In a surprise announcement filmmaker Stephan Elliot has revealed legendary actor Terrence Stamp filmed his scenes for the Priscilla, Queen of the Desert sequel before his death.
In an exclusive story Deadline has revealed that Stamp worked with the director to reprise one of his most famous roles, transgender showgirl Bernadette. The actor passed away at the age of 87 in August.
Elliot has now shared that months before his passing Stamp filmed all his scenes for the sequel set more than 30 years after the original epic journey to the outback. Stamp agreed to sign on to the film after Elliot delivered a script that took the story in an unexpected direction. He also made the director vow the film would not be titled Priscilla Queen of the Desert 2.
Elliot shares that Stamp had been adamant that he didn’t want to be posthumously generated by artificial intelligence, so they took the time to film all his scenes in a studio with a nine camera array.
An actor will then play the body of the character when filming the sequel, and Stamp’s facial performance will be digitally added in.
Elliot has also given a little insight into what the film will be about, saying it’s “Not what people expect… I’ve made a very, very unusual film, and it is about old age. It’s very touching. I wrote a lot of what I went through with Terence over the last couple of years. I wrote into the script of what it’s like to get old and to be either gay, trans—I mean, it’s a subject that’s never been explored.” he shared.
The director also added how much he’d valued his long friendship with the actor that began during their filming in Australia in the early 1990s.
“I’m still teary most days, but at the moment, I just need to down tools for a bit and mourn. I mean, he was such a unique human. He didn’t have a lot of close friends, and I’m still pretty chuffed that he counted me as one of them. We had 32 brilliant years together, and I never missed a chance to hang out and chew the fat. And my God, the stories he told me that I can never put down. I mean, what a life!” Elliot said.
Head to Deadline to see exclusive shots of Terrance back in front of the cameras as Bernadette.
