Baz Luhrmann: Film industry ‘way behind’ on governing AI
Baz Luhrmann has said the film industry is “way behind in terms of governance” of artificial intelligence.
The Australian director also told Sky News the deal US writers and actors unions made with studios and streaming platforms was “exactly right”.
“I think we need to play catch up in all fields in terms of proper governance and understanding of AI for sure,” he said.
“When it comes to my own creative journey in AI, I think it’s useful to do certain things [but] one thing AI can’t really do is be imperfect.
“And that is what art really is – it’s kind of imperfect.”
Baz Luhrmann directed the 2001 film version of Moulin Rouge
Luhrmann was in London to visit the cast and crew of the West End production of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, which recently welcomed its one millionth audience member since it opened in late 2017.
The film version, directed by Luhrmann and starring Nicole Kidman, was a smash hit when released in 2001.
Luhrmann said: “The great joy is that something that was conceived and created over 20 years ago is playing all over the world.
“In this particular production, even I find it hard to get a ticket.”
When Moulin Rouge was adapted into a stage production in 2018, Luhrmann left the musical in the hands of US writer and director Alex Timbers.
He commended his “brave steps that probably I wouldn’t have done, I would have been too frightened of all that new music”.
Instead, Luhrmann is affectionately known as Uncle Baz in the production and now prefers to be a spectator.
“It is so much fun to be able to just come to something you’re associated with and just come to opening night with a gin and tonic and go ‘oh, kids, it’s fabulous, keep going’ and not actually have to make it.”
Luhrmann, who has revisited his 2008 film Australia as part of his latest series Faraway Downs, said a reboot of Moulin Rouge was off the cards – but work is under way to adapt his 2022 Oscar-nominated film Elvis for the stage.
Baz Luhrmann at an Elvis screening in London in 2022
The actors who have just taken over the leading parts in Moulin Rouge have said it was “amazing to step into the roles”.
Dom Simpson, 28, and Tanisha Spring, 38, play Christian and Satine in Moulin Rouge at the Piccadilly Theatre in the West End.
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The pair took on the roles around six weeks ago.
Simpson said performing every night is “so much fun”, adding: “We get to play around on stage… and we have such a good time. The energy in the audience is phenomenal. We’re so blessed that when we step out on stage, you just feel that, what we call the final cast member.
“That’s when it really comes alive for us. And long may that continue.”
Performers from the Moulin Rouge when it opened in the West End in 2021
Spring previously worked as an alternate in the musical in 2021 and said it was “amazing” to step into the main role this year.
“Especially as I’ve had the privilege of watching some of these teams [before] – knowing how hard it was, but also knowing how much fun I was going to have,” she said.
Simpson added: “These roles are iconic, and to get the opportunity to play these roles, they don’t come around very often so I feel really fortunate.”
Angelina Jolie says although she appreciates being an artist, she would prefer for her legacy to be “a good mother” and to be known for her “belief in equality and human rights”.
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Maria Callas in the new Pablo Larrain film about the opera singer’s life.
Pic: StudioCanal
She has called Maria “the hardest” and “most challenging” role she has had in her career and put months of preparation into immersing herself into the world of opera.
Jolie, who recently reached a divorce settlement with actor Brad Pitt, told Sky News: “To be very candid, it was the therapy I didn’t realise I needed. I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out.
“So, the challenge wasn’t the technical [side of opera], it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself.”
The biopic combines the voice of the Maleficent actress with recordings of Maria Callas.
Jolie believes it “would be a crime to not have [Callas’] voice through this because, in many ways, she is very present in this film”.
Who was Maria Callas?
Born in New York in 1923, Maria Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants who moved back to Athens at the age of 13 with her mother and sister.
After enrolling at the Athens Conservatory, she made her professional debut at 17 and went on to become one of the most famous faces of opera, travelling around the world and performing at Covent Garden in London, The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan.
Callas’s final operatic performance took place at Covent Garden in 1965 when she was 41 but she continued to work conducting master classes at Juilliard School, doing concert tours and starring in the 1969 film Medea.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria focuses on the artist’s final years in the 1970s when she moved to Paris and disappeared from public view.
She died on 16 September 1977 at the age of 53.
Pic: StudioCanal
Jolie on changing motivations as an actor
Maria follows the life of an artist fully consumed by the art she creates and even remarks that “happiness never developed a beautiful melody”.
Reflecting on her own life in the spotlight, Jolie said she noticed her own career motivations change over the years.
“There’s this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it’s a connection.
“I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I’ve gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions.
“It’s a matter of life, right? And so maybe that’s interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn’t have understood in my 20s”.
Jolie at the New York Film Festival in September with three of her children (L-R) Pax, Zahara and Maddox. Pic: AP
A family affair
Two of Jolie’s children, Maddox and Pax, took on production assistant roles during the filming of Maria and witnessed their mother perform opera for the first time in public.
She says the film allowed them to create new experiences together and for her children to see her approach to playing a difficult role.
“Everyone in my home, we all give each other space to be who we are and we’re all different.
“I’m the mom, but I’m also an artist and a person and so my family has been very kind and gives me their understanding. They make fun of me, and they support me and just as you’d hope it would be.”
She adds: “When you play somebody who is dealing with so much pain, it’s very important to come home to some kindness.”
Maria is in cinemas now.
Tom Holland’s dad has confirmed his son’s engagement to Zendaya – revealing how the 28-year-old meticulously planned the proposal.
Zendaya, also 28, sparked engagement rumours when she attended last Sunday’s Golden Globes wearing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Zendaya arrived at the Golden Globes with a noticeable piece of new jewellery. Pic: Invision/AP
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”
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Zendaya rose to fame after landing a role in Disney sitcom Shake It Up, and became a household name after starring in Euphoria.
Holland – who has starred in three Spider-Man films opposite his now-fiancée – made his stage debut in Billy Elliot the Musical in 2008.
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