This section is dedicated to recording transcripts of Melbourne newspaper articles concerning the film. Online links are provided when possible. However, please note that not all information in these articles is entirely correct! Articles should be read as a guide only. Entries are recorded from top (most recent) to bottom (least recent).

Damned Fame

SIMON CASTLES finds that filmmaking and glamor do not always go together...

Herald Sun
14. December, 2000
By Simon Castles

ALL this security could only mean one thing. Some big star's gonna be there. Brad Pitt?

The young bloke behind me speculates as our bus makes its way over the West Gate Bridge.

He's excited but also annoyed.

His mobile phone has just been confiscated. It now sits at the bottom of a small mountain of mobiles back at the Docklands, which is where our adventure into the world of big-budget movies began.

Before we are allowed to board one of the 25-or-so buses, we are frisked for mobile phones and cameras.

On this sunny Friday, about 3000 are off to be extras in a movie called Queen of the Damned, the sequel to the 1994 blockbuster Interview with the Vampire.

When we registered over the Internet to take part in the movie, we were told very little --- just that we would be involved in a big rock concert scene at a secret location, and we would be out all night.

Oh, and we must dress as goth as possible.

And it's obvious people have taken this last direction very seriously.

Everyone looks gloomy and ghoulish.

Deathly-white faces, black lipstick, weeping mascara, spiked dog collars, ragged fishnet stockings, tight leather corsets and multiple piercings.

Picture the offspring of Marilyn Manson and Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and you'll be close.

Eventually, we pile out of the buses at a disused quarry just outside Werribee. I clap eyes on the film set and immediately believe the hype that Queen of the Damned is the biggest movie made in Victoria.

Forming a wall of sorts at this outdoor rock auditorium are a dozen gothic smokestacks hurling balls of fire high into the darkening sky.

The desert landscape is littered with huge shards of jagged metal. Two satanic idols sit atop golden totem poles, seemingly observing all that we mere mortals do below. This is apocalypse now.

THERE is hardly time to take everything in. The director wants to start shooting. There is suddenly much pointing and shouting. Cameras on huge steel arms swing into position. Members of the crew mutter and curse into headsets.

In Queen of the Damned, based on Anne Rice's popular gothic novel, the vampire Lestat has reinvented himself as a rock star.

Our job as extras is to be Lestat's dark horde of fans, a task made easier for some of the girls up by the stage who are clearly impressed by how good Lestat (played by newcomer Stuart Townsend) looks in a pair of tight leather pants.

The rest of us, meanwhile, have no choice but to rely on our dubious acting skills. The director shouts 'action!' (just like in the movies) and we are moshing wildly and punching the air.

Up on stage, Lestat is doing his rock star thing, swaggering around like some latter-day Jim Morrison. But the song he's miming along to is by a more recent rock god, Jonathan Davis from Korn.

Unfortunately, none of us knows the words to this track, which is a problem because the cameras are meant to be capturing us singing fervently (as fans do).

So we receive a quick poetry lesson. Some assistant director or other slowly reads us the lyrics and urges us to learn them by heart.

"I see Hell in your eyes/Taken in by surprise".

Two hours later, after filming the same scene about 20 times, we know the song so well it's driving us half nuts.

By 3am, the temperature has dropped considerably. But the anxious director, aware Werribee, Victoria, is standing in for sultry Death Valley, California, pleads with us not to put our coats on.

SOME of us can't help thinking that the clouds of mist rising every time we breath might just be enough to give the game away.

By 6am, as light appears on the horizon, it's desperately cold.

Even the most hardcore goths look as if they've had enough of the movie biz.

Waiting for a bus to take us home, we look and feel like death.

A vampire, I suppose, would look for a tasty neck about now. Suck a bit of blood for rejuvenation. I'm not real keen on that. But I sure could kill a coffee.

[Special thanks to Anne Paton for typing up this transcript for me]

City drips with blood for film

Herald Sun
7. December, 2000
By Greta McMahon
(This article accompanied the very first official photos from the movie! To view them, visit my Cast section)

THESE are the first images to emerge from the hotly anticipated film Queen of the Damned.

The Hollywood blockbuster, being shot in Melbourne, is expected to blow away the box office when released next year.

The Herald Sun has exclusively obtained these sneak preview shots of what is the biggest ever feature film to be shot in our state.

Premier Steve Bracks yesterday visited the film set of Queen of the Damned - the sequel to smash hit film Interview With The Vampire - at the very un-Hollywood location of St Albans in Melbourne's north-west.

A former Nestle factory has been transformed into a buzzing film set, where hundreds of cast and crew are nearing the end of the three-month shoot of the Warner Bros/Village Roadshow co-production.

