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PJ Hogan’s Mental shoot starts

Production begins Monday 25 July on PJ Hogan’s Mental in Tweed Heads.

The shoot reclaims not only its star Toni Collette, but the same suburban landscape that brought Muriel’s Wedding‘s Porpoise Spit to life.

Written and directed by PJ Hogan it is produced by Jerry Zucker, Todd Fellman and Jocelyn Moorhouse. Joining Collette is Liev Schreiber (Salt, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Anthony LaPaglia (Without a Trace, Balibo), Rebecca Gibney (Packed to the Rafters), Kerry Fox (Cloudstreet, Bright Star), Caroline Goodall (Dorian Gray), Deborah Mailman (Offspring, Bran Nue Dae) and Sam Clark (Neighbours).

Mental is the story of Shirley Moochmore (Gibney)—a mother who through lack of support by her philandering politician husband, Barry (LaPaglia) is unable to cope with her demanding daughters and suffers a nervous breakdown and is committed to a mental hospital. Desperate and suddenly alone with five teenage girls, Barry impulsively brings a charismatic, crazy, hotheaded hitchhiker Shaz (Collette) home to be the new nanny.

The script is based upon Hogan’s own personal story. Said Zucker, who collaborated with Hogan on My Best Friend’s Wedding, “I’m thrilled to be back in the magical world of PJ Hogan. PJ has once again written a brilliant screenplay filled with all the bizarre and lovable characters from his childhood. I can’t wait to see it all come to life in Queensland where it all began.”

The shoot is due to run until Friday 23 September.

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