
What was scheduled as a quiet holiday quickly turned into a full blown love affair for Zac Efron, after the High School Musical star’s three month Australian getaway became an indefinite relocation.
Touching down in June, sources close to the A-lister said Efron simply wanted to ride out the coronavirus pandemic in peace before filming began on his upcoming Stan series, Gold, which is being filmed in Adelaide.
But within weeks of landing Down Under, Efron had struck up a romance with Byron Bay local Vanessa Valladares and extended his visa for a further 12 months.
In the months that followed, the couple reportedly travelled the country together, celebrated his birthday with a lavish party filled with local celebs, and were even looking at purchasing a permanent pad together.
Sadly, things were all over between the two by November, with the romance proving to be just another COVID confinement fling.
LIAM NEESON
He may be Hollywood royalty, but there was no special treatment for Liam Neeson when he arrived in Australia to star in his upcoming movie, Blacklight.
The 68-year-old Irishman underwent two weeks of mandatory self-isolation in Sydney before touching down in Melbourne, where the majority of the upcoming $43 million action thriller is set to be filmed.
Since his November arrival, Neeson has been spotted out and about filming scenes in South Yarra and Noble Park, eating lunch along the Yarra River, taking strolls along South Bank, and hanging out near the Melbourne Convention Centre, which has been turned into a makeshift set for the film.
Neeson, along with the rest of the film’s cast and crew, seems to have embraced the state’s strict mandatory mask policy, with the Taken star seen donning disposable masks between takes and whenever he’s not filming. Talk about leading by example.
NATALIE PORTMAN
It’s not every day you see an Oscar winner at the local Woolworths pushing a trolley, but Natalie Portman seems to be enjoying the quiet – and very regular – life during her life in Australia.
The Black Swan star is currently based in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Double Bay while filming Marvel’s latest instalment, Thor: Love and Thunder, in which she plays Chris Hemsworth’s love interest, Jane Foster.
The 39-year-old vegan is visiting with her husband Benjamin Millepied and their two children Aleph, nine, and Amalia, three.
Prior to filming, the four spent a mandatory two weeks in quarantine before holidaying in Hemsworth’s hometown of Byron Bay alongside a slew of other famous faces.
According to Sydney locals, the super star has been spotted a handful of times in recent weeks dining at local cafes and restaurants, and yes, even doing the grocery shopping.
KATE WALSH
A holiday to WA turned into an indefinite stay for Kate Walsh earlier this year.
The Grey’s Anatomy star was visiting Perth in March when borders closed, and instead of trying to head back to her home in the US, Walsh settled in and began exploring the many wonders of the stunning state.
“There’s so much to explore and see,” Walsh told The West Live podcast. “I’m just in love with it,” she said, adding that Rottnest Island, Broome and Ningaloo Reef have been among her favourite spots.
Walsh, who now has an extended working visa, also kept busy starring in the Freemantle Theatre Company’s latest production, The Other Place.
“As much as I would like to be able to go home and come back, there are surges and different rounds [of COVID] coming. How it’s been handled here … is so exemplary and I feel very fortunate to be able to have a normal life here,” Walsh said.
ISLA FISHER AND SACHA BARON COHEN
If Australia’s latest returns are anything to go by, NSW is in the midst of a mass Hollywood migration.
Having called Los Angeles home for over a decade, Aussie comedy queen Isla Fisher and her British husband Sasha Baron-Cohen appear to have made their recent trip to Sydney a permanent one, enrolling their three young kids into a local school and spending their days scoping out dining spots in the beachside suburb of Coogee.
While 44-year-old Fisher has been spotted working from a laptop at a number of local cafes, Baron-Cohen seems to be taking a break after the global success of his latest mockumentary, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. The 49-year-old has been seen swimming laps of Bronte pool and taking strolls with pals.
And while Fisher may hail from Perth, Sydney is surely a city closer to the couple’s heart given it’s where they first met and fell in love almost 20 years ago.
