Hollywood Comes to the Historic Port of Stanley

Thanks to its starring role in a major Hollywood film, Stanley’s secret will soon be out. We’re talking rugged coastline, wild beaches, heritage streetscapes and abundant seafood that together cast a particular Tasmanian spell.

The picture-book-pretty fishing village on the state’s far north-west coast – most famous until now for a rocky bluff called the Nut – features in The Light Between Oceans, an adaptation of Australian author M. L Stedman’s novel of the same name.

The 1920s drama, which opens in Australia in December, stars Oscar winners Alicia Vikander and Rachel Weisz (pictured above in Stanley) and X-Men’s Michael Fassbender, as well as Aussies Bryan Brown and Jack Thompson.

The cast landed in Stanley (population 600) in late 2014 to film scenes set in the fictional town of Partageuse, the home town of Vikander’s character, Isabel Sherbourne. Locals were in the thick of the filming, with more than 200 extras dressed in period costume with hairstyles (and beards) to match.

The movie is set on a remote island where lighthouse keeper Tom Sherbourne (Fassbender) and his wife, Isabel, are faced with a moral dilemma when a boat washes ashore carrying a dead man and a crying baby. Stanley landmarks such as the historic main street, Tallows Beach (where you can see penguins at sunset) and convict-era Highfield House were used in the filming.

“There is a really strong feeling of anticipation and excitement within the town,” says Kim Bailey from Circular Head Tourism Association. “We cannot wait for the world to see what we experience every day in this beautiful and unique region.”

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