Melbourne-born director Michael Rymer (who directed the AFI award-winning Angel Baby) has returned to his hometown to embark on one of his biggest projects.

Now based in Los Angeles, Rymer said he was thrilled to be filming in Australia again.

He said the choice of Melbourne had proven to be right.

"They wanted to shoot in Canada, and I had shot in Canada and had a very average experience, so I said if you are going to do that you'll save just as much money going to Australia, particularly Melbourne," Rymer said.

Queen of the Damned follows the adventures of vampire Lestat, played by Stuart Townsend, who has reinvented himself as a US rock star.

The film, rumored to have a budget of $30-$50 million, also stars singer Aaliyah as Akasha, queen of vampires.

Aaliyah, 21, told the Herald Sun she loved Melbourne and plans to tour when she releases her third album next year.

Mr Bracks yesterday said his visit reassured him Victoria could "match it with Hollywood and the rest of the world".

[Special thanks to Anne Paton for typing up this transcript for me]

Drama Queens of the Damned

The Age
5. December, 2000
By Roseanne Bersten

It's around two degrees in the middle of the dusty quarry near Werribee. At 4am on a Saturday, you'd expect the place to be abandoned, but it's filled with young goths dressed up and jockeying for best position in front of the cameras.

This is the set for the famous concert scene in Queen of the Damned, and the most challenging acting exercise for the night is convincing the women in corsets to pretend we're in the steaming heat of Death Valley, California.

The front rows are the lucky ones: they're the official extras (300 of them) who are being paid about $1700 each for nine days of filming for the latest Anne Rice vampire film epic. They've also been provided with warm polyfleece blankets that they wrap around themselves between takes. Jessica, 24, confesses that the production crew keep referring to them as "gothics" rather than goths. This is her fourth night in the quarry, but she says the camaraderie and the fabulous breakfast served at 5 pm make it worthwhile.

The rest of the crowd were roped in with the promise of a free outdoor concert and the chance to point themselves out in the crowd shots when the film is released late next year ("See that guy with the red hair next to the crowd-surfing chick with the bat collar? And see the hand on his shoulder with the snake ring? That's my hand!"). Most of them knew there would be filming, but judging by the grumbles around 10pm, three hours into it with no break and no dinner, few expected it would be like this.

The thousands of goth ring-ins have been bused from the Docklands, a bumpy, long ride. Mobile phones have been confiscated and some of the buses are lost in the middle of Woop Woop Central.

Melbourne has been referred to by the director, Michael Rymer, as the goth capital of Australia, but it's doubtful Werribee has seen anything like this before.

Buses home don't leave until 5am, but the crowd knew it was a lockin. The last of the buses arrives at the quarry just before sunset. Harried crew wave everyone into the corral, ready for filming. We seem to be behind schedule already. Helicopters take off and circle the crowd, filming from above. Richard Watts, a wellknown DJ from a variety of goth clubs around town, is MC for the evening, exhorting the crowd to wave their arms in the air and cheer for the practise runs. It seems no one told the director most goths dance a fairly restrained thing lovingly called the "goth twostep" while the energetic industrial goth dancer types require a lot more space than we have here.

A guy comes out on stage and the regulars start chanting "Michael! Michael!". Turns out he's the standin for main player Stuart Townsend as the vampire Lestat, rockstar god extraordinaire. Cameras on large booms swing down over the crowd as crew work out the line for this shot. DJs Helen and Wendi from the nightclub Abyss (usually on Fridays at Paladin in the city, but transplanted here for the night) play tracks to keep the crowd entertained. It's fun for a while, but favorite songs are frequently cut short to the sound of loud groans when the real business at hand is ready to start.

Our first scene involves a song we're all supposed to know - the plot here is that Lestat has an enormous following of pretty young things in black who don't know he's a real vampire. Yet. The song has a tacky chorus ("I see hell in your eyes ... touching you makes me die inside"), which Watts leads us through. It's actually a fine song that grows on us as the night goes on and we hear it 50 times. It helps that it was written by Jonathan Davis from Korn. One girl nearby, Jen, 19, throws herself into the spirit of the night: every time we hear the opening bars, she squeals loudly "oh, I LOVE this song!".

The variety of clothing is astounding. For weeks the website has advertised that the best dressed will get the best positions, so there's been Effort. Many of the outfits have been sewn especially, with PVC a popular fabric. Bright reds, deep purples and shocking greens compete with the overwhelming darkness of the blacks. Anyone in heels is seriously regretting it. There are some abominations: bad black wigs on people who are obviously not goths in their regular lives, although some carry it off. One, though, looks like he dressed for Detroit Rock City by accident.

