Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are greeted by shrieks when they arrive at 6:20 p.m. for the Australia premiere held at NYC’s Ziegfeld Theatre.
Why should we see this epic World War II drama shot in the Northern Territory and Western Australia – featured in my Australia travel story in the OK! out now?
“It celebrates love and it celebrates life, and I think that sort of thing is good for the world right now,” Sunday Rose’s mom says, with hubby Keith on her arm.
Heavily pregnant Naomi Watts, Famke Janssen, Helena Christensen, John Leguizamo, Padma Lakshmi and Ashleigh Banfield troll through. Lydia Hearst and Kelsey Grammer chat.
Here’s Olivia Newton-John, who is lovingly holding hubby John Easterling. What does she miss most about Australia?
“The bird songs in the air because there are more species of birds – and you don’t realize until you leave there – how much song there is in the air that you don’t hear here and you don’t hear anywhere else,” she tells me. “There’s a sense of freedom and beauty in Australia that there is nowhere else.”
Hugh Jackman waves, and wife Deborra-Lee Furness jokes about his swelling ego. “I always thought he was the sexiest man alive,” she laughs.
Director Baz (rhymes with “jazz,” his rep says - ha!) Luhrmann reveals a precious moment he shared with Nicole.
“There’s a big scene that happens under that boab tree, and I bring it back to do close-ups,” he says. “She said to me [flails hands] … Whenever she does this thing with her hands, it’s like she has a fan. I’m like ‘yes, dear one?’ She said ‘I’m pregnant.’ And she burst into tears. I was tearful, too.”
How has Nicole changed since she welcomed daughter Sunday Rose in July?
“She’s changed, but she doesn’t change,” Baz reveals. “She grows, she matures, she learns, we learn, we become more mature with each other. She cuts to the chase more. Time wasting is the greatest lesson of life, I think. How not to waste time, because it’s the most precious commodity.”
Australia is in theaters now.
And, pick up the OK! out now (cover line: “Reese Witherspoon: Back On Top!”) to read about my Australian Outback adventure pegged to the sights you’ll see in this film.
My trip to Northern Territory and Western Australia was out of this world. I stayed in wildlife luxury accommodations such as Bamurru Plains (it was see-through, but they said the animals couldn’t see inside), Bullo River Station, El Questro Homestead (Kylie Minogue’s favorite. I could ’ve spent the rest of my life in their Zebedee Springs!), Home Valley Station and Moonshadow Villas.
My trip was jampacked with scenic cruises, crocodile spotting, waterfall swims, private planes, helicopter flights, horseback riding and Aboriginal art. And, I ate crocodile and saw wallabys. I greatly enjoyed the pink diamonds at Kimberley Fine Diamonds in Kununurra. Hugh Jackman even went crocodile-spotting at the owner’s home. Loved it!
Nicole Kidman flies in from Nashville to present the Excellence in the Arts Award to her Australia writer/director/producer Baz Luhrmann during the Jacob’s Creek New York Black Tie Gala held Friday.
