Over the years the beach has witnessed
cameras roll on Aussie classics like Wake In
Fright and Two Hands, but today, as the cold
winter weather is drawing in, passers-by are
braving the chilly conditions to stand outside
the cordoned off set and catch a glimpse of
Peggy Olson and Brienne of Tarth shooting
a scene from the much-anticipated Top Of The
Lake: China Girl.
Much to the rubberneckers delight, Elisabeth
Moss and Gwendoline Christie, known to most
for their wonderful characters in Mad Men and
Game Of Thrones, are filming an early moment
in The Piano director Jane Campion’s follow-up
to the heralded but deeply disturbing Top Of The
Lake, the unsettling NZ-set mystery that sawMoss’ Detective Robin Griffin on the search for
a missing pregnant 12-year-old girl. The set-up
for China Girl is equally as chilling as a suitcase
is washed ashore containing the badly disfigured
body of a pregnant Chinese girl. Griffin discovers
that the girl did not die alone. In her search to
discover the victim’s identity, the troubled
detective dives headfirst into the shadowy
recesses of Sydney’s criminal underworld and,
in turn, draws even closer to revealing her own
dark secrets
“We did look into the idea of staying in
Queenstown,” explains a relaxed Jane Campion,
talking to Empire after shooting her final scene
of this sophomore season. “But I had this
instinct that we needed to change cities toEmpire slip, slops and slaps its
way to Bondi Beach to visit the
set of Jane Campion’s stellar new
series Top Of The Lake: China Girl
WORDS DAVID MICHAEL BROWN
BONDI BEACH HAS never seen anything
like this. The world-famous Sydney institution,
more accustomed to attracting bronzed Aussies
hunting an early morning tube or sunburnt
British tourists whose skin is sizzling more than
a barbequed snag, has television royalty
scrunching their toes in its golden sands today.