Kale, 22, and Adam, 21, have flown from Sydney for the weekend. Adam has short blond hair spiked up and tinged with red tips. His irises are demonic red cateyes - contact lenses, of course, that cost him $600. Interesting eyewear is everywhere: others have pale contacts that only show the pupil, there's a pair of reflective sunglasses with holographic green skeletons, and Garth Horsfield, the lead singer of Immaculata, has contacts that make his eyes entirely white.

Back in the thick of it, there's a feeding frenzy as cases of Red Bull are handed out to fading goths. The softdrink is full of caffeine and taurine for extra energy. There's no alcohol on set and surprisingly few people seem to have indulged in drugs to get through the night.

By 2am, we know the song pretty well. We've become familiar with the stunt-goths who are crowd surfing and the hooded-vampire types with capped fangs, we've done shots filming the stage, crowd shots, reaction to the band entering shots, and now we're watching special effects set up for flying vampires. The people who expected a regular party night with some cameras seem to have skulked off to the food tents and the remaining people are enjoying themselves immensely.

It's getting colder though, and Aaliyah (playing the gorgeous Queen of the Damned herself) is freezing in a skimpy, glittery outfit. A crew member flings a hefty coat over her swiftly every time the take is cut. Pillars around the set spurt flame periodically while we're shooting, and the warmth is glorious. We even get to do some "shock, horror" reaction shots and hear bits of dialogue. Crow star Vincent Perez, cast in the role of Marius, appears on stage for a few minutes for one shot and is greeted with cheers. By 4.30, when we run through a band entry, Lestat entry and the whole song from start to finish, we're so hyped we're shouting and yelling for real. It helps that Townsend is stunning and wearing a body-hugging gold mesh shirt that leaves little to the imagination.

Finally, finally, Rymer tells us we've wrapped for the night. He tells us how fabulous we've been and we scream loudly again. Tired but happy goths then queue for the ride home and pick up showbags, with a fabulous surprise: a Tshirt reading "Damned" on the front and "The Vampire Lestat, Death Valley 2000" on the back. Tour merchandise for a concert that never happened. Because we've proved we can pretend, right? That's what it's all about. We're actors now. Just try to tell us we're not.

[Click here for corresponding link]

A second bite at the cherry

The Age
3. December, 2000
By Jim Schembri

In the lane behind Rosati's the brood has gathered. Black-on-black costumes, splashes of jewellery and heavy gothic make-up contrast against a backdrop of exposed brick. Tall, ashen women clad in flowing capes and elegant dresses have been pressed into ab-crunching corsets. They attend to lipstick and eyeliner, adjust their intricate hairdos, bear their perfectly moulded vampire teeth.

The silence of the lane is broken only by the gently erotic crunch of high heels on bitumen. The brood sits reading and waiting. Waiting for the call from beyond.

Beyond is actually pretty close by. To get there you pass through a short passageway and into a nightclub cloudy with dry ice.

There are more towering women here. There are men, too. One black-clad gent sits on the ground, absorbed in the Marquis de Sade's 120 Days of Sodom. There is still a lot of waiting to go.

A solar system of mirror balls hangs over a cluster of slow-dancing, chic, high-fashion vampires. Akasha, the Queen of the Vampires, makes her move on a victim. Behind a bank of wide-screen monitors, director Michael Rymer is studying the image. He orders take after take, discussing with his special effects man how best to cover the shot. A green screen backdrop is brought in behind Akasha, to allow for the addition of digital effects later on.

The Queen of the Damned, the third book in gothmeister Anne Rice's trilogy The Vampire Chronicles, is being filmed in Melbourne. It's the second Rice book to make it to screen, after Neil Jordan's Interview With The Vampire in 1997, in which Tom Cruise starred as Lestat. (The second book, The Vampire Lestat, apparently didn't crack it.) The story sees Lestat (here played by Stuart Townsend) transformed into a rock star whose music awakens the vampire queen Akasha (played by singer Aaliyah).

The Queen of the Damned is big news for Melbourne. It's the biggest feature film ever shot here, and though the production is as tight-lipped about the budget as it is paranoid about anyone taking photos on the set, it's a good guess the cost of the film will clock in at about $50 million.

As Rymer and his crew prepare for another shot, producer Jorge Saralegui takes a break in the Lane of the Goths. Jorge (pronounced Hor-Hey) is an effusive, energetic chap with a smile so wide that if it extended another centimetre it would neatly divide his head in two.

They're just over the halfway point in the shoot and things are going swimmingly. It's a very tight schedule, Jorge says, and "there are no days when you feel like you can coast," but thus far shooting in Melbourne has been a breeze.

