Starstruck is a 1982 Australian comedy-drama musical film directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Jo Kennedy, Ross O'Donovan and Margo Lee.

Jackie develops a crush on the suave Terry, and under his influence, she drops the Wombats from her act, tones down her quirky style of music and dress to be more conventional, and breaks up with Robbie who disapproves of these changes.

Jackie's TV appearance with her new look and sound is a failure, and afterwards she discovers that Terry, who she thought was romantically interested in her, is actually gay.

Meanwhile, Angus' deadbeat father Lou has returned and begun romancing Jackie's hardworking mother Pearl, but the affair ends badly when Lou disappears with all the money from the pub's safe, leaving Pearl and the pub, which was already on the verge of closing, in dire financial straits.

[2] Although the film is set in Sydney, journalist Stephen MacLean originally wrote Starstruck inspired by his childhood in the Melbourne suburbs of Williamstown and Newport during the 1960s.

His mother Isabel owned the then-thriving Newport Hotel at which he would often spend time, getting to know customers and dancing on the roof, until an overpass was built nextdoor and business quickly dwindled.

Years later, MacLean was living in London when he received an audio cassette in the mail from Rene's son about her passing.

[6]) Director Gillian Armstrong's first successful films were a series of short 1970s documentaries about Australian teenage girls, Smokes and Lollies and Fourteen's Good, Eighteen's Better.

She then had a breakout international success with her first feature, 1979's My Brilliant Career, the story of a young female aspiring writer in 19th century Australia.

Armstrong wanted to do something completely different next as she feared being typecast as a director of either "dour period dramas" or "women's pictures".

[7] She originally planned to direct a film about the unemployed working class of modern Australia, as written by a "young communist", but this did not eventuate.

[9][1] Jo Kennedy caught Armstrong's eye at audition as she wore a bright blue overcoat.

The film spawned a soundtrack album, which includes the hit single "Body and Soul" sung by Jo Kennedy.

The song was written by Tim Finn of Split Enz and had originally appeared as 'She Got Body She Got Soul' on the band's 1979 album Frenzy.

The film also featured music by The Swingers (whose leader Phil Judd had previously been a member of Split Enz) and who perform on screen at key moments.

She told the Baltimore Sun that the need to play "stage mother" on set had made the age gap between her and the cast evident, reflecting that she "grew old as a result of it all".

[23] Kennedy lost interest in pursuing fame after touring the US to promote Starstruck, later saying that the experience "felt a bit like being eaten alive... months of non-stop talking about myself.