Catherine Martin on Birkenstocks, Bandoliers and life with Baz Luhrmann
My personal style signifier is Birkenstocks. My addiction to wearing them became worse when I moved to the Gold Coast to film Elvis because they are ideal for a place like this. I love the special editions – I have everything from the Manolo Blahnik velvet ones to nearly every version of the Hotel Il Pellicano collaboration. People often marvel at how I’ve managed to match my Birkenstocks so precisely to my outfits.
The last thing I bought and loved was a huge order of beeswax candles by Tony Assness. He’s an Australian set designer and theatrical maestro whom I’ve known for at least 30 years, but his side business is making these beeswax candles. He sculpts them himself using 3D moulds, and they’re really extraordinary – quite modern in their aesthetic.
One of the vintage live-edge tables from the Elvis set. On it sit candles by Tony Assness © David Chatfield
Austin Butler as Elvis Presley in Elvis © Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures
The last music I downloaded was “About Damn Time” by Lizzo. I am known as the musical troglodyte in our family, but my husband Baz [Luhrmann] and his assistant introduced me to Lizzo, and I’ve become an aficionado. Everyone in the house jokes that I only play Elton John, Dua Lipa and Lizzo on repeat.
The place that means a lot to me is Paris. I am half-French on my mother’s side, I grew up bilingual and we travelled to France from Sydney quite regularly as children. So it’s a special place where I go to recharge, to connect back to something inside myself, and to be in this sort of visual bath.
In my fridge you’ll always find Ruinart champagne and good smoked salmon; I could survive on those, maybe with an occasional glass of water and the odd rocket salad. Also parmesan cheese, sourdough and a crisper drawer full of vegetables. We tend to buy regularly in smaller quantities, and shop locally as much as possible.
An object I would never part with is my engagement ring, which has quite a romantic story to it. When Baz and I were in Mexico for Romeo + Juliet, we met a young man who came from a dynasty that had created the railways in Mexico; he wanted to work on the movie and travel to Australia to see the editing process, but he didn’t have any money. So Baz bartered with him for a piece of his family’s jewellery. The ring is a paisley shape that was made in Paris in the late ’50s, bought by the man’s grandfather. When Baz proposed, I was massively ungrateful because it wasn’t what I imagined; the ’90s were the time of the single-stone, Tiffany Claw setting, and it just seemed really over the top. But now I absolutely adore it.
The one artist whose work I would collect if I could is Manet. One of my favourite paintings is A Bar at the Folies-Bergère; I feel a connection to the barmaid at the centre of it, who has a look in her eye that I find haunting.
The beauty staple I’m never without is sunscreen, from an Australian brand called Rationale. I love the tinted serum and the Superfluid, which are both SPF50, because they are really easy to apply, very natural, and give your skin a nice glow. I also always wear Sycomore from Les Exclusifs de Chanel, because I love the smell of vetiver. Chanel Les Exclusifs Sycomore, £169 for 75ml. Rationale tinted serum, A$176 (about £98) for 30ml; Rationale Beautiful Skin Superfluid, about £57 for 30ml
Martin’s light-filled living room © David ChatfieldMy favourite room in my house is the living room, which leads out to the balcony that overlooks the ocean. The house is uncomplicated and tiny, built right on the beach in the late ’40s, before everyone was trying to get to the road. It has a small front yard, then a sand dune that rises up and an elevated footpath, then the beach. Sitting on the balcony is the perfect place to watch people, walking up and down with their dogs, talking, loving, riding bikes.
The work of art that changed everything for me was seeing Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus in the Uffizi Gallery at 15. It made me realise how fresh, vibrant and modern images from the past could be, and therefore not to assume historical references were doomed to be old and musty.
The best bit of advice I ever received was from my dad, who said that throughout his life he had more often regretted saying no to things than saying yes. I am now practising saying yes to a lot more. I’ve had my own mental-health struggles but now, at 57, I’m feeling great, and mentally strong.
Elvis is available now on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Jessica Beresford
