Baz Luhrmann’s daughter Lilly has opened up about what it was like going through school with famous parents.
The 19-year-old daughter of the globally-renowned Elvis director and his four-time Oscar winning wife, costume designer Catherine Martin, has been educated in both Australia and Manhattan.
Speaking on an episode of the Under the Gloss podcast, Lilly said it was much harder growing up in Australia as her surname sparked more interest down under.
She mentioned a time when she was being driven to school, and a story had emerged on the radio that her father was “gay”, citing a report that he and his wife slept in different bedrooms.
“I did get followed to school by a truck that was paparazzi … They were bullying my dad there for a little bit there. I specifically remember I was driving in the car, on the radio, this guy was like, “Today we’re going to be discussing, is Baz Luhrmann gay? Breaking news, they sleep in two different bedrooms”,” Lilly said.
“And I went to school, and the kids were like, “Is your dad gay?”
“That was the first time I felt embarrassed … Not embarrassed, but more like, “Why are these people talking about my dad? Why are they making fun?” I’m like, “They just have different sleeping schedules”.
The 19-year-old didn’t specify when the incident happened but mentioned it was the “first time” she felt her upbringing wasn’t entirely normal.
“I mean, I’m not traumatised for life by it. I’ve gotten over it. There’s worse things to go through. But it was the first time I was aware something was a bit amiss,” she said.
“It was pretty intense in Australia, then we moved to New York, and no one cared. So that was really good.”
After relocating to the states and changing schools, Lilly, who also has a younger brother, William, admitted she told students that her dad was in marketing because she was concerned about “friendships being in-genuine”.
“For the first year, I lied about it. I made friends, and I had to tell them about my life … I was going to Paris, I’m from Australia, and they were like, “beep, beep, beep” this is not adding up, girl,” she said.
“My best friend, who’s still my best friend, Chris, thought I was a compulsive liar. He started a whole rumour about me that I was making up my Aussie accent.”
Soon after The Great Gatsby was released in 2013, the New York Times reported that Luhrmann and Martin, who have been married for over two decades, sleep on separate floors of their townhouse in New York.
In an interview a few months after the release, Luhrmann told The Daily Telegraph that it was not just the case in New York but in all their homes, including their iconic Iona in Sydney.
“For a very simple reason: just because we’re constantly surrounded by people,” he said.
“And you know the Baz team and the CM team – they’re large teams, and they’re great, and we get together, but they all live different hours because they do completely different jobs.
“But our rule is, no matter where we are and what we do – and I said it in passing, and I’m not sure I should have because it used to be our secret – every Saturday night, we stay in a hotel.
“We have done that, I think, since we first realised public life would become a holiday you never come home from, and that was around the time of Strictly Ballroom (1992).”
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