Sample People poster

Kylie Minogue receives top billing on this promotional poster for the movie Sample People (Clinton Smith, Australia, 2000).

The poster features Paula Arundell (who plays Cleo), Nathan Page (Len), Kylie (Jess) and Nathalie Roy (DJ Lush Puppy). Oddly, three of the five actors billed on the poster don’t appear in the photograph.

The photographer deliberately includes Jess’s tattooed hands in her seductive pose signalling that Kylie plays a sexy bad girl role in the film.

Jess's rebellion against authority is similar to other acting roles Kylie played early in her career (such as Yvonne in Zoo Family, Charlene in Neighbours, and Lola in The Delinquents). 

The red wig, seductive pose and the clean white background of the photograph also recalls Kylie's video clip for ‘Did it Again’ (1997), from her Impossible Princess album, which playfully explores the different sides to her persona.

In addition to acting in the film Kylie performs a cover of Russell Morris’s ‘The Real Thing’ on the film’s soundtrack.

Notes by Beth Taylor