Baz Luhrmann | |
|---|---|
 Luhrmann in 2021 | |
| Born | Mark Anthony Luhrmann (1962-09-17)17 September 1962 (age 63) |
| Education | National Institute of Dramatic Art (BFA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Full list |
| Website | bazmark.com |
Bazmark[2]Anthony "Baz"LuhrmannAC (born 17 September 1962) is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor whose various projects extend from film and television into opera, theatre, music and the recording industries. He is regarded by some as a contemporary example of anauteur[3] for his style and deep involvement in the writing, directing, design and musical components of all his work. He is the most commercially successful Australian director, and four of his films are in the top ten highest worldwide grossingAustralian films ever.[4][5]
On the screen, he is best known for hisRed Curtain Trilogy, comprising the romantic comedy filmStrictly Ballroom (1992) and the romantic tragediesWilliam Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996) andMoulin Rouge! (2001). Following the trilogy, projects includedAustralia (2008),The Great Gatsby (2013),Elvis (2022) and the television period dramaThe Get Down (2016) forNetflix. Additional projects include stage productions ofGiacomo Puccini'sLa bohème for bothOpera Australia andBroadway, andStrictly Ballroom the Musical (2014). In September 2025 he is expected to release his first documentary,EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert.
Luhrmann is known for hisGrammy Award-nominated soundtracksforMoulin Rouge! andforThe Great Gatsby, as well as his record label House of Iona, a co-venture withRCA Records.[6] Serving as producer on all his musical soundtracks, he also holds writing credits on many of the individual tracks. His albumSomething for Everybody features music from many of his films and also includes his hit "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)".
Mark Anthony Luhrmann was born inSydney, New South Wales, on 17 September 1962. His mother, Barbara Carmel (née Brennan), was a ballroom dance teacher and dress shop owner, and his father, Leonard Luhrmann, ran a petrol station and a cinema.[7][8] He was raised inHerons Creek, a tiny rural settlement in mid-northernNew South Wales. He attended St Joseph's Hastings Regional School,Port Macquarie (1975–1978);St Paul's Catholic College, performing in the school's version of Shakespeare'sHenry IV, Part 1; andNarrabeen Sports High School, where he met his future collaboratorCraig Pearce.[9]
Luhrmann received the nickname "Baz" at school, given to him because of his hairstyle, the name coming from the puppet characterBasil Brush. While still in high school, Luhrmann changed his name bydeed poll to Bazmark, joining his nickname and birth name together.[2] In 1980 Luhrmann graduated from high school, and in the same year was cast oppositeJudy Davis in the Australian filmWinter of Our Dreams.[10] In 1982, using the money he had earned from film and television work, he funded his own theatre company, The Bond Theatre Company.[citation needed] The company performed atthe pavilion at Sydney's Bondi Beach. At the same time, he conceived and appeared in a controversial television documentary,Kids of theCross, where Luhrmann, embedded as a character, lived with a group of street kids.[11] In 1983 he enrolled in an acting course at theNational Institute of Dramatic Art. He graduated in 1985 alongsideSonia Todd,Catherine McClements andJustin Monjo.[12]
On 26 January 1997 he marriedCatherine Martin, aproduction designer,costume designer andfilm producer; the couple have two children.[13] When asked in interviews about his sexuality, Luhrmann has said that he sees all sexual possibilities.[3][14][15]
Luhrmann supports theMelbourne Demons in theAustralian Football League.[16]
After theatrical successes, including the short playStrictly Ballroom which premiered at theWharf Theatre, Luhrmann moved into film. He made his directorial debut with the 1992 film version ofStrictly Ballroom.
