A little while ago we revealed the new sequel to Priscilla Queen of the Desert but after Terence Stamp’s death back in August 2025 the future of Priscilla 2 seemed unsure as the actor was integral to the central three characters that were played by Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving.
Well director Stephen Elliot has revealed that “that we had been in pre-pre-makeup, hair and concept designs for a very long time.” The director went on to explain that they had been working on “what Terence’s character Bernadette was going to look like at 88, it took a lot of trial and error. So the clock clicked on, and then when the AI wars broke out, Terence was indignant that he didn’t want a digital clone of himself playing Bernadette. He wanted the chance to put the character down himself. And I will quote him in this case. He said: ‘Just in case I don’t make the start line.’”
He then added the news that ‘with the blessing of him and his family, Guy, Hugo and the financiers, I decided to pre-shoot all the Bernadette scenes.” and that, ‘He was 87, turning 88… And I put him through a multi-cam shoot, spread over several grueling sessions. All I can say is, that the old trouper gave it everything he had. He hated putting the wig on again. But at the same time, my God, you could have bottled that smile. I mean, it was brilliant fun, and he really did have the time of his life. But calling ‘that’s a wrap’ on Terence Stamp… are going to be words that will haunt me to the day I die. The Stamp sequences over three studios starting at Pinewood.
But as with Oliver Reed in Gladiator and Peter Cushing & Carrie Fisher in the Force Awakens trilogy it’s not the first time n film history that technology has enabled actors performances to be introduced into a film after they’ve died except here it was all pre-emptively shot. Elliott says that Stamp “joked all the time, ‘You’re running out of time, kids. You’re running out of time.’ And so he threw himself into it. I mean, he absolutely gave it his all.’
As present Priscilla 2 has paused filming with Elliot explaingin, “And I’ve just said to financiers, everybody right now, and I said, ‘I just need some air. We’ll figure it out.’ So basically, he exists as Bernadette, and we’ve just got to work out how to make it work. And the question is, as I said earlier, does anyone want to see this film? And part of me thinks that they would. Now that he’s put the effort in, and basically he gave the last months of his life to this. I think people want to see it. It’s a tough one… It’s a real tough one.”
Quite what the future of Priscilla 2 after Terence Stamp’s death remains to be seen.
related feature : Terence Stamp obituary
related feature : ‘Red White and Royal Blue’ World premiere at London’s IMAX as introduced by director Matthew Lopez
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