Olivia's At Home - Wilde Girls
AUSTRALIA’S singing and acting sweetheart, Olivia Newton-John, and an 80-strong film crew yesterday took over shady Walton Street in Southport. Olivia, 53, is filming The Wilde Girls, a US cable telemovie.
Olivia said she was enjoying filming on the Gold Coast. “It’s a lovely location,” she said.
Scenes were shot in the front yard of a Walton Street house with co-star, American Swoosie Kurtz. Yesterday the quiet Southport street doubled for Los Angeles.
The pretty house where yesterday’s scenes were shot is owned by Lorna Kuhn, a resident since 1963. Lorna, who first thought the request to film on her property was a joke, had a chance for a quick chat with Olivia when they posed for a photograph together. “She said the house was lovely. We were talking about my garden when she was taken away to film her scene,” said Ms Kuhn.
Producer Merrill Karpf said yesterday’s scene involved Olivia’s character returning to the house she lived in while still a struggling performer.
Another of Olivia’s co-stars is her real-life daughter Chloe, 15, who plays her on-screen daughter. “It’s been wonderful sharing a set with my daughter,” said the Australian star.
The film traces Chloe’s character’s showbiz ambitions, which take her, and mother, to Los Angeles.
Also enjoying the shooting were local residents Nancy Atkinson and Joyce Hage. “We’re both 80, so it’s a little bit of excitement in our lives,” joked Ms Hage. Ms Hage, herself a showbiz veteran, has been singing since she was a youngster and had a part in a British film during the ’60s. “It was called The 21. I had a speaking part and was paid three pounds a day,” she said.
The normally quiet Walton Street was transformed into a mini-Hollywood with trucks, crew and film equipment spilling onto the road.
Locals Vanessa Jarvis and Grahame Smith said the disruption had not inconvenienced them. “I was going to go shopping, but I thought I’d stay around and watch the action,” said Vanessa. “I’ve got no complaints. It’s definitely something to look at,” said Grahame.
Several Coast locations have been used, including Griffith University’s new recording studios, which served as the location where Chloe records her demo tapes.
The Wilde Girls has been filming on the Coast since March 21 and will continue until late April, with filming at Currumbin, Movie World and Brisbane Road, Labrador.
The Wilde Girls is one of many movies filmed on the Gold Coast in the past two years in what is a growth industry that has generated millions of dollars for the region and brought many stars to our shores. Hollywood actor Bil1 Zane arrived on the Coast this week to start filming the action movie The Diamonds of Jeru at Movie World. Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr and Rowan Atkinson were also staying on the Coast during the filming of the ScoobyDoo movie.
By Sam Cleveland
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