Mamma Mia! Hollywood comes to Melbourne!

Last night Melbourne Central was buzzing with the premiere of Mamma Mia! The Movie and Citysearch was there to capture all the action - along with stars Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and Dominic Cooper, of course!

Editorial Review

While a cold winter's night seems at odds with the sun-drenched locations of Mamma Mia!, that didn't stop the crowds – or the celebrities – turning out at Melbourne Central for the Australian Premiere of the film.

Footballers, Gladiators, Neighbours stars, and celebrities such as Tim Campbell and Rhonda Burchmore (who was in Australia's stage production of the musical) played up to an audience of thousands who were really there to catch a glimpse – and maybe a word – from the movie's stars, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, and Dominic Cooper.

While Streep and Firth were ushered pretty quickly down the red carpet to meet event MC Adam Richard, Streep did manage to tell waiting journalists that she loved ALL of ABBA's songs! Once with Richard, Streep was amazed at the tiers of fans above her at Melbourne Central, and Firth (now nicknamed by Richard as "Firthy") admitted that he wasn't sure whether appearing topless and in Lycra in the film was a good idea for a man of his age.

But Citysearch managed to catch more than a few words with up-and-coming star, Dominic Cooper, who plays Sky, the groom in Mamma Mia!

Citysearch: Dominic, how are you doing in Melbourne's cold?
It's terrifyingly freezing!

Okay, so all-singing, all-dancing, half-naked ABBA – any pressure?
Lots! I didn't realise I was going to be naked throughout the film. I also didn't think I was able to sing to music very well, so when I found out I was going to be in it, I was very excited, and then when I found out I wasn't going to be not wearing very many clothes, I panicked!

So you hit the gym?
Everyone around me was doing an unbelievable amount of training the whole time, so it was very scary. So I took my potato-like body out and got to a gym. It involved standing on a machine and vibrating a lot!

You did well, so congratulations. And welcome to Melbourne!
Thank you very much!

Click here to read our review and watch the trailer.

Read our review of the soundtrack here

Tim Hunter, Movies Editor, Citysearch, July 2008