So perhaps it was inevitable he'd be feeling a little sorry for himself when he flew into town to spruik his latest TV venture. Given our international reputation as an easygoing, laidback nation, he obviously thought we'd turn a blind eye to his tired and emotional antics. Contrary to the commonly-held perception of Australians as a land of chilled-out beer swillers, as hosts we are in fact rather uptight.
And we're not ones to tolerate outlandish behaviour from smug and ill-behaved guests a history dating back to Frank Sinatra's ill-fated 1974 tour. Stamos would have been well advised to have had a quiet word with Sylvester Stallone before stumbling through Customs with such misplaced bravado. It was only in February that Stallone landed himself in all sorts of trouble after being detained at Sydney airport for attempting to import a banned human growth hormone.
What should have been a quick and painless tour of duty to promote yet another flick rapidly descended into a public relations and legal nightmare for the ageing star. As with Stamos, it seemed to take Stallone a while to grasp the potentially dire consequences of the unfolding scandal. He too was initially reluctant to accept responsibility for his predicament, preferring to pin the blame on the local media.
Just hours before Customs officials would raid his hotel suite, I interviewed an amiable but visibly agitated Stallone during which he regaled me with tales of being heckled by Australian journalists during a previous visit (they wanted to know if Rambo was still relevant in a post-Cold War world). The inference was clear we were mean to him back in the '80s and now we were being mean again over this pesky banned substances affair. I won't be holding my breath waiting for Stamos or Stallone to book a return flight to Sydney.
They've both learned the hard way we're not as easily fooled or mollified as they assumed. Perhaps we should post a warning bulletin at the departure gate at LAX as to what outgoing passengers should expect from locals when they fly in from Hollywood. It may be the only way to deter repeat celebrity offenders.
THE acclaimed new Aussie flick opened this week, marking the debut of model turned actress Emma Booth. It's not a bad performance indeed, Booth (pictured) reveals an instinct for the camera and plenty of raw unpolished talent. But speaking of raw, there's no doubt she was primarily cast because she looks good in her undies particularly as she spends most of her screen time in various states of undress (and I don't say that in a bid to support the local film industry and boost ticket sales for So perhaps it was inevitable he'd be feeling a little sorry for himself when he flew into town to spruik his latest TV venture.
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