Ask him "Why Melbourne?" and he practically erupts with bonhomie. The Melbourne Film Office has been terrific; he loves the attitude of the crews; as a film location, Melbourne has proved both cooperative - blocking off traffic and helping out with parking issues for trucks - and versatile (the city doubles for London, New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles, and islands in the Carribean and the Mediterranean in the film). "Can you believe that? Your city!" Jorge exclaims. "It's amazing!"

There is also a studio facility out at St Albans that Jorge wants to "make an effort to keep running because it's great, it's huge, you have everything in one place."

The production was set up before the Australian dollar took its latest series of tumbles against the American greenback, so the film, says Jorge, isn't benefiting much from the weak Aussie dollar. The overall exchange rate, however, was one of a number of important motivators to move the show out here.

"Apart from being half a world away, there's no downside," he says. "Filmmaking in the US is becoming very expensive. A lot of production began to migrate to Canada, but Canada filled up. There were also weather problems.

"Eventually the problem you get is you run out of crews and talent; it's all used up, and the people who are left are not Hollywood standard. So you begin to look around and you think, `Australia is an English-speaking country and Australia has a world-class cinema. Somebody down there knows how to make films because they made so many great ones'."

The key for a producer, he says, is to establish a symbiosis with local crews. It doesn't always happen that way, though. "In between Red Planet and The Matrix, Paramount made Mission: Impossible 2, which did not go well," he says. "My understanding is it didn't go well because of the attitude of the producers, which was pretty much a case of `you do things our way'. Whereas our approach here has been, well, 95 per cent of the crew are Australians from the Australian film industry. It's much easier for us to adapt as much as we can to the way you do things here than vice versa."

It happened on The Matrix and on the soon-to-be-released Jorge-produced Red Planet, which was shot in Coober Pedy and Sydney.

"Last year on Red Planet was a very difficult shoot. It was my first time shooting here and I could see that the one big difference between Australian crews and American crews is that Australian crews are more interested in the film as a whole and not so much just on what their department is doing. There's an overall sense of what's going on, a caring and a unit pride."

It's all great, these nice things Jorge is saying about Australian crews and Australian conditions and Australian locations. But seriously, what has Queen of the Damned got to do with Australia?

It's an old chestnut, this issue, but a good one. Part of the role of film is to reflect culture, and when you look at it coldly, Queen of the Damned is just this big Hollywood film using Melbourne as a cost-effective sound stage. It says nothing about us or our culture.

Jorge is excited by the topic. "That's an interesting question. Would you say that this film is reflective of American culture? Not really. It's all vampires! You know what I'm saying?"

Suddenly, there's an interruption. With cigarette scissored between fingers, Michael Rymer emerges from the beyond to pose a quick one to Jorge. He's a got a female vampire with a male victim. She gives him a kiss, but should she then bite or not bite? She's biting at the moment, but Rymer thinks the bite diminishes the scene. After a quick discussion, Jorge agrees. Rymer takes another drag on his fag and returns to the beyond.

Back to business.

"This movie, from my point of view, is not particularly an American movie. It's a fantasy. It actually has one American character in it. Its concerns aren't in any way American, so, in fact, I would say, if I wanted to just be provocative, that this is not an American movie.

"This movie is half financed by Village Roadshow, an Australian company. It's being made in Australia, it's got an Australian director, it's got an Australian line producer, it's got an Australian editor, it's got an Australian DP (director of photography), it's got 95 per cent Australian crew and 90 per cent Australian cast.

"There are two Americans working on the production, me and the special effects guy. There are two American actors in the movie. The only thing that tilts it towards America is that Warner Bros is going to distribute the movie.

"So you could really argue that it's more of an Australian movie than it is American. You know what I'm saying? I mean, you could argue back, but you know what I mean, though, right?"

Sure. Jorge seems to know the argument inside out, but he doesn't care much for strict regionalism in any case. Jorge is Cuban, "and people often ask me 'how come you don't get involved in movies about the Cuban-American experience?' Me personally? I don't care. I'd be perfectly happy to have movies with Cubans in them, but integrated in the whole story. I don't want to make a story so culturally specific, because then you ghetto-ise the culture".

He's not knocking the concept per se, but insists that, "I don't think all Australian films should be about small, typically Australian things, right?"

Right.

It's time to break for lunch, and a couple of guys wearing M:I 2 caps wander by. Brian Cox, special effects supervisor, and Angelo Sahin, a special effects technician, both worked on the troubled film as Australian support to the American technicians.

So, what was the M:I 2 set really like? Was it a maelstrom of ego and tension as we've been led to believe?

They're diplomatic. Every big film has its anxieties, they say. "It was just a complicated shoot. There were a lot of big set-ups, huge set-ups, which took time, and time was money," says Angelo. Adds Brian: "I mean, just the hype of Tom Cruise creates its own whirlpool."