Luhrmann's modern film interpretationRomeo + Juliet (1996), based on theWilliam Shakespeare play and starringLeonardo DiCaprio andClaire Danes, defeatedTitanic at the BAFTAs for best direction, music and screenplay. The film was celebrated at the Berlin Film Festival, where it was recognised with the Golden Bear award for direction and Silver Bear for DiCaprio's performance. Luhrmann also produced both volumes of the soundtrack album, which went triple-platinum.[17]
Luhrmann'sAcademy Award-winning musicalMoulin Rouge! (2001), set in theMontmartre quarter of Paris at the dawn of the 20th century, told the story of an English poet and writer, Christian (Ewan McGregor), who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and courtesan, Satine (Nicole Kidman). The film was praised by its adherents, including the musical directorsRobert Wise andStanley Donen, as having re-invented the modern musical, blending decades of popular music in remixes and mash-ups.[18] The film was named one of the AFI's top ten films of 2001[19] and in 2010 was chosen as the top film of the 2000s decade in a poll of 150,000 respondents in the United Kingdom.[20] At the 59th Annual Golden Globes,Moulin Rouge! took home the awards forBest Motion Picture,Best Actress andBest Original Score.[21] The film also gave birth to a successful soundtrack album, produced by Luhrmann, which sold more than seven million copies and went double-platinum, led by the Grammy-winning number one hit single "Lady Marmalade".[22][17]
Luhrmann's 2008 historical epicAustralia featured some of the country's most celebrated actors, includingNicole Kidman,Hugh Jackman, andDavid Gulpilil. Situated between the two World Wars, the film blended a nostalgic romance with major events from Australian history, including theBombing of Darwin, and the true story of theStolen Generations, wherein thousands of mixed-race Aboriginal children were stolen from their families by the state and forcibly integrated into white society. The movie's racial politics were controversial for their time, and notably, its production coincided with Prime MinisterKevin Rudd's 2008Apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples.Marcia Langton, a professor of Australian indigenous studies at theUniversity of Melbourne, publicly supported the film, saying "Luhrmann depicts with satirical sharpness the racial caste system of that time... In his imagined cinema of the 1940s, the spatial and social shape of racism is reconstructed with such exact detail, I felt I had been transported back to my own childhood."[23] While achieving modest box office success in the United States, the film was very successful in Europe, maintaining the #1 slot at the box office for many weeks in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Scandinavian countries.[24] It is the second-highest grossing Australian film of all time, next toCrocodile Dundee and ahead ofHappy Feet.[25]
In 2013 Luhrmannadapted F. Scott Fitzgerald's novelThe Great Gatsby, shot in 3D,[26] starringLeonardo DiCaprio asJay Gatsby,Tobey Maguire asNick Carraway,Carey Mulligan asDaisy Buchanan,Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan, the Australian newcomerElizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker, andAmitabh Bachchan as Meyer Wolfsheim. For the film, Luhrmann and the costume/production designer Catherine Martin collaborated withPrada,Brooks Brothers andTiffany & Co. to create period-inspired dresses, suits and jewellery based on their own archives and true to the book's own references to luxury brands.[27] It grossed over $353 million worldwide, making it Luhrmann's highest-grossing film to date.[28][29] The critic Richard Roeper described the adaptation as "the best attempt yet to capture the essence of the novel" while Fitzgerald's granddaughter praised it, saying "Scott would have been proud."[30][31] The following year, at the86th Academy Awards, the film won in both its nominated categories:Best Production Design andBest Costume Design.[32] The soundtrack, produced by Luhrmann, Anton Monsted andJay-Z, sought to blend the music of the Jazz Age with contemporaryhip hop as two historical analogues.[33] Featured artists includedBeyoncé,Jack White,Lana Del Rey,Sia,will.i.am,The xx andFlorence and the Machine; the soundtrack also included score from the film's composer and Luhrmann's repeat collaboratorCraig Armstrong.[34] The album's sales exceeded expectations, marking the biggest digital sales week for a soundtrack in Billboard history, and peaking at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.[35][36]
