If I had a word to describe Baz Luhrmann, it just might be inexhaustible. The director, whose latest film Elvis has turned into a global smash hit and is now generating major Oscar buzz, never seems to stop. He has been promoting the movie since its Cannes world premiere in May, and even before that, and now he is even thinking of plans to eventually expand the musical numbers in a special edition somewhere down the line.
When Luhrmann makes a movie, a TV series, directs an opera, works on music and recording or in the theatre, he gives it his all. It has been exactly 30 years since his first feature film, Strictly Ballroom. Since then, his movies have been among the top worldwide-grossing hits ever from an Australian filmmaker and of course include Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge, The Great Gatsby, Australia and now Elvis.
He joins me for this week’s edition of my Deadline video series Behind the Lens and talks about all of them, and more. Among our topics is the string of memorable parties he has been behind at Cannes; his connection to the multi-Tony-winning stage production of Moulin Rouge; how he personally can identify with Jay Gatsby in one particular way; and the new streaming version of his epic Australia, starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, which he has recut into six episodes creating a new experience altogether of the movie he says was not successful in America but remains his biggest hit ever in Europe.
Luhrmann is a unique presence in the world of entertainment, and we cover the waterfront of a remarkable career in our conversation, which you watch in the video above.
Join me every Friday during Oscar season for another edition of Behind the Lens.