As a procession of female models done up as goths clip-clop their way to the catering tents, a vaguely familiar face appears from among the crowd.

Good Lord, it can't be. That scowl, those distinctive black locks. No. No. Good Lord, it is! Hugo Race, 1980s alternative musician, formerly of The Wreckery, is decked out as a dank, goth muso. He's been in Europe for 10 years, releasing an album a year. He now lives in Sicily. What the hell is he doing here?

"I've known the director for a number of years and he's always liked the music that I've been doing. He wanted to involve me in the movie; he originally wanted to cast me in the film, but I wasn't available to do screen tests, so instead they decided to cast me into the band."

Hugo plays double bass in the nightclub band, miming one of his old songs that Michael Rymer thought suited the mood of the film. "I've moved on musically. It's not my music any more, but that doesn't mean I don't have any affinity for what they're doing here on the set. But, I mean, I change direction many times in a decade."

The production unit for Queen of the Damned is so big it takes two catering firms to keep the cast from feeding on each other. Some of the female vampire outfits are little more than wisps of black fabric, so many of the cast brace against the breeze by huddling under black overcoats as they stand in line.

Michael Rymer is coming up in the world. Time was when he got a quarter of a trailer on a film set. Here, parked on Russell Street, he ranks a half. Carefully balancing his plate, he climbs up and enters his special space.

He's come up in the world all right. People knock on the door to ask if he wants lunch brought to him. "I've got it, I'm fine," he yells a mouthful of broccoli.

Rymer is best known for his debut 1995 film Angel Baby, in which John Lynch and Jacqueline McKenzie played a pair of schizophrenics in love. Shot in Melbourne, it was modestly successful at the box office and swept the AFI awards, taking out best film, director, actor, actress, original screenplay, photography and editing. After that, Rymer sort of disappeared.

Born in South Yarra, Rymer had moved to Los Angeles when he was 18 to attend the USC film school. He is now based there. Quite understandably, many people think Queen of the Damned is his second film. It is, in fact, his fifth. He also made Perfume, an improvisational film starring Paul Sorvino and Jeff Goldblum, the thriller In Too Deep with Omar Epps, Stanley Tucci and Pam Grier, and Allie and Me, an independent film starring Dyan Cannon. After Angel Baby, Rymer tried to get another film up locally, an adaptation of the Peter Carey short story War Crimes.

"I tried to set that up, but couldn't get anyone interested. If Angel Baby had made a large profit it would have been much more valuable than awards. Money talks. So here I was trying to get this film up, and in the meantime I was being offered other material, American studio films, that were interesting, dark, complex. I read the scripts and went, `I love this. I can't believe a studio is going to make it'. And, of course, they were never going to make these films.

"So I sort of got tied up in that frustrating thing they call 'development hell'. That's when I went off and started doing low-budget improvisational films, just to keep myself fresh."

A long-time Anne Rice fan, Rymer's interest in the occult stretches back to childhood. "I was obsessed with horror movies. From age 10 I'd seen every classic horror movie half a dozen times, I had every book, every magazine, I knew every actor, I knew everything about those films."

He tuned out "when the genre became more of a teen slasher thing", but jumped at the offer to do Queen, the rights for which were about to expire.

Queen of the Damned may be Rymer's fifth feature, but it's the first one on which he needs to make a mass-market return. There's a lot of money riding on it. He remains calm.

"The hypothesis that a film, just because it is bigger and has more money, has to be good is an erroneous one. Most of the pressure is about making sure that the marketing elements are intact, that the stars look good, that they've got enough of a film to market and create profiles for the cast and so forth.

"The pressure to make the film good is purely - I mean, everyone wants the film to be good - but I'm most concerned that it's my baby. When people say, 'wow, it looks fantastic, this is going to make a huge amount of money', that's not as interesting to me as saying 'this is going to be a wonderful film and really take people on a journey'. My main agenda is always to have more creative control, which has been a bit of a struggle when you get into business with the studios. Traditionally, a studio doesn't want an auteur.

"Much of the preparation for this film was conceptualising the script, so I knew that it was important to try and fight all my battles before we got to set, which we largely did. It's all very collaborative, it's not confrontational. No one's telling me what to do. Everyone wants me to feel like this is the film I want to make."

There's a telling pause. But? "But the system is built to work by committee, so you're always dealing with large numbers of people in any creative key decision, and one can't help but be beaten around by the energy expended. It does deplete you of energy having to deal with a committee.

"I have to say, I feel good about the collaboration. There are so many horror stories about directors being railroaded, but no one's railroaded me. That's (probably because of) the nature of the film, too. A rock and roll vampire movie? Very tricky to pull off. It could be too camp. It could be ridiculous. It just could not work at all. So they know they have to let me try and bring my point of view and attitude to it, otherwise it ain't going to work.

