SAMARA WEAVING

RIDING HIGH OFF THE BACK OF A ROLE IN THE OSCAR-NOMINATED THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING,

MISSOURI AND SET TO REPRISE HER PART IN THE HIT SERIES SMILF WHEN IT RETURNS FOR SEASON TWO, ADELAIDE-BORN WEAVING IS FINDING HER FEET IN HOLLYWOOD

I RE-READ PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK WHEN WE WERE SHOOTING. The more you read the book, the more layered you realise it is. [Author Joan Lindsay] was making a lot of social comments about being a woman in the 1900s. They really didn’t have any choices. They go to etiquette school, then they get married – there was no freedom for them. ON SET, WE WOULD TALK ABOUT HOW OPPRESSED WOMEN WERE AND WHAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE BACK THEN. We got to know each other well through those deep conversations. THE NOTION THAT FEMALE-LED PRODUCTIONS WON’T BE SUCCESSFUL IS BEING PROVEN WRONG. Watching the first scene of Wonder Woman, I was weeping, because I’ve never seen women fighting each other in a way that wasn’t oversexualised, but was through a female lens. That was amazing. OBVIOUSLY THERE IS A DARK UNDERBELLY [TO HOLLYWOOD], BUT THERE IS THE SILVER LINING THAT I’M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT. It’s surreal because I feel like this has been a long time coming, and now it’s amazing to watch these women and see the difference that’s already been made.