New photos show Baz Luhrmann’s transformation over the years

Now 61, legendary Australian director Baz Luhrmann is barely recognisable from the boyish upstart who burst onto the scene in the early 90s.

Baz Luhrmann circa 1997 and today.

Legendary Australian director Baz Luhrmann stepped out at the Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of the new film by another Aussie director, George Miller.

Walking the red carpet for the premiere of Miller’s latest Mad Max film Furiosa, a silver-haired Luhrmann, 61, looked virtually unrecognisabl from the boyish director who first burst into the spotlight in the early 90s.

Baz Luhrmann hits the red carpet in Cannes. Picture: AFP

The early years: Baz circa 1996.

Luhrmann first shot to fame more than 30 years ago with his directorial debut, the 1992 smash hit Strictly Ballroom.

Four years later he followed that up with an acclaimed adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, with Nicole Kidman vehicles Moulin Rouge and Australia following in 2001 and 2008 respectively.

2013 saw another hugely successful Luhrmann adaptation, this time of the novel The Great Gatsby, while his most recent film was the 2022 biopic Elvis, another huge hit.

While his output hasn’t been hugely prolific – six movies in 32 years – Luhrmann’s hit rate has seen him become the most commercially successful Australian director in history. Four of his films sit among the 10 highest-grossing Australian movies of all time.

Baz was there to see the new Mad Max film, Furiosa. Picture: AFP

Luhrmann in 1997, aged 35.

Luhrmann recently tackled an unusual new endeavour: Reworking Australia as a six-part limited series for the small screen called Faraway Downs. The reworking featured much footage left on the cutting room floor during the making of the original 165-minute film.

Throughout it all, his partner and creative collaborator has been costume designer Catherine Martin. The pair met at university before marrying in 1997, and have two children together: 20-year-old daughter Lilian and son William, 18.

Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin at last week’s Met Gala. Picture: Aliah Anderson/Getty

Luhrmann and Martin made a red carpet appearance together earlier this month in their adopted home of New York, the couple stepping out arm in arm for the 2024 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Luhrmann revealed one of the keys to the couple’s longevity in a 2014 interview: They sleep in separate beds.

“We worked out a long time ago that we both need space. We are surrounded by our teams of staff all day, every day, whether travelling, at work, and at our homes,” he told the Daily Mail.

“I was finding I was saying things in passing that weren’t properly thought through, things would become fraught. We both needed time to ourselves.”