"There are certainly scripts that are genre pieces where it doesn't really matter who's directing them. I don't think this is one of them." Then comes the knock on the trailer door. It's time for Rymer to return to the beyond.

[Click here for corresponding link]

Melbourne's the new Gothham City

The Herald Sun
15. November, 2000
By Greta McMahon,
Entertainment Reporter

"Melbourne is officially the goth capital of Austraila. The producer of QUEEN OF THE DAMNED which is being shot around Melbourne, has been astounded by the number of gothic types wanting to be extras in a concert scene in the film. While there are already more then 1000 who have answered the call, extras can still sign up. Producer Jorge Saralegui says appearance is what counts. "Many more can come as long as they are dressed appropriately," Mr Saralegui said. "The better they look the closer they will be to the front of the concert and the cameras." Queen of the Damned is the sequel to Interview with a Vampire, which starred Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Based on the popular Anne Rice novel, Queen of the Damned, it stars Stuart Townsend (Shooting Fish, Wonderland) and singer Aaliyah.The gothic-looking extras will be part of the Death Valley concert scene, which will be filmed on December 1. Melbourne was chosen as the setting for the Hollywood film because of the many locations that could be transformed into London, New York or Los Angeles. Mr Saralegui said he thought he knew everything about Melbourne when the decision was made to film here. "But we had no idea Melbourne was the goth capital of Australia," he said. Filming the feature has already begun around the city, near Portsea and Sorrento, and in converted studio space in St Albans. The filmmakers are looking for people over 15 years old, who are of "gothic" appearance. Goths usually paint their faces white, wear black clothes and are fans of gloomy rock bands."

[Special thanks to Duane Fernando for e-mailing me this article]

Tasty Role in Vamp Flick

The Herald Sun
30. October, 2000

Versatile Chapel St bartender Renee Quast will take time off from mixing martinis and curdling blood marys to nibble on a few necks this week.

Ms Quast, a strinking young woman witha fine but ghostly complexion will play a vampure in Queen od the Damned, the Hollywood-funded feature film now shooting in Melbourne.

"I love vampires," Ms Quast, who works at Revolver, a funky Prahran club, cafe and restaurant, told me yesterday. "They've always been my favourite monsters."

Hey, mine too.

Ms Quast, whom I met for a quick bite, has a small but tasty role in the film based on the third volume of Anne Rice's vampire chronicles and directed by another Melbournian, Michael Rymer.

"In the cast list, I'm simply described as 'sucking girl vampire'," she said. "I seduce people and kill them, that's all."

Quite sufficient, I would have thought.

"I love the Anne Rice version of vampires, which is why I auditioned," she said. "She gives them human qualities. Her vampires can adapt to a constantly changing world. Anyway, I think vampires are sexy."

Ms Quast is a Revolver veteran. She has worked there for three years. "It's like my home," she said. "They let me take time off for auditions and to embark on my little enterprises." There are several of these: Ms Quast paints, designs clothes, models and acts. "I would like to do more acting," she said. "It's a lot more challenging than anything else."

And how old is she?

"I can't tell you that. I have a spark of vampire in me, which means I can't reveal my age.

"Just say I'm immortal."

OK.

[Special thanks to Craig Hindman for scanning this article for me. Click here to view scanned article.]

State taking a starring role

The Age
24. September 2000
By Lawrie Zion

While cinema audiences have dipped during the Olympics, Victoria's film and television production industry is enjoying a significant upturn.

Leading the charge is the big-budget Warner/Roadshow feature Queen of the Damned, which begins its 11-week shoot in Melbourne tomorrow week. Billed as the largest production ever mounted in the state, Queen of the Damned is based on Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles and will star Stuart Townsend in the role of Lestat - the same character played by Tom Cruise in Interview With the Vampire.

Also signed on are singer Aaliyah, Lena Olin and Marguerite Moreau. Melbourne-born director Michael Rymer, whose credits include Angel Baby, will direct.

Damned Good Idea

The Advocate
29. August, 2000

The former Nestle factory in St.Albans will be converted into a temporary studio to film an American screenplay. DQ Productions Pty Ltd will use the Regan st site during production of the Warner Brothers film, Queen of the Damned, a sequel to U.S box office hit Interview with the vampire. Filming will take place for 16 days over six months, starting on September 25, directed by Australian Michael Rymer who also directed Angel Baby. During a meeting last week, the council endorsed the company's plan to use the vacant factory site to film, construct sets and store trucks, equipment and goods.