MARK WAHLBERG
The Hollywood star of Transformers and Boogie Nights avoided local COVID quarantine and choosing a $400,000 private self-isolation stint in Byron Bay to film a TV campaign for the Ladbrokes betting agency.
Super-fit father of four Wahlberg, 49, is believed to have brought in a full gym set-up for the property to keep his health in check.
He flew back to Sydney after quarantine to shoot the commercial.
SARAH SNOOK
A visit home took an unexpected turn for Sarah Snook when she found herself in the nation’s COVID-19 hotspot, Melbourne, and faced months of lockdown.
The Succession star had originally planned to spend just a few weeks in her native country, but with filming for the next season of her HBO drama delayed, the 33-year-old chose to stick it out and make the most of her time off.
Snook joined the 2020 Emmys via Zoom from her lounge room (she was nominated in the Best Supporting actor category for her portrayal as Siobhan ‘Shiv’ Roy but lost out to Julia Garner) and celebrated the show’s group wins in her bathtub with champagne and a tinfoil statue made by her flatmate.
Speaking to former Prime Minister Julia Gillard on A Podcast of One’s Own in November, Snook said Shiv’s “dubious moral compass” appeals to her as an actor, adding, “I don’t agree with her, but I like to back her.”
NICOLE KIDMAN
A string of Hollywood stars descended on the trendy coastal town of Byron Bay led by Nicole Kidman and the cast of her upcoming Hulu drama, Nine Perfect Strangers.
The Oscar-winner, her husband Keith Urban and the couple’s two daughters Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret moved into a $20,000-a-week eco mansion rental.
The rest of the cast, including Oscar nominee Melissa McCarthy and her actor husband Ben Falcone, Beauty and the Beast star Luke Evans, as well as Manny Jacinto and Bobby Cannavale (whose significant other is Australian actor Rose Byrne), joined them in Byron, as did Australian star-on-the-rise Samara Weaving.
Set in fictionalised wellness resort Tranquillum, Nine Perfect Strangers – rumoured to be a $100 million production – was filmed at luxury retreat Soma Byron Bay.
Though the influx of celebrities to the coastal town drew a mixed reaction from Byron locals, some of whom were less than impressed at the disruption.
ADRIAN GRENIER
Entourage star has been in Melbourne most of the year shooting miniseries, Clickbait.
Sightings of the 44-year-old, who played Hollywood star Vinnie Chase on cult HBO series, have dated back to January and the 2020 Australian Open, until as recently as last month in the trendy suburb of Fitzroy, where he has often been spotted in female company.
The enviro activist seems to have taken up woodwork as a hobby while Down Under, crafting a stool at The Shed.
“Thanks The Shed Melbourne for sharing your tools. Check out their studio, a great wood-work-share,” he posted on Instagram.
IDRIS ELBA
British actor Idris Elba touched down in Sydney to star in George Miller’s upcoming movie, Three Thousand Years of Longing.
The Avengers star has been spotted taking a morning stroll in Drummoyne and out with his model wife Sabrina having lunch at Apollo in Potts Point.
The couple have kept a low profile since arriving in Sydney last month, where they went through the mandatory two-week COVID quarantine period.
Elba, 48, is one of the highest profile Hollywood stars to have contracted the virus earlier in the pandemic.
Production on Miller’s film was due to begin in March but was pushed back due to coronavirus.
It is Miller’s first movie since 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road.
MIRANDA KERR
The Australian supermodel returned home last month via private jet.
It was reported that the trip Down Under from her Los Angeles base was for private family reasons, with a report suggesting it was a “mercy dash” due to the health of an older relative.
Kerr, 37, flew in with her sons her sons Flynn, 9, Hart, 2, and 13-month-old Myles, while her husband, Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel, joined her in Sydney shortly after.
The couple kept a low profile while in the country. Spiegel avoided hotel quarantine, with NSW police confirming that he was “compliant with the Public Health (COVID-19 Air Transportation Quarantine) Order (No 2) 2020, which states a person can put a proposal forward to acquire independent locations meeting the same standards as NSW Police-managed hotels to be nominated as ‘Quarantine Facilities’ as allowed under the Public Health Order”.
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