Luhrmann's next project wasElvis, abiopic aboutElvis Presley focusing on his relationship withColonel Tom Parker. It debuted at theCannes Film Festival in May 2022.[37]Tom Hanks played Parker andAustin Butler portrayed Presley, having been cast after a series of screen tests, as well as music and performance workshops.[38][39][40] The film opened in June 2022, becoming a box office hit and receiving eightAcademy Award nominations, includingBest Picture andBest Actor for Butler.[41][42] In January 2023, Luhrmann signed a first-look deal withWarner Bros. Pictures after working with the studio onElvis.[43]
In September 2024 it was reported that Luhrmann's next narrative feature film will be an adaption of the life ofJoan of Arc, titledJehanne d'Arc.[44][45] The project was described as "The ultimate teenage girl coming of age story, set in theHundred Years' War." He is co-writing this adaptation with playwrightAva Pickett.[46]
Luhrmann's latest film isEPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, adocumentary andconcert film featuringlong-lost footage from hisepochal residency inLas Vegasfrom 1969 into the 1970s, as well as previously unseen footage fromElvis: That's the Way It Is andElvis on Tour uncovered during production of Luhrmann'sElvis biopic.[47][48] It premiered on 6 September 2025 at theToronto International Film Festival.[49][50]
In 2016 Luhrmann collaborated with the playwrightStephen Adly Guirgis on theNetflix seriesThe Get Down about the birth ofhip hop in the 1970s.[51] For the series, Luhrmann brought onNas,Grandmaster Flash,Kurtis Blow andDJ Kool Herc as producers, to help to tell the story of the rise of hip hop, punk, and disco during shifting cultural and political transformation through his unique brand of magical realism.[52] The series featured two parts, praised for its vibrant music, fresh cast and authenticity, due to the involvement of many of the era's key historical figures in central roles to the show's development.[53] Part One got a score of 77% from the online review-aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, while Part Two holds a critic score of 86%.[54][55]
Film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Distributor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Strictly Ballroom | Yes | Yes | No | Ronin Films |
| 1996 | Romeo + Juliet | Yes | Yes | Yes | 20th Century Fox |
| 2001 | Moulin Rouge! | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2008 | Australia | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2013 | The Great Gatsby | Yes | Yes | Yes | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| 2022 | Elvis | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2025 | EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert | Yes | No | Yes | Neon /Universal Pictures[56] |
Television
| Year | Title | Creator | Director | Writer | Executive producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–2017 | The Get Down | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Directed and co-wrote episode "Where There Is Ruin, There Is Hope for a Treasure" |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–82 | A Country Practice | Jerry Percival | 6 episodes |
| 1983 | Kids of the Cross | Himself | Documentary film |
| 2023 | Agent Elvis | The Director (voice) | Episode: "Cocaine Tuesdays" |
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Winter of Our Dreams | Pete | |
| 1982 | The Dark Room | First student | |
| The Highest Honor | Able Seaman A. W. Huston | ||
| 2013 | The Great Gatsby | Waiter | Uncredited |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Are You Lonesome Tonight? | Unknown | Performed at Nimrod Downstairs, Sydney |
| 1983 | Fanshen | Peasant | Performed atNIDA, Sydney |
| 1984 | Holiday Makers | Unknown | Performed at NIDA |
| All's Well That Ends Well | Dumain Brother | ||
| 1984, 1986 | Strictly Ballroom | Ross Pierce | Also director, Performed at NIDA in 1984, and inBratislava in 1986 |
| 1985 | Dreamplay | Unknown | Performed at NIDA. Directed byJim Sharman |
| Funeral Games | Part of theHallucinogenics? 3 plays from the 60s event. Performed at NIDA | ||
| Chamber Music | |||
| The Greeks | Trilogy:The War,The Murders,The Gods. Performed at NIDA, and St Martin's Youth Arts Centre,Melbourne. | ||
| Once in a Lifetime | Performed at NIDA | ||
| 1986 | Crocodile Creek | – | Directed for the New Moon Theatre Company inRockhampton. Amateur musical production set in the Queensland goldfields |
| 1989 | The Conquest of the South Pole | Unknown | Performed atBelvoir St Theatre, Sydney |
Luhrmann, who started appearing on TV screen in 1981, appeared inWinter of Our Dreams, directed byJohn Duigan. By 1992, he had directed the music video "Love Is in the Air" byJohn Paul Young. The next year, Luhrmann staged his interpretation ofA Midsummer Night's Dream byBenjamin Britten. In 1997 when the CD ofSomething for Everybody was released, it featured Luhrmann's films and operas. Following the success, he created and managed a companyBazmark [fr] along with his wife,Catherine Martin.
