Deborah Mailman

They’ve taken their joyful musical to Cannes, Toronto, London and all around Australia, and last night the stars of The Sapphires debuted their award-winning movie to an American audience. Leading man Chris O’Dowd was reunited with Jessica Mauboy, Deborah Mailman, Shari Sebbens, Miranda Tapsell and director Wayne Blair at a screening in NYC last night that was hosted by Harvey Weinstein — his Weinstein Company is distributing the crowd pleasing film in the US on Mar. 29. Following the screening, the stars put on a cute performance to further entertain the guests. At the end of the night Jessica posted on Instagram, “Thanks and much love to #theweinsteincompany for giving this film life to the world love from all #thesapphires team!”

The red carpet was rolled out in front of The Star in Sydney for the second annual Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards last night. The festivities kicked off in the afternoon as the country’s brightest film and TV stars posed for photos and chatted to media on their way into the ceremony. Most of the buzz surrounded The Sapphires, which many actors said they loved — the film, which was up for the most honours, ended up winning 11 of the 12 awards it was nominated for. It was also a successful year for home-grown TV, with plenty of celebrities sharing their love for Puberty Blues.

As for the talent, it was a mix of high-profile Aussies and locally-loved stars who added to the glamour of the event. Cate Blanchett was a vision in red sequinned Armani while Nicole Kidman, who was lovingly greeted at the airport that morning by husband Keith Urban, opted for strapless Erdem. The young stars of Puberty Blues — Brenna Harding, Ashleigh Cummings, Isabelle Cornish, Charlotte Best and Sean Keenan — were out in force and hung out with their onscreen parents, Dan Wylie, Jeremy Lindsay-Taylor and Susie Porter. Visiting Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton brought some international star power to the proceedings, and The Sapphires’ Jessica Mauboy, Deborah Mailman, Shari Sebbens and director Wayne Blair made their entrance together. Rounding out the arrivals was Joel Edgerton, who escorted his reported fiancée Alexis Blake on the way in.

There were plenty more stars on the red carpet so click through to see them all. Find out who wore what on Fab and zoom in on the beauty on Bella.

What a week! It started off on a bit of a sad note, with news of Russell Crowe and Danielle Spencer's split breaking on Monday — he was spotted just two days later on the set of his new film, Noah. On happier notes, though, there were plenty of parties and cute romances playing right under our noses — the Elle Annual Women in Hollywood Celebration drew as big a crowd as ever, with stars like Robert Pattinson, Emma Watson, Emma Stone and more turning up to show their support. Katy Perry and John Mayer went on what looked to be a hot date for his 35th birthday — are they or aren't they?! — and smash-hit Aussie film The Sapphires debuted at the London Film Festival. But that's not even close to all of it — click through the gallery to catch up on all the action as it happened this week!

The blue carpet at Odeon West End in London belonged to the cast and director of The Sapphires last night when they premiered their film at the BFI London Film Festival. It was a reunion for Australian actors Deborah Mailman, Shari Sebbens, Miranda Tapsell and Jessica Mauboy, and director Wayne Blair, with Irish funnyman Chris O’Dowd, who brought his new wife Dawn Porter to the event. Deborah, Shari, Miranda, Jess and Wayne promoted The Sapphires in Australia but Chris couldn’t make it down for the trip. They did, however, debut the musical at the Cannes Film Festival together back in May.

The State Theatre in Sydney hosted a premiere for the second night in a row when The Sapphires (in cinemas now) debuted last night. After events in Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane, stars Jessica Mauboy, Deborah Mailman and Miranda Tapsell, as well as director Wayne Blair, walked the red carpet with producers, writers and more Australian talent such as Reece Mastin, Stan Walker, Timomatic, and the original Sapphires who inspired the movie.

We spoke to the cast and crew as they made their way inside the theatre, and while two of the stars were absent — Shari Sebbens was working on a play — Irish actor Chris O’Dowd sent his love via a hilarious text message that was read out to the audience before the screening, saying he “wanted the Sapphires back!” Following the movie, Jessica hit the stage in a sparkly silver gown and wowed the crowd with her spectacular vocals.

• Miranda on taking in all the positive buzz: “I think I’m just really enjoying the ride at the moment. I’m just so blessed that all these people are coming together — indigenous and non-indigenous — and together we’re really uniting on this story about how much we love it. It’s lovely.”
• Wayne on whether he’s worried people will come in with super high expectations: “Oh, totally! It’s just a beautiful film that we’ve made altogether, and to get this kind of buzz, sometimes it feels a bit too much. We just made a nice little story in 100 minutes. But we want everyone to share it. It’s just one of those things where you want to make a story everyone sees, so hopefully everyone will see it. But look, push comes to shove, one day at a time.”
• Deborah on working with Chris O’Dowd: “I love working with Chris O’Dowd. He’s such a wonderful, incredible man, fantastic actor, and bringing him on board and being part of the story was perfect. I can’t imagine anyone else playing this role. He brought so much intelligence, fun and heart to this role, and we had a ball making this. To be standing opposite him when the cameras were rolling, I was like, ‘OK, sh*t, I’m with Chris O’Dowd right now.’ We played really well together.”
• Jessica on watching the movie: “This will probably be my fifth or sixth time. And I don’t get sick of it. Every time I watch it back there’s something new that I latch on to, that I didn’t see before, so that’s always kind of interesting! And surprising.”

It's the little film that could, and the Australian stars of The Sapphires looked beautiful on the red carpet for the Sydney premiere last night. Jessica Mauboy heads-up a cast including Deborah Mailman, Miranda Tapsell and Shari Sebbens (who wasn't in attendance at the premiere) in a heart-warming and funny film about four Australian Aboriginal women who form an musical act called The Sapphires. Jessica had her signature long, dark hair out with a centre part, and Deborah looked polished with a cute pixie 'do. The women kept in minimal in the hair and makeup department, letting their gorgeous dresses and inspiring film do all the talking. Click through to see Jessica, Deborah and Miranda looking their best.

The Sapphires premiered last night at the opening night of the Melbourne Film Festival, which means one thing for us: red carpet snooping! Local stars Deborah Mailman, Kat Stewart and Jade Macrae frocked up for the glama-a-rama event, as did Winners and Loosers' co-stars Zoe Tuckwell-Smith and Melissa Bergland, but we have to admit it was Jessica Mauboy who stole the show for us. The pop star-cum-actress donned a sizzling scarlet gown by Yeojin Bae; flattering her figure and separating her from the pack. Jessica slipped into another Yeojin creation for the afterparty and well as appearing in Yeojin Bae earlier in the week in the Herald Sun. We smell a muse! Get a closer look at what the local celeb contingent wore last night. . .