Elizabeth Debicki touted as the breakout star of The Great Gatsby

          

Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki pictured at the Sydney Theatre Company this week. Picture: Ruttyn Sam Source: The Sunday Telegraph

 

Jo Litson, The Sunday Telegraph, reports

You could say things are going well for Elizabeth Debicki. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind for the 22-year old Australian actor, who is being hailed as the breakout star of The Great Gatsby.

She's been to the Cannes Film Festival for the movie's opening, walked the red carpet at the Sydney premiere and rubbed shoulders with the famous at exclusive events including a Prada dinner hosted by Anna Wintour.

And she's still found time to rehearse for a production of Jean Genet's The Maids for Sydney Theatre Company with Cate Blanchett and French film star Isabelle Huppert.

It's enough to go to a girl's head, but Debicki seems unaffected by all the glitz and glamour.

"Someone asked me: 'How do you stay grounded?' " she says. "Well, it's a bit bizarre but I feel very normal. I just feel busy and tired. And happy.""I think that's one of the best things to keep you grounded after a whirlwind press junket: waking up and coming to a theatre rehearsal and standing at the foot of (the play) and saying: 'I'm not sure how to do this'," she says.


"I've been asked if I've been recognised (on the street). The answer is no. I don't look anything like myself in (Gatsby). So life is pretty normal."

She is at the Wharf Theatre, rehearsing Genet's dark play about two maids who act out a fantasy ritual of murdering their mistress.

Genet was inspired by the true story of French servants Christine and Lea Papin, two quiet sisters who in 1933 murdered their mistress and her daughter.

Debicki plays the mistress. She describes starting rehearsals with Blanchett and Huppert as "daunting and thrilling".

"Surreal is my buzzword in my life at the moment. It's very strange when you meet somebody that you've admired for so long," she says.
"I did spend the first few days pinching myself. I kept looking at Cate and Isabelle because I'd watched their films. I'd met Cate before when I came to talk about the play with her and Andrew (Upton). We had a cup of coffee and it was like: 'I'm having coffee with Cate Blanchett'." 


Director Benedict Andrews has no doubt Debicki belongs in their company, describing her as "an astonishing talent" and "the real deal".

Debicki was born in Paris to a Polish father and Australian mother, both classically trained dancers. They moved to Melbourne when she was five, where her mother still runs a dancing school.

She trained as a dancer but by 16 was too tall for ballet - she's 1.9m - so turned to acting. A few months after graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2010, she was cast in Joanna Murray-Smith's The Gift at Melbourne Theatre Company.

During The Gift, she auditioned for the role of Jordan Baker in Gatsby. Baker is a professional golfer who lives a reckless, glamorous lifestyle.

"It was the most fun I've ever had playing a character," Debicki says. "I think Jordan is a fabulous role. She's just a party girl. There's something really liberating about playing someone who is so reckless. I just inhabited her bold 'whateverness'.

"That was how I survived such a massive shoot. I got amazing costumes, amazing jewellery, great wig. I just had a great time."

Debicki has nothing but praise for the film. "I think it's beautiful. I'm so proud of it," she says.

She's been signed to US agents, but is coy about her future. "I'm really focussing on getting through this play," she says. "Then I can see what the future holds."

The Maids, Sydney Theatre, June 4-July 20. Bookings: 9250 1777

Great Gatsby stars at celebratory dinner at Rockpool in Sydney

Carey Mulligan, pictured at the Australian premiere of The Great Gatsby film in Sydney, is expected at a celebratory dinner at Rockpool Bar & Grill tonight. Picture: Craig Greenhill

Elle Halliwell, The Daily Telegraph, reports

The Great Gatsby celebrations are set to continue tonight, with the film’s stars attending a dinner hosted by Tiffany & Co and Vogue Australia.

Elizabeth Debicki, Carey Mulligan, Baz Luhrmann, Joel Edgerton and Catherine Martin will again walk the red carpet at Rockpool Bar & Grill.

They will be joined by local identities Gracie Otto, Krew Boylan and Emma Lung at the dinner, for which chef Neil Perry has created a 1920s-style menu inspired by New York’s Waldorf Astoria.

A 12-piece big band will perform for guests, as will Brendan Maclean’s Klipspringer character from the film.

Gatsby's a great spectacle but not so much substance

Leonardo DiCaprio with Carey Mulligan in Baz Lurhmann's The Great Gatsby. Source: Supplied

The Daily Telegraph reports

The first reviews are in and it seems leading US critics have been dangerously underwhelmed by Baz Luhrmann's $180 million adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

While a strict embargo was placed on reviews ahead of the hotly anticipated film's US release on May 15, film bibles Variety and The Hollywood Reporter released early verdicts last night, painting a picture of a movie that is more spectacle and less substance.

"Arguably, the movie reaches its orgiastic peak 30 minutes in, with the first full reveal of Gatsby himself (Leonardo DiCaprio), accompanied by an explosion of fireworks and the eruption of Gershwin on the soundtrack. Where, really, can one go from there?" said Variety's chief critic Scott Foundas.

The Hollywood Reporter was a little warmer.

