Fishing in the Desert
Mia Wasikowska talks about the personal journey behind Tracks
At only 25 years old, Mia Wasikowska has the kind of career for which industry stalwarts pine. Among any huge number of roles for both TV and film, she counts defining turns in Alice in Wonderland, The Kids Are Alright, Jane Eyre, Only Lovers Left Alive, In Treatment and Stoker, with such upcoming films as Madame Bovary, Maps to the Stars and the next Alice installment, Through the Looking Glass. Point is: if she hadn’t been working for more than a decade already, she’d be one of the most exciting new actresses to watch.
Recently, Paste had a chance to talk to Wasikowska about Tracks, in which she plays Robyn Davidson, a young woman who in 1977 trekked 1,700 miles across the Australian desert with some camels, her dog and a heavy dose of determination. The film is based on Davidson’s memoir of the same name, and co-stars Adam Driver as Rick Smolan, the National Geographic photographer who documented her journey.
Paste: Robyn’s journey is documented in National Geographic, but she’s also written about it. When embodying her, was there something else you discovered?
Mia Wasikowska: I felt like I really understood who she was from the beginning. Although the first draft [of the script] changed so much, it was so sparse. I understood her and didn’t have to investigate too hard. Then I met her and we became good friends. She was very open.
Paste: Was there anything she told you that wasn’t already widely known?
Wasikowska: [Laughs] You’re fishing! …the most interesting thing I heard was what happened with the camels after the journey. They went to a family in western Australia and [then] to another family. She would come back and see them once a year. There was a big storm one night and they all ran away…released back into the wild.
Paste: Robyn’s idea to travel 1,700 miles borders on arrogance. Reading her story at first, did you find it hard not to judge her one way or another?
Wasikowska: I just liked her so much. There was nothing that didn’t gel with me that I had to remain diplomatic about. It’s a tricky thing to play because she’s chosen to take this journey. It’s not like she’s in a war zone. You have to be careful because you can’t portray her too snippily; it’s [her] choice. That was a balance we had to find in the film. It was a personal journey.
Paste: In the film, you mostly walk and squint into the sun! There’s not a lot of dialogue or action. Was it a challenge to bring a character to life when that’s the circumstance?
Wasikowska: No more so than maybe other films but you had to make sure you knew where you were in the film. There are no words telling you where you are, you have to emotionally know where she is in each moment.