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Quart Pot the mule with Julie Read at Darkes Forest Riding Ranch. Picture: HANK van STUIVENBERG

Quart Pot does all donkey work

BY JODIE MINUS

8/11/2008 4:00:00 AM

Don't be fooled by his relaxed attitude - if this mule could talk he'd spill the beans about life on set with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman on filmmaker Baz Luhrmann's highly anticipated blockbuster, Australia.

Now living at Darkes Forest Riding Ranch, Quart Pot the mule - his mother is a horse and his father is a donkey - was one of many animal extras on the set of the Luhrmann epic, due in cinemas on November 18.

Quart Pot played "Sing-Song's mule" in the film, which follows English aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman) as she inherits a cattle station in northern Australia. Sing-Song is the chef to Lady Ashley.

Quart Pot's role took him from filming in Bowen, Queensland, to Darwin and all around the Top End.

The mule arrived to live with Julie Read at Darkes Forest Riding Ranch in September, when his contract with 20th Century Fox expired and Luhrmann sent a letter saying he was glad Quart Pot had found a good home.

Ms Read said the eight-year-old dull bay-coloured mule had been receiving the star treatment since his arrival and that he displayed some unusual tricks, which he probably picked up on set.

"He gets a lot of feed and ... he loves licorice," Ms Read said.

"He does lay down with us, and he will pull the saddle blanket off when you put it on."

To celebrate Quart Pot's screen debut, Ms Read has hired out a cinema in Cronulla for an exclusive screening of the film on November 27.

Thompson predicts Oscar haul for Australia

Australian screen legend Jack Thompson has predicted Baz Luhrmann's film Australia will get at least two Academy Award nominations when the shortlist is announced in January.

Australia will be released nationally on November 26, and the all-star cast are not allowed to reveal any of its secrets.

But Thompson, who plays elder statesman Kipling Flynn, said he would bet on it being an Oscar contender.

"We've never made a picture like this before - it's huge, it's wonderful," Thompson told AAP.

"Mandy's (Mandy Walker) cinematography is fabulous, she's a wonderful cinematographer.

"I'd be very surprised if she's not nominated in the Oscars for cinematography, and of course CM's (Catherine Martin) art direction."

Thompson will see the completed film for the first time at the world premiere on November 18 in Sydney.

The film's stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman are yet to see a final cut of the film, which Luhrmann is rushing to complete.

Thompson said such a big production would always have its knockers, but he believed Luhrmann had another hit on his hands.

"There's no doubt that when a film is highly anticipated, highly publicised, there's bound to be those who will criticise it for whatever fault they may find in it, but we've never made a film like this one," he said.

"I can only say that I believe it's going to be a successful film."

Thompson has enjoyed plenty of success this year.

He filmed a cameo in director Bruce Beresford's adaptation of Mao's Last Dancer, and the television series he hosts, Find My Family, has been confirmed for a second series.

The show, which reconnects families that have lost touch, has been a consistent ratings performer for the Seven Network this year.

"It's done incredibly well," he said.

"(A second series) is confirmed, we've just started and there are some incredible stories coming together.

"I think it's a wonderfully positive piece of television in a world in which we're being told everything is falling apart and then you see people coming together like that."

A stockman to the stars

November 15, 2008

By TORI MAINEY

GOOMBURRA farmer Hugh Barnet will swap his Akubra and RM Williams for a tux and tie as he walks down the red carpet with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman at the world premiere of the epic film Australia.

It will be the first time Mr Barnet will see the finished product to which he dedicated more than two years as the film's cattle supervisor.

"It was an intense experience (for everyone) from the director down," Mr Barnet said.

But it was not all glitz and glamour for Mr Barnet and his 1500 head of cattle.

"It might be glamorous for a couple of people," Mr Barnet said.

"Nicole Kidman was saying how it was really tough but she was flown in on helicopter from her five-star hotel.

"She hadn't been out there in swags waking up at 3am."

Mr Barnet was in control of everything and everyone involved with cattle on set.

"I was the one they would point the finger at and say 'hey, your cattle made a mess on the streets of Bowen go clean it up'.

"I had calls in the middle of the night from people asking if I could keep the cattle quiet."

He also worked closely with Hugh Jackman, who did most of his own riding scenes.

"He was always so great to everyone, no matter who you were," Mr Barnet said.

"He always asked what to do and he said to me 'I'm supposed to be a stockman, how would you do it?'."

Working alongside director Baz Luhrmann was one of the highlights for Mr Barnet.

"He is just so enthusiastic and he was always asking advice from people," he said.

"It was always 'can we do this?' or 'can this be done?' "He wanted to run 800 head of cattle down a street in Bowen and pull up at the end and when I said we could, his next question was 'well, instead of just 10 cattle wide can we do it with 50?'."

Mr Barnet became involved in Australia after being recognised for his work as a camel trainer on the 1985 feature Burke and Wills.

"It came at a good time with the drought, you don't do it for the love of it but it's an interesting job," he said. The film launches in Sydney on Tuesday night at the George Street Greater Union cinemas.

"Usually with premieres they have a different screening for the crew but Australia will have us all together with 3000 people in five cinemas," Mr Barnet said.

"It's just typical of Baz; he wants everyone to be involved."

RHPS Magenta wrote:

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Was Hugh not flow in by helecopter too? Or is this when he was sleeping in the caravan with oscar? Anway...

Good to hear another perspective, ta!

New Baby for David Wenham
Posted by Whit Honea at 4:45 PM on December 16, 2008

You may have noticed that David Wenham has been absent from the media blitz that is the Australia promotion tour.

Okay, you may not have noticed. Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman take up a lot of spotlight.

It is rumored that Wenham has not joined the promotion because he and Kate Agnew have welcomed a baby girl. Millie is their second child and was born, according to sources, two weeks ago.

Congrats!

CAST MEMBERS: Actors Brandon Walters (front) and David Gulpilil