Mia Wasikowska took me by surprise. I’ve witnessed several of her films now and her grace on screen has finally caught up to me. She is an unconventional beauty from Australia who hasn’t even begun to shine yet.
Mia’s career has a bright future, with plenty of her roles already earning her some well deserved attention. The first thing I ever saw her in was 2010’s “Alice In Wonderland” where she had the lead role of Alice. There was something about her, even in that childish role that screamed maturity. I wouldn’t say sexual is the word, but something adult exudes from her in even the smallest roles, much like that of the similar Emily Browning (“Sucker Punch”).
The next film I came across her in was Academy Award nominated film “The Kids Are All Right”, where she had a large role as well, as the daughter of two women. With all the women in the film, and women twice her age, she was able to steal the show. A year later she lead “Jane Eyre” to relevancy, along with fellow future Oscar winner Michael Fassbender and personal favorite actor Jamie Bell. Here, too, behind her innocence shone a seductive side. By the end of this film I was hooked.
By 2011, I would see her in another Oscar nominated film, “Albert Nobbs” to which she plays the apple of everyone’s eye, including Glenn Close and Aaron Johnson. Her sexual transformation began here and never quite let up. In my favorite film of 2012, “Lawless”, Mia was also a major part, once again playing the center of affection, Bertha Minnix, the preacher’s daughter to which Shia LaBeouf’s character draws a liking. Her innocence is whole here, but her beauty could not be more undeniable, that you can’t help but fall in love with her as well.
This journey ends on the new release featuring Mia, the Park Chan-wook film, “Stoker”, where once again Mia is the pivotal character in the story, a disturbed young woman who has just lost her father and is witness to her mother’s developing affair with her uncle. Mia and Matthew Goode carry this film wonderfully, and prove that you can easily build a film around them. It is here Mia takes the final turn in her sexuality on screen, displaying that same innocence we’ve seen from her with the eventual blossoming of a strong, sexual being both mentally and physically in her role.
Mia is only 23 years old, and with all the huge steps she’s already taken to a stellar career, you can’t help but wonder where she’ll go from here. For the past few years, she has simply showed up in many of the films that I have already wanted to see, never really having to seek her out. But with all the great performances she gives, she has finally convinced me to venture out to see her films, just because of her and her alone, no matter who the director or what the subject matter may be.
