20TH ANNIVERSARY 'MOULIN ROUGE CHANGED MY LIFE'

THE SPECTACULAR MUSICAL LAUNCHED THE CAREER OF KIRUNA STAMELL

- Jenny Brown

Kiruna Stamell will never forget the great, life-changing moment when she first stepped onto the set of Baz Luhrmann’s blockbuster, Moulin Rouge!.

The movie musical, which premiered 20 years ago, was like stepping into another world, explains the award-winning Play School presenter, who has a rare form of dwarfism.

Then 18, Kiruna was a university student when she enrolled as an extra on the multimillion-dollar musical extravaganza, shot at Sydney’s Fox Studios.

But her vivacity, talent, and extensive dance experience were immediately noticed, leading to a cameo role as La Petite Princesse. Overnight, Kiruna went from a face in the crowd to featured artist, working alongside Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, and Oscar winner, Jim Broadbent.

“It was huge for me, really quite life-changing,” Kiruna tells New Idea.

“I was only 18 and until then, my world view was a little bit limited to the Westfield shopping centre. Suddenly, Nicole Kidman was introducing herself, saying: ‘Hi, I’m Nicole!’ She was lovely.