One of the doctors co-ordinating Hollywood star Matt Damon's privately funded quarantine in the Byron Bay area before he films a new Thor movie has said they needed strict new protocols because of unreported security breaches during other celebrity visits.
The chief executive of medical consultancy Concierge Doctors, Dr Zac Turner, said the actor-producer and his family were paying "hundreds of thousands of dollars" for a meticulous approach to quarantine that included flying into the country by private jet so as not to disadvantage Australians wanting to return home.
In quarantine: Matt Damon and wife Luciana Barroso at the Los Angeles premiere of Thor: Ragnarok in 2017. Credit:Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Damon, who is locked down with his wife and three daughters, is due to star in the Marvel superhero movie Thor: Love and Thunder in Sydney. A regular visitor and close friend to Thor star Chris Hemsworth, he is also believed to have another project lined up in Australia.
Dr Turner said the Damon family initially quarantined for two weeks in a ski lodge in the US with COVID tests every three days. Then arrived by private jet in Australia on Saturday and moved into a rented house, where they are paying for their own hospital-grade cleaning, private security, police monitoring, staff, meals and regular medical checks for two more weeks of quarantine.
The strictness was required given there had been "multiple stuff-ups" with COVID security for other overseas celebrities that had gone unreported.
"Whilst there were some big breaches, there are so many things in place ... that there were no COVID cases [as a result]," he said.
The NSW Police Media Unit said "to our knowledge, there have been no ... celebrity breaches".
Dr Turner said Damon and his family flew to Australia with two American philanthropists, who were planning to announce an Australian sustainability project and were quarantining in same house.
To circumvent criticism that celebrities are getting preferential treatment over returning Australians, Damon's quarantine was announced along with a statement by Prime Minister Scott Morrison welcoming him and saying Taika Waititi's new Thor movie would create "thousands of jobs for locals".
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet also said "recent announcements by several studios and film production companies, including Marvel, represent a fantastic economic boom for NSW with numerous new jobs and opportunities for local NSW businesses”.
Backed by $24.1 million location incentive form the state and federal government, the Thor sequel is estimated to be spending $178 million, use more than 1600 Australian businesses and create up to 2500 jobs.
"I’m so excited that my family and I will be able to call Australia home for the next few months," Damon said in a statement. "Australian film crews are world renowned for their professionalism and are a joy to work with so the 14 days of quarantine will be well worth it.
"Australia definitely is the lucky country, and I can't wait to show my family Australia’s down to earth people, breathtaking scenery and diverse culture."
Other Hollywood actors brought to the country during the COVID production boom include include Zac Efron who shot the thriller Gold in South Australia, Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy and Luke Evans who shot the mini-series Nine Perfect Strangers around Byron Bay and Idris Elba who has been shooting George Miller's Three Thousand Years of Longing in Sydney. As well as Hemsworth, Thor: Love and Thunder also stars Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Chris Pratt and Tessa Thompson.
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Garry Maddox is a Senior Writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.
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2021-01-18 08:30:00Z
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