"As is inevitable with the Australian showman who's never met a scene he didn't think could be improved by more music, costumes, extras and camera tricks, this enormous production begins by being over-the-top and moves on from there," veteran critic Todd McCarthy wrote. "But given the immoderate lifestyle of the title character, this approach is not exactly inappropriate, even it if is at sharp odds with the refined nature of the author's prose."

Both publications singled out "lithe, long-limbed (Australian) newcomer" Elizabeth Debicki.

"We don't see enough of Daisy's best friend, the sporty, haughty Jordan Baker ... Debicki, who, with her towering slim build, black hair and pool-like blue eyes resembles an elongated Zooey Deschanel, is terrific," said McCarthy.

Joel Edgerton also got the thumbs-up. The film opens in Australia on May 30.

Leonardo Di Caprio coming to Great Gatsby Australian premiere

Actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan in a scene from the film 'The Great Gatsby'. Source: The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph reports

Leonardo DiCaprio will join his Great Gatsby co-stars Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton and Elizabeth Debicki at the Australian premiere of the film in Sydney on May 22.

The cast, along with director Baz Luhrmann, will walk the red carpet at Hoyts at Fox Studios after the world premiere of the film in New York on May 1, and after attending the Cannes Film Festival, where it is the festival opener, on May 15.

The film's other Aussie star Isla Fisher will not be attending the local premiere.

The film, which was shot in Sydney, opens in Australia on May 30.

Style is back but sexy takes a seat

2012 Samsung AACTA Awards Ceremony at Sydney Opera House. Red Carpet. Cate Blanchett. Picture: Adam Ward

Damien Woolnough, The Australian, reports

AT local awards shows the only certainty is that fashion will be the biggest loser. From the Brownlows to the Logies, our national sense of style has suffered but glimpses of glamour and hope emerged on the red carpet at the Sydney Opera House for last night's inaugural AACTA awards.

With the arrival of Cate Blanchett looking like a style gladiatrix in gold Alexander McQueen, memories of Melbourne celebrity Brynne Edelsten in dresses fit for the Playboy mansion or broadcaster Susie Elelman's dangerous decolletage at the Logies were finally erased.

Most actresses could be forgiven for skipping the red carpet at the sight of Blanchett glistening in the distance but a new breed of starlets rose to the challenge.

Most took safety in basic black, with Radha Mitchell wearing a Grecian-style dress with knotted straps by Bianca Spender, and Elizabeth Debicki from the upcoming The Great Gatsby making a black Collette Dinnigan dress with a pineapple motif the unexpected height of chic.

Red Dog actress Rachael Taylor passed on a Gucci dress to wear black Dion Lee with sheer panels, causing double takes in the photographers' pit. Following a similarly sexy path was Megan Gale who fought for breath in a black lace dress with a plunging neckline by Alex Perry.

Most guests bypassed sexiness and goddess gowns for dresses they could sit down in. Claudia Karvan made green animal print by Dolce & Gabbana look elegant and comfortable, with a practical below-the-knee hemline, and Jane Eyre actress Mia Wasikowska looked at ease in a baby-doll blush dress by Miu Miu.

"The overall standard of the Australian red carpet has improved," says celebrity stylist Kelly Smythe, who dressed model Samantha Harris in floor-length black Alex Perry. "People now have greater access to international designers and they're more willing to seek out stylists for help."

Department store David Jones sponsored the event and helped actresses avoid the aesthetic pitfalls that can lead to worst-dressed lists. They also provided ambassador Miranda Kerr in bronze Collette Dinnigan, to lift the style standard in an emergency but it was unnecessary - Blanchett had already scored gold.

Elizabeth Debicki on kissing Tobey Maguire and working with Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan on The Great Gatsby

Revamp ... Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton.

Source: The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph reports

SHE'S the little-known Aussie beauty plucked from obscurity by Baz Luhrmann to play a lead role in one of the most anticipated movies of 2012, and now Elizabeth Debicki has lifted the lid on what it was like working on The Great Gatsby.

Having graduated from the Victorian College of Arts only a year ago, the softly spoken 21-year-old has spoken about intimate scenes with Tobey Maguire and her blooming friendship with co-star Carey Mulligan.

Debicki says she took to playing golfer Jordan Baker, the love interest of Maguire's Nick Carraway, with the same precision she did any acting - especially when it came to kissing.

"I think it's best not to think about it too much," she told a West Australian newspaper.

"Kissing in films, it's just another thing you have to do. It's kind of becomes as technical as how to open a door really."

Debicki joked that when it came time to lock lips with Maguire, who famously shared an upside-down kiss with Spider-Man co-star Kirsten Dunst, her preparation was simple. "Brushing my teeth," she said.

While not mentioning headline star Leonardo DiCaprio, the striking brunette said the cast would often "do stuff together as a group".

"I probably spend more time with Carey really than anyone else. She's just the most beautiful girl, she's a lovely, lovely person and I feel so lucky that on my first job I got to work with such a lovely cast," she said.

Before Gatsby, Debicki - the new face of Jan Logan jewellery - had only had a small part in upcoming Aussie comedy A Few Best Men.

"Some days I just can't believe this is happening," she said.