A word about Baz... from the stars of 'Moulin Rouge'!
When you watch the entertaining videos in 'The Stars' section of the Moulin Rouge DVD, one thing quickly becomes apparent. Each of the five principal actors openly talks about Baz Luhrmann and his works with great enthusiasm, and it is clear that everyone is eager to express their praise for him. Here's what the five principal cast members had to say about the wonderful Mr Luhrmann:
The following quotes are by:
Nicole Kidman
The lure of Baz
"If someone said to me, 'We have this musical do you want to be in it?', I would have
said no. But when I heard that Baz Luhrmann was making a musical, the same guy that had
done 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Strictly Ballroom', that's when I thought, 'Ah, this is
interesting.'"
Baz staying true to
his Aussie roots
"So much a part of the Australian film industry, so many of the actors are Australian
and he really still embraces where he came from and that's why I was so excited to go back
and do the film there and work with a lot of the crew that I'd worked with when I was
15."
Baz breaking boundaries
"It wasn't just about 'Oh, let's go and record in the studio and then we come on and
lip sync to it.' He really wanted us to challenge ourselves and so we sang a lot of the
numbers live. But that was pretty hair raising at times. I just would think, "Ah Baz,
there's 600 extras today, you're going to make me sing in front of all these people?"
But as soon as I stepped into the character, I'd be able to do it. It was if I stayed as
Nicole and thinking I'm going to have to sing in front of all these people and they're
going to judge me and decide whether I can or can't but as soon as I was Satine, it became
so much easier."
The importance of being Baz
"But I think it's also really important to have movies that are still trying
something different, that's Baz Luhrmann, his whole film making process is always about
trying something different, pushing the envelope. It was really one of those unusual but
creative and really satisfying kind of experiences."
The following quotes are by:
Ewan McGregor
The unstoppable
genius
"It's ultimately about love, the whole thing. It's about being in love and it's about
love itself. But how he's achieving that is on a scale I've never seen before in my life.
It's quite enormous. I heard somebody speak of Baz and I think it's true of the whole
project, that it's kind of walking on a high wire without a net. Baz is unstoppable,
unstoppable genius really and a perfectionist in the most beautiful sense of the word, you
know? He's quite amazing to work for, and he pushes you and stretches you and it's a good
job we made it in Australia because we've had the best support that you could ever hope
for here."
The following quotes are by:
John Leguizamo
Baz the Great
"Baz is so different from all the other filmmakers out there. He's very whimsical and
theatrical and his sense of reality is so different than all the other directors you ever
work with. I mean, he's this inventive, imaginative person (and) you never know what
you're going to get when you show up, you know? He comes up with ideas all the time, you
know, he's always thinking, always knows that things can be better, incredibly humble to
at the same time which is really unique."
The following quotes are by:
Jim Broadbent
Extraordinary Baz
"Baz is extraordinary. I mean, his sort of obsession but a love and a passion for his
work. Absolutely vital, I think, certainly in a big big project and he's got like this
fantastic imagination... He's pushing the film in every way - he's pushing it as far as it
will possibly go and that's terribly stimulating - very tiring and demanding on everyone.
The whole cast is a very happy group. It's been great working with Australian actors,
we're a happy bunch. It's certainly unlike anything I've ever done before and I don't
think anyone I've ever known has ever done anything like this before. I mean, it's on
another level. It's huge and bright and rich and textured and noisy. Musicals - people
don't make musicals - and these are big musical numbers."
The following quotes are by:
Richard Roxborough
Spectacular
Spectacular Baz!
"I understand Napolean used to sleep for about 3 hours a night, Baz is the same. The
work with him is about just positivity, it's just coming from the standpoint that we're
here to enjoy it. Even when we're doing incredibly long hours and really difficult stuff,
the thing has to come from a position of joy in the work, otherwise it's not worthwhile
doing, and that's really the way that I've always felt about this occupation. There has to
be a kind of love in the work and really that's what he brings to it. He brings a complete
energy of joy and love in what he's doing and it's completely infectious. It goes through
the entire cast and crew, everybody feels it."
