Crocodile Dundee's Paul Hogan makes rare public appearance at 85 for reboot's premiere

Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan, 85, stepped out in a rare public appearance at the reboot of the cult classic film series almost 40 years after it was released

Actor Paul Hogan made a rare appearance as he celebrated the reboot of classic series Crocodile Dundee.

The Australian star, 85, walked the red carpet at the premiere and rocked a brown leather jacket over a black shirt and matching jeans. He added a leather belt and black trainers as he posed for cameras at the event. Paul shot to fame back in the 1980s when he played Mick 'Crocodile' Dundee in the cult classic.

The film series sees American reporter Sue Charlton travel to the Australian outback to meet eccentric poacher Mick. She then invites him to New York City, where he comes face-to-face with the complexities of modern life. The adventure franchise boasted three films and saw Paul nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.

A new 'encore cut' of the film was shown at the OpenAir Cinema in Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens, which saw two minutes of insensitive material cut from the original movie. Some scenes had been cut out to suit a modern day audience, which some fans believed wasn't right and branded it "bloody woke c**p".

However, Paul said he "totally" agreed with the changes and insisted it wasn't about being woke. He told The Courier Mail : "I heard about it [the edit] years ago, it started, and it wasn't about being woke. They pointed out to me and said, 'This guy is a folk hero around the world, and he shouldn't be groping people'. And I thought, 'Yeah that's right, he shouldn't be'. So take it out.

"I mean, he did it in all innocence, in naivety, but it's better without it." In 2022, Paul opened up on his health as he revealed he shed all his body fat after suffering a condition called retro peritoneal fibrosis, a benign growth that pressed on his kidney. He was prescribed steroids to shrink it but said he needed to build himself up again.

He told Australian TV station Channel 9: “The treatment fixed it, but it shrunk me. The muscles all shrank and the strength has come back, but it left me feeble. They [steroids] are supposed to make you fat but I got thinner. I’m now in the business of trying to put a bit of fat on.”

Paul added: “I maintained [my health] right up till 79, I was still fit. I’d still take out most 40-year-olds. And then I turned 80 – it’s lovely, that saying, that ‘turning 80 is not for sissies’, because things start to fall apart.”

In December, the legendary crocodile that starred in Crocodile Dundee passed away. Burt, the massive 5.1-metre croc who featured in the 1986 movie, died "peacefully" in captivity in Darwin, aged "over 90 years old". The Crocosaurus Cove shared details about how Burt was caught in the early 1980s, prior to his blockbuster appearance with Hogan.

They said: "It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Burt, the iconic Saltwater crocodile and star of the Australian classic Crocodile Dundee. Burt passed away peacefully over the weekend, estimated to be over 90 years old, marking the end of an incredible era.

"Burt's life story is one of strength, resilience, and a personality as bold as the Top End itself. Captured in the 1980s in the Reynolds River, Burt became one of the most recognised crocodiles in the world, appearing in Crocodile Dundee and helping to shape Australia's image as a land of rugged natural beauty and awe-inspiring wildlife."

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