The people behind the cinematic legend relive the colour and chaos behind the scenes – and how one casting misstep might have changed everything.
At almost 1.45am on Monday, May 16, 1994, the closing credits rolled on the midnight screening of, in the 1068-seat Theatre Debussy, in the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France.
But it was not guaranteed. The film had doubters. A screening for San Francisco’s gay community ahead of Cannes ended in booing and hissing. And the US ABBA Fan Club went to war against the film, labelling it “disappointing and disgusting” in a fierce protest campaign. The same lack of fear was the “special sauce” in Elliott’s writing, Clark says. Writing about the making of the film back in 1995, Clark observed that the script had “just jumped out of Stephan’s head, which is why neither the concept nor the characters had a chance to be emasculated before they reached the page”.
“The chemistry of the three was so fundamental that we could never come up with a name without correspondingly judging that name against the kind of people we may have notionally cast in other roles,” Clark says. On the eve of the film’s 40-day shoot, Weaving, Pearce and Stamp were given makeovers and sent out, along with Clark, Elliott and other members of the crew, for a night on Sydney’s Oxford Street, visiting popular gay venues Gilligan’s and DCM. In the chaos that followed, each transformed almost immediately into their on-screen alter-egos.
Once filming was underway, however, Stamp struggled. “I think he just thought you just put on a dress and turn into Audrey Hepburn, and it wasn’t the case at all,” Gardiner says. “There were some moments there where it was a little bit tense. But he also just disappeared into the character of Bernadette as well, as much as he possibly could.”Chappel, who was big on spectacle, felt the three actors gave him permission to do whatever he wanted.
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