In 1997 as a music producer, Luhrmann was credited on"Everybody's Free", aspoken word song in Europe, Australia and the Americas. Luhrmann directed a 2004 commercial forChanel N° 5 entitledN° 5 the Film. OnCharlie Rose interview, he told Rose that the commercial was based in the 1953 film,Roman Holiday.[57] The next year 2005, Luhrmann was appointed an Ambassador for theAustralian Theatre for Young People, and in next three years, he was asked by the Prime Minister of AustraliaKevin Rudd to make adverts for the promotion of tourism in Australia.[58] In 2009 during the81st Academy Awards in February, Luhrmann put together a number dedicated to musicals which consisted ofHugh Jackman,Beyoncé,Zac Efron,Vanessa Hudgens,Dominic Cooper andAmanda Seyfried. In September of same year, he appeared as a guest judge onDancing with the Stars.
He producedChristina Aguilera andNile Rodgers' 2016 single "Telepathy", along with Elliott Wheeler.[59]
Luhrmann and the painterVincent Fantauzzo embarked on an art initiative which took them to India, where they created artworks on walls of hotels, in the streets of Rajasthan and on 17th century forts in 2010.[60] He also shot the campaign filmThe Secret Life of Flowers. Though mostly hands-off with thestage production ofMoulin Rouge!, Luhrmann produced its Broadway cast recording in 2019.[61]
Luhrmann led the jury at the 2023 Red Sea International Film Festival held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.[62]
In January 2025, Luhrmann collaborated with wifeCatherine Martin and Jon Neidich of Golden Age Hospitality on Monsieur, a new bar in New York City'sEast Village with a gothic medieval aesthetic, inspired by the East Village nightlife in the late 1960s and early 70s.[63]
Luhrmann has citedItalian grand opera as a major influence on his work and has also given a nod to other theatrical styles, such asBollywood films, as having influenced his style. Luhrmann was a ballroom dancer as a child and his mother taught ballroom dancing which was an inspiration forStrictly Ballroom. Luhrmann's favourite films areStar 80,8½,War and Peace,Medium Cool andFitzcarraldo.[64]
Luhrmann's influence has extended outside the traditional realm of media and entertainment. Deeply involved in the fashion and art worlds, Luhrmann'sNo. 5 the Film forChanel not only holds aGuinness World Record for the highest budget for an advertising commercial ever produced,[65] but pioneered the now commonplace genre of fashion film andbranded content. Luhrmann works closely with theMetropolitan Museum of Art'sAnna Wintour Costume Center, having chaired the annualMet Gala as well as producing a short film for the museum, celebratingMiuccia Prada andElsa Schiaparelli.[66] More recently, he and his wifeCatherine Martin have adapted their style for projects in events, retail, architecture and design withBarneys New York[67] and developer and hotelierAlan Faena.[68][69]
In November 2022, Lurhmann featured inDesert Island Discs onBBC Radio 4; his choice of favourite track, book and luxury item were "Che gelida manina" fromPuccini'sLa bohème (sung byPavarotti),Tolstoy'sWar and Peace, and a silk eye mask respectively.[70]
Luhrmann was appointed aCompanion of the Order of Australia in the2025 King's Birthday Honours for "eminent service to the arts as a filmmaker, to the theatre, to cultural heritage, and to the development of artistic talent".[71]
| Year | Title | Academy Awards | BAFTA Awards | Golden Globe Awards | AACTA Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | ||
| 1992 | Strictly Ballroom | 8 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 8 | |||
| 1996 | Romeo + Juliet | 1 | 7 | 4 | 1 | ||||
| 2001 | Moulin Rouge! | 8 | 2 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 5 |
| 2008 | Australia | 1 | 8 | 3 | |||||
| 2013 | The Great Gatsby | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 12 | ||
| 2022 | Elvis | 8 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 12 | |
| Total | 20 | 4 | 39 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 62 | 40 | |
 | This articlemay containirrelevant references topopular culture. Please helpimprove it by removing such content and addingcitations toreliable,independent sources.(September 2025) |
In 2022, the writers of the Israeli satirical TV programThe Jews Are Coming made a tribute in Hebrew to Luhrmann's version of "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)" withMoses standing before the Israelites and quoting theTen Commandments with the background music from "Sunscreen" and several parts closely translated from Luhrmann's text, such as getting to know your parents before they disappear.[75]
When I was 19 I changed my name by deed poll to Bazmark. I'd always thought Mark was a boring name.
