The minute a movie would finish playing at her family home in Perth when she was a child, Olivia De Jonge would take the remote and navigate to the DVD’s extras section. At the time, she wasn’t cognitively aware of what it was that made her so entranced by behind-the-scenes clips, but the ritual unlocked something in her brain that made it possible for her to conceptualise being on screen herself. “Peter Hogan’s Peter Pan was a huge influence. I was obsessed with that film. I wanted to be inside of that film. I thought it was so magical and surreal and wonderful and immersive.”

De Jonge always loved learning lines. As a child, there was an element of people pleasing to it: enjoying when adults would tell her she was doing a good job. “I think I got a thrill out of it, because it’s quite scary and quite nerve-wracking to get in front of people and commit to a character.” When she was younger, she felt comfortable being more off the cuff on set. “It’s so easy when you’re young. You’re sort of unconsciously moving through the world and doing what feels good, you don’t have that layer of self-awareness that you do as an adult.” But the older she gets the more De Jonge is throwing herself into studying a character. “Prep time is becoming more and more sacred, in a sense,” she says. This includes making playlists and working with a coach to build out the person outside of the page. “There’s a story that is contained within the first page and the 99th page. But in order to have a well-rounded character, there’s also a whole world that exists outside of that.”

This process is partially to thank for De Jonge’s remarkable ability to morph into characters and seamlessly transition between genres. From her breakout role as a curious and determined teenager, Bee, in the 2015 horror The Visit, to the emotionally layered Elle in Netflix’s teen mystery The Society, to her nuanced and subdued performance as Presley, and another totally different yet still poignantly subtle and restrained role as Caitlin in The Staircase, DeJonge’s versatility is indelible.

It makes sense that she’d be attracted to actors who are similarly transformative. “Ben Stiller as an actor as well as a director. I absolutely loved Severance [the show Stiller directed for Apple], and Escape at Dannemora is such an incredible show with Patricia Arquette and Paul Dano, and Ben Stiller directed that, too. And again, Paul Dano, huge fan, he also did this amazing movie, Wildlife with my friend Ed Oxenbould, and Jake Gyllenhaal. Benicio Del Toro, all those people are amazing and so transformative. I feel like I’ve seen them in so many different types of roles over the years.”

Now, fresh off the back of filming Justin Kurzel’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North alongside Jacob Elordi and Odessa Young, De Jonge is about to partake in her most challenging role yet: making her stage debut in Ian Michael’s adaptation of the Australian classic, Picnic at Hanging Rock. She’s nervous but excited about both the challenge and the change in process. “In theatre, you get such a long time to rehearse and find the character, whereas, in film and television, you might get a week or two with a director on and off, but the majority of that work is done more solitary. With something like this, you get to dive into the thick of it, which I’ve really been craving as an actor.”

De Jonge remembers watching the 1975 Peter Weir film in year nine English class and thinking that it was such delicate filmmaking. She was sucked in by the mystery of it, too. “It’s funny, so many people when I tell them about the production ask me if it really happened. It’s a story that’s so ingrained in Australian culture.” Before signing on for Michael’s stage adaptation, De Jonge saw the director’s play, Stolen, and thought it was brilliant. “He has such a sincere idea about character and character work. He’s such an incredible Australian storyteller. And to work with a director who also knows what it’s like to be an actor is such a great combination in terms of trusting someone to captain a story.” She was also actively looking to work with women. “Before I got the play, I was thinking I’d love to work with a group of creative women, so it’s exciting to be surrounded by four other amazing Australian actresses.”

True to form, despite rehearsals for Picnic at Hanging Rock not beginning until January, De Jonge has already learned all her lines – and there are “so, so many” to be learned. “On stage, you can’t mess up and go again. You can’t be like, ‘Sorry guys, I forgot my line, can we take that from the top,’ she says. “So I think for me, the safety net I’m sort of creating for myself is being really, really thorough with the material. More than I think I’ve ever been.”

When you’re playing a real person, such as Presley, there’s an added pressure. But a similar kind of pressure applies when you’re playing a character that’s been portrayed before, too. “People have an idea of who the character is already, which is why it’s important to bring your own thing to it. You sort of conjure up your interpretation, I think,” De Jonge says. “Again, a lot of it comes down to prep work and inhaling as much material as you can and leaning into the, I mean, it sounds so basic, but the empathy. No matter how good or bad your character is, or however you perceive them to be, you need to be increasingly empathetic to their circumstances.”

As De Jonge continues booking bigger and bigger projects, it will become harder to separate fame and celebrity from the job. But as someone who doesn’t spend much time on social media or in Hollywood, De Jonge feels a world away from much of the industry’s intensity. “I think staying grounded is easier when you when you stay away from that whole Hollywood thing. I live in Melbourne. I’ve got very normal friends, the majority of whom aren’t actors. My friends are accountants – exciting accountants! fun accountants! – and my partner works in the grain trade. I’m close with my brother and my mum and dad. I have very normal people around me. And I love watching movies from the perspective of just a movie lover, rather than just someone who’