A council officers' report described the temporary use of the site as "innovative" and Councillor Andrea Puig suggested that the use of the site had the potential to attract investors to the area. The former industrial site is about to be rezoned in the fifth and final stage of the Brimbank Heights Estate residential development.

[Special thanks to Gabrielle de Lioncourt for e-mailing me this article.]

Vampires go Victorian

Sydney Morning Herald
29. August, 2000
'Film' by Peter Cochrane

'Unbearable Lightness of Being' star Lena Olin and newcomer Marguerite Moreau are negotiating to join the cast of the third instalment of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, to be shot in Melbourne.

Irish actor Stuart Townsend (Wonderland) and actress-singer Aaliyah are confirmed for Queen of the Damned, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Warner Bros/Village Roadshow co-production is to be directed by Michael Rymer, the director of the AFI award-winning film Angel Baby.

It will include scenes of a rock concert that will involve about 10,000 extras.

The project follows vampire Lestat (Townsend) as he becomes a rock star whose music wakes up Akasha, the queen of all vampires (Aaliyah). In the process, a young woman who works as a vampire hunter (Moreau) falls in love with Lestat.

Olin would play the role of Moreau's vixen aunt who tries to stop her niece from seeing Lestat's rock shows.

Rice's first book in the series, Interview with the Vampire, was adapted in 1994, with Tom Cruise starring as Lestat.

[Special thanks to Roland Flood for sending me the corresponding link]

Film shoot in St.Albans

Brimbank Messenger
August 15, 2000

'It may not be Hollywood but it would seem St.Albans has caught the eye of some heavy-duty film makers. A former Nestle warehouse in Regan St will be used to film a new Hollywood vampire film called Queen of the Damned. Shooting the film, which is the follow to Interview with the Vampire, will start on September 27. Publicists are tight-lipped about how much of the Village Roadshow and Warner Bros film will be shot in St.Albans and how long the filming will take. St.Albans Business and Group president Paul Borg said he was excitied about the project. "It's great news for the area and hopefully we'll have more movies made out this way," Mr. Borg said. "I hope Warner Bros looks upon St.Albans in a favourable light and returns again. "The western suburbs has a lot to offer."'

[Special thanks to Gabrielle de Lioncourt for sending me this article]

Lestat Me Up

'Inpress' (Melbourne street magazine)
2. August, 2000

"Casting is currently underway for Anne Rices 'Queen of the Damned', the follow-up to 'Interview with the Vampire'. The film sees Lestat reincarnated as a rock 'n' roll star, with the story revolving around him and his "underground, cyber, gothic" band. A female is needed to play Lestat's keyboardist while two males are required to play the guitarist and drummer in the band. You must know how to play, be aged between 18 and 22 and have a look that is "sensual. streetwise and contemporary". Rehearsals start in August and shooting will run until Christmas. If your interested, send photos, demos, or whatever to: Prototype Casting, Attn: Queen Of The Damned, c/o Melbourne Film Studios, 117 Rouse St, Port Melbourne, 3207 or email vamp@screenfaces.com"

[Special thanks to Rita and Sez for sending me this transcript]

Queen of the Damned

'3D World' magazine
31. July edition
(similar article to above)

"Prototype Casting (Mission Impossible 2, and Chopper) are currently casting the next instalment of Anne Rice's, Vampire Chronicles, "Queen of the Damned", the follow up to "Interview with a Vampire". Our hero Lestat, is re-incarnated as a Rock 'n' Roll start, and the story revolves around him and his Rock band. Prototype are currently casting for the band members. The band consists of 1 girl (Keyboard), and 2 guys (guitar and drums). They're looking for 18-22 year old muso's of any nationality and they need to know how to play. The band is described as underground, cyber and gothic. Any muso's who fit are asked to send photos, demos, videos and whatever else to: Prototype Casting, Attn: Queen Of The Damned, Fox Studios Australia, Driver ave, Moore Park, NSW,1363, or email: vamp@screenfaces.com"

[Special thanks to Daniel Hatadi who kindly posted this transcript in my guestbook!]

Film Boost For Melbourne

The Age - Breaking News
17. April 2000
By Xavier La Canna

A new State Government taskforce will try to establish Melbourne as a production centre for film and television.

Melbourne draws blood in fight for film production

The Age - Film
18. April 2000
By Gabriella Coslovich

Sydney might have the colossal Fox Studios, but Melbourne has, well, Melbourne - and that, it seems, has been enough to lure a multi-million-dollar Hollywood horror production to our shores.

The city's Gothic ambience and ability to be used to convey any number of modern-day metropolises has given it the competitive edge as the setting for the new vampire thriller Queen of the Damned.

Based on the third volume of author Anne Rice's vampire chronicles, the film will require Melbourne and surrounds to stand in for Los Angeles, New Orleans, London, and Death Valley.

