Elvis director Baz Luhrmann up close and personal on Gold Coast
As Baz Luhrmann greets me at the door of his Star Gold Coast suite, he looks me dead in the eye and says: “Congrats on your big court win - (you have) major Johnny Depp vibes.”
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As Baz Luhrmann greets me at the door of his Star Gold Coast suite, he looks me dead in the eye and says: “Congrats on your big court win.”
I have “major Johnny Depp vibes”, he adds, saying I could pass as the Hollywood A-lister.
“I know Johnny a bit and have only met Amber (Heard) once.”
“I won’t go into who said or did what. A bit of alcohol, yes, but Johnny violent - never”, Luhrmann tells the Bulletin.
Luhrmann looks relaxed in the quintessential director’s uniform - all black - as he gears up for the Australian premiere of Elvis on Saturday night.
The star-studded red carpet extravaganza is just a stone’s throw from his hotel room at Event Cinemas Pacific Fair.
Luhrmann admits when star Tom Hanks was struck down with Covid days before shooting was to start on the Gold Coast, he thought the project was “doomed”.
But then says are some things he relished about life in lockdown on the Glitter Strip.
“I had a cellar full of amazing wine, I’d dress up every night and took my tinny out on the Nerang river and went fishing for three months,” Luhrmann says.
He recalls the exact moment on set when Hanks tested positive and an assistant director ran up to him to break the news.
“The A.D said I think Tom’s got that cold -and all of a sudden we were taken away in a van by guys in Hazmat suits.
“The police would come and check on us every day and they ended up putting green tape all around the large estate we were living in on the Nerang River.”
While the Coast’s laidback vibe brought the superstar director here to film his latest blockbuster, he has also decided to take up permanent residence.
Luhrmann confirms he is now living on the Gold Coast, and it’s nice to have a change of pace from the likes of New York and Paris, where he also owns homes.
“I love that I can send my kids to school and it’s a relaxed, beachy vibe.
“The difference between here and other places I’ve lived is the people are actually happy.
“It feels very safe to be out and about. We can live a very normal life and we love that.”
Luhrmann says at one time he lived in Miami, Florida, behind “a certain gentleman named Gianni Versace”.
He used to stroll up and down the street and was well known in the public eye and we all know what happened to him,” Luhrmann said.
“But you don’t get that on the Gold Coast - you can walk around and feel normal and say hi to people without worrying. I don’t want that to ever change.”
Luhrmann said he “wouldn’t even blink” before thinking about shooting his next film on the Gold Coast.
“I love the Gold Coast. I’d film my next movie here in a heartbeat.”
Luhrmann said making Elvis was a “massive” research effort, where he wanted to avoid the stigma surrounding “the most impersonated man in the world”.
“Who was Elvis really? He was spiritual,” he said.
“But those moments behind closed doors, like his anger, had to come from an invented place. The only point of reference I had was my conversations with Priscilla (Presley).
“We all think we know Elvis but he’s wallpaper. So Austin (Butler) really had to embody the spirit and humanity of the man and I believe he achieved that.”
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