Actress Mia Wasikowska said she left Hollywood behind for her native Australia because she “didn’t quite like the lifestyle” of film after film making, which left her feeling “disconnected” from her community.
“I want to do more things in life than star in a trailer,” the “Jane Eyre” actress revealed to IndieWire in an interview published Friday.
Not too long ago, Wasikowska was a Hollywood it-girl, starring in blockbuster films such as Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland” and “Crimson Peak.” But she said that having lived the fast-paced lifestyle since she was a teenager, she was ready for a change of pace.
“I didn’t quite like the back-to-back-to-back lifestyle. I felt really disconnected from a larger community,” she said.
“I’ve been doing it since I was 17 – well, more like 15 – but from 17 I really worked a lot. I spent 10 to 15 years, all like, new city, new country, every three months. And it’s like going back to school every few months. Especially when you’re younger, when you don’t have that foundation. I found that very difficult.”
The 33-year-old said that is why she was looking for a place to settle down.
“Maybe if the payoff is good and you feel really great doing it then that’s okay. But I didn’t. So I wanted to establish that for myself on a personal level and feel more like I belong somewhere, not alone on a movie set that ends every few weeks,” she said.
Wasikowska moved back to Sydney a few years ago and has since been working on Australian independent projects such as ‘Blueback’, a drama about an oceanographer advocating for coral reefs against poachers, which came out last year.
The “Alice Through the Looking Glass” actress said she would like to work on Hollywood movies from time to time, but she doesn’t see herself returning to Los Angeles full-time.
“I’m quite pleased,” she said. “If I can have the best of both worlds, which is the occasional dip, I would be very happy. But I would never be in that place where I was just sitting on a treadmill.
“I want to do more things in life than sit in a trailer. It’s great, and there’s a lot of great things, [but] the perception of it is very different from the reality. And it didn’t suit me as a person. You can really lose perspective because you are treated rather strangely. If that’s your only reality, that’s kind of strange.”