The film, a co-production between Village Roadshow Pictures and Warner Brothers follows the success of 1994's Interview With The Vampire, which starred Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise - although Cruise is unlikely to star in the sequel, according to Village chairman John Kirby.

Premier Steve Bracks said the production was a "major coup" for Victoria, which would bring significant economic benefits and showcase Victoria as a centre for major movie production.

He paid tribute to the Melbourne Film Office and Cinemedia for attracting the production to Victoria.

The 44-day shoot, scheduled to start on August 21, is expected to create more than 150 jobs for local film technicians, he said.

"It's great news for Victoria. It's a multi-million-dollar investment, it's hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs if you take into account all those technical production assistants and some of the extras," Mr Bracks said.

About 10,000 Victorians, in fact, will be needed as extras in a Ben Hur-size rock concert scene.

In his latest incarnation, vampire Lestat (played by Tom Cruise in Interview With The Vampire), is a rock star planning "a concert to end all concerts" in California's Death Valley on Halloween night. FM radio station MMM will help to cast extras for the rock extravaganza.

The movie will be directed by Melbourne's Michael Rymer, whose credits include the AFI-Award-winning Angel Baby.

But Mr Kirby was tight-lipped about the film's cast, cost and exact shooting locations.

He would only reveal that the production would cost "tens of millions" and that Sydney had been in the running to host the film.

American actor Wes Bentley, of American Beauty fame, was set to star in Queen of the Damned, but the Hollywood Reporter said last week that the actor was taking time off after the unexpected success of the Oscar-winning film.

Melbourne Film Office director Louisa Coppel said from Shanghai that she expected some Australian actors would be cast, particularly since Rymer was "a Melbourne boy".

Ms Coppel said that Melbourne's lack of a Fox-style sound stage was not an obstacle in luring the production to Victoria.

She said the office had located numerous warehouses that could double as studios.

"Melbourne has great warehouses, which make great studios. Around the world warehouses are commonly used as studios," she said.

Melbourne vamps up for Hollywood

The Age - Features
18. April 2000
By Lawrie Zion

Yesterday's confirmation that the adaptation of Anne Rice's novel Queen of the Damned will be shot in Melbourne means Victoria will host one of the largestscale film productions ever shot in this country.

The project follows the success of the 1994 film Interview With the Vampire, which was also based on one of Rice's vampire chronicles. Directed by Neil Jordan and starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, Interview was made for about $US50 million and went on to gross more than $US221 million worldwide.

Described as a modern-day thriller, Queen of the Damned picks up the story of the vampire Lestat, who has reinvented himself as a rock star. His music wakes up Akasha, the queen of all vampires, who decides to make him her king. Meanwhile, an 18-year-old London woman with a fascination for the dark side falls in love with Lestat.

The film's 44-day Melbourne shoot (plus 10 days' filming in Los Angeles) will mark a return home for director Michael Rymer, who has been working in the United States since the success of his 1995 film Angel Baby. Rymer is in New York where he is directing a film set in the fashion world called Perfume, which stars Omar Epps, Jeff Goldblum, Paul Sorvino and Sports Illustrated model Estella Warren.

But mystery continues to deepen about who will take the lead role of Lestat. With Tom Cruise definitely not in contention to reprise his Interview with the Vampire role, it had been widely expected that the part would be played by rising star Wes Bentley, who is best known for his eyecatching performance as Ricky Fitts in American Beauty.

Yet weekend reports that Bentley has dropped out of the picture mean that a new male lead will need to be found ahead of the shoot's expected start date of August 21. At the same time, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Hong Kong-based singer Aaliyah is set to play the role of Akasha. Aaliyah made her feature debut in the action-oriented romance Romeo Must Die, which has yet to release in Australia.

No Australians have been touted for any of the film's leading roles, but the production is expected to use 10,000 Melburnians as extras for a rock concert that will be featured in the movie.

Queen of the Damned will be co-produced by Warner Bros and the Australian-owned Village Roadshow Pictures as part of a partnership that aims to produce 40 movies over the next five years.While Melbourne has missed out on the recent spate of major international productions shot in Australia, the chairman of Village Roadshow Limited, John Kirby, said yesterday that "the firstclass facilities and the enthusiastic support we have received from all quarters has made the decision to bring Hollywood to Melbourne an easy one". Support for the project has also come from the State Government's Production Incentive Assistance Fund.

Where in Melbourne the film will be shot remains unclear. The Melbourne Film Office has been searching for sites that will double for New Orleans, Los Angeles and London and final decisions will be made later next month when the full complement of the production team arrives from the US.

$50m Vampire Project

The Herald Sun
18. April, 2000
By Fran Cusworth

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