Voyeurs Star Natasha Liu Bordizzo’s Chanel-Filled Premiere Night Doubled As Her Birthday Party

Natasha Liu Bordizzo’s road to the big screen feels like destiny. In 2015, the 26-year-old Australian actress was busy working on her law degree when fate stepped in. “I was just another broke uni student and needed work,” says Bordizzo on the phone from Los Angeles. “I started body doubling at Fox Studios in Sydney, where they filmed The Great Gatsby and Gods of Egypt. I loved being on set and wound up working on a lot of productions behind the scenes, just helping out. I thought it was a hobby, but then I went to an open call and booked my first film!” 

The career change may have been unexpected, but Bordizzo has been working ever since, appearing in projects like The Greatest Showman, Hotel Mumbai, and the blockbuster Detective Chinatown franchise. Her latest film, The Voyeurs, revisits a ’90s favorite genre: the erotic thriller. Its tale of spying neighbors, unhappy marriages, and intrigue calls to mind classics like Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct. At present, most new releases are action fantasies or reboots; Bordizzo was drawn to the script’s originality. “You couldn’t predict anything that happens in the story,” she says. “There are so many twists and turns, but they’re done smartly and in a way where each character has agency.” 

Half the fun of thrillers is being surprised by such twists, so Bordizzo wasn’t about to reveal spoilers about her character. “I actually can’t share much except that she’s in a marriage that isn’t fair to her, and she’s not fulfilled with her career either,” says Bordizzo. “That changes, she has such an interesting arc, and I was excited by the challenge of playing her. This wasn’t necessarily a role I’d feel comfortable doing with just anyone, but Michael [Mohan], our director, was so great and collaborative, the perfect person to do a film like this with.” 

This week, Mohan, Bordizzo, and her co-stars Justice Smith and Sydney Sweeney celebrated all the hard work at the film’s premiere. The event coincided with her birthday, which made for an eventful 24-hours. “Not what I thought my birthday would be like this year, but I’m glad it worked out like this,” she says. A Chanel ambassador, she was able to mark the occasion in an artfully embellished look from the brand’s Métiers d’Art Collection. With Danielle Goldberg styling, subtle makeup by Katie Lee, and hair by Jenny Cho, Bordizzo felt like a million bucks in her Virginie Viard-designed jacquard top and bejeweled skirt. “I was beyond happy with the look,” she says. “The slit, the contrasting materials, the belt, it was all perfect for this moment and exactly what I wanted. Sexy, but a little dangerous.” 

Being decked out in Chanel is nice, but the high point of Bordizzo’s night was getting to see the audience react to the drama on screen. “When you work on a movie, you become so involved that you don’t pick up on certain things. At the screening, there were scenes that I didn’t realize would evoke so much surprise or get such a big reaction,” she says. “That has been the most rewarding aspect, just seeing people having a good time. Apart from the film being edgy, sexy, and all those things, it’s fun, and I think everyone needs a bit of that right now.”