“It rained for the first time in 150 years..It Nearly killed me”: 60-Year-Old Actor Baz Luhrmann Reveals His Near Death Experience While Shooting a Movie Starring Hugh Jackman
Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann has opened up about his filmmaking journey with Deadline after the release of his iconic biopic Elvis. But that is not the only film that the 60-year-old discussed during the exchange. He also recalled the making of his 2008 project, Australia, starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. In his own words, the experience of directing the war romance “nearly killed” him but he decided to see it through despite the hurdles.
Baz Luhrmann recalled the ordeals of making the 2008 flick Australia
During the interview, The Great Gatsby director described the shooting of Australia.
“As a film-making experience, it was by far the most fraught. We were hit by equine flu… I went to the desert to shoot, and it rained for the first time in 150 years, so I had a grass-covered desert.”
But Luhrmann wasn’t one to give up. He claimed,
“It nearly killed me, but I wouldn’t give a day of it up at all…I was so down the road on that’.”
He further detailed the process,
“At one stage Martin Scorsese was involved, and we built studios in Morocco… it was such an adventure, but there came a time when, for personal reasons, I really couldn’t continue with it.”
Despite the struggles, the high-budget film ended up being a commercial failure in the USA, opening in fifth place at the Box Office.
A mini Australia reunion ft. Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman – the film’s leads
Australia is a war romance set in the second World War era revolving around an implausible love story between an Australian cattleman played by Hugh Jackman and an English aristocrat lady, portrayed by Nicole Kidman.
The two co-actors recently made headlines when the Eyes Wide Shut actress donated $100,000 to Jackman’s Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AID Over the Weekend charity auction.
The Prestige star then went on to describe Kidman as one of the most generous souls he had ever met.
As per reports, Luhrmann chose to work on Australia while giving up his place in the 2004 film Alexander the Great. Luhrmann had plans to take on Leonardo DiCaprio and Mel Gibson for the film. However, today we have an Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, Val Kilmer, Jared Leto, and Colin Farrell starrer, directed by Oliver Stone.
