Australia - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[melinda]

When Lady Ashley travels from England to Australia, the orchestral score is an homage to Johann Sebastian Bach's "Hunting Cantata" (BWV 208), especially the aria "Sheep may safely graze." Australian composer Percy Grainger used that cantata as a source of inspiration for some of his own compositions.

[kenzi]

Ironically, despite often being identified as an Australian, Nicole Kidman isn't a native Australian (she was actually born in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA) and neither is her character in the film. Lady Sarah Ashley is an English aristocrat.

[tom]

Filming began in spring 2007 and went on for nine hard months. Baz Luhrmann constantly re-shot scenes until he got things just the way he wanted. The project went well over budget, causing several scheduling problems. Australia itself was not very cooperative. Filming was delayed for days because of bad weather or poor lighting. The largest and most expensive set was completely flooded when huge rain showers hit a part of the country that rarely gets rain. Luhrmann was forced to secure more funding and make some compromises. Shooting of the final scenes moved from Darwin to Bowen because the local government provided 500,000 dollars to film there.

[lonnie]

Principal photography took nine months. Some re-shoots happened in late 2008.

[carl]

Nicole Kidman prepared for her role by touring the country with her family, riding horses, and even castrating bulls.

[marc]

Brian Brown starred in "A Town like Alice," which is about an English woman who meets an Australian soldier during WWII and returns to Australia after the war.

[frederick]

Hugh Jackman and David Wenham appeared together in "Van Helsing", however in that movie, instead of being the bad guy, Wenham's character is the friar side-kick. Wenham also appeared with Nicole Kidman in "Moulin Rouge".

[aaron]

This film's epilogue states: "The Australian Government officially abandoned the Assimilation Project for Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory in 1973. In 2008, the Prime Minister of Australia offered a formal apology to the members of the Stolen Generations."

[kyle]

Russell Crowe was attached as the lead during pre-production. He left when 20th Century Fox executives tried to stay within budget by reducing Crowe's salary.

[terry]

Nicole Kidman, who dislikes watching herself on screen, said of her performance: "I can't look at this movie and be proud of what I've done. It's just impossible for me to connect to it emotionally at all". However, she has expressed great enthusiasm about being part of the project, and enjoyed her co-stars' performance.

[elmer]

Ray Barrett's final film.

[jeffrey]

Brian Brown and Jack Fletcher starred together in 'Breaker Morant'.

[sylvia]

Nicole Kidman saved Hugh Jackman from a poisonous scorpion on the set. When she was about to join Hugh in the bag, she noticed a poisonous scorpion crawling up his leg. She calmly told him not to move, squatted down, scooped the arachnid into her hat, walked over to the woods, and released it. Everyone applauded, then asked why she hadn't just stomped on it. She replied, 'I would never kill an animal. Every creature here has its purpose. This one just didn't belong in Hugh's bag!"