Visionary director Baz Luhrmann has opened up about the highs and lows of his legendary career on the latest episode of How to Fail with Elizabeth Day. Known for the maximalist "Red Curtain" style of films like Romeo + Juliet and Elvis, Luhrmann revealed that his creative process is often a form of self-medication, particularly when a project concludes. "Look, when I'm finishing a big project, I go on a kind of, I call it ‘the methadone program’," he explained, "which usually entails going on some journey and acting like a fool and getting smashed a lot and growing old disgracefully."
The director also offered a rare glimpse into his thirty-year partnership with Catherine Martin, his primary visual collaborator and wife. "I mean, my stuff is really camp, and our relationship is, well camp in one regard," he noted, while emphasizing the "profound trust" they share. Describing their initial meeting above a Sydney brothel, Luhrmann recalled a conversation about Bertolt Brecht and Madonna that lasted hours: "I just know we've always been together and it's a truly real relationship." He joked that his children keep him grounded by mocking him, adding, "Sometimes they call me RuPaul."
Luhrmann’s path to success was not without periods of intense struggle. He recalled falling into a "dark, dark depression" after leaving drama school and again following scathing reviews of his early theatre company. "I was so dark and so lost, I couldn't get out of bed," he told Day, reflecting on a time when he would simply sit by the ocean staring at the water. These experiences informed his filmmaking style, as he believes "if you have pain in your life, you tend not to want to make films about pain," preferring instead to create works with "universality" that are "made for the future."
The interview also touched on the accidental nature of his casting process, with Luhrmann admitting he "forgot to tell" Austin Butler he had been cast as Elvis because they were already so deep into the collaborative work. Finally, Luhrmann expressed a wish for a modern revival of his 1999 hit, "Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen." Given the current global climate, he suggested: "I reckon they should remix it and re-release it because it does seem to cut through ugly noise."
How to Fail with Elizabeth Day is available wherever you get your podcasts.
