#Auspol gets a feisty makeover in 'Gone Girls', a drag revenge fantasy that unites Julia Gillard and Julie Bishop in the oddest of odd couple pairings.
'Gone Girls' is written by Patrick Livesey, who stars as Julia Gillard, alongside his longtime friend (but first-time co-star) Bel Larcombe who is stepping into the shoes of Julie Bishop.
“We've taken the core characters of Julie and Julia and we've honed in on the message of what it's like to be a woman in politics and feminism, and the system we currently have and the potential to dismantle it and make it new,” Bel says.
Patrick goes on to explain how he originally conceived the idea for 'Gone Girls'.
“The initial idea was definitely brought upon by frustration with the political system, going back to the treatment Julia Gillard received during her Prime Ministership; I was 15 at the time and it was the first time I remember thinking 'this is bullsh.t',” he says.
“The news we all read and the news we hear and see has a bit of a slant to it and maybe Julia Gillard was getting a bit of unfair treatment and that was echoed, well, not echoed as much for Julie Bishop, but you could see there were inner workings going on that prevented someone obviously capable, obviously ready for the job from rising into that place.”
Fast forward to 2020, and Patrick says the current state of Australian politics and the calibre of the people we choose to represent us has only made the message of 'Gone Girls' more significant.
“With everything that's been happening over the past few months – the total lack of leadership with what's going on right now with the bushfires – we really need someone to be that emotional centre for us all right now, and I don't think our current leadership is up to it,” he says.
Though certainly constituting a love letter from Patrick to Julia Gillard, someone he personally considers a role model, 'Gone Girls' takes two of Australian politics' most divisive female figures to bring them together as two different sides of the same coin.
“It's definitely a unifying of their collective powers and talent,” Patrick says.
“A lot of the fun in the show is playing with our history and to do that we need to see how these people who started on the opposite sides of politics came towards each other. Seeing them overcome their differences is a big part of it as much as it is seeing them work together.
“For people who follow politics keenly and have followed the careers of these women, it's really fun to see this almost fan fiction element take hold of their stories. It's what could be if they came together and what they would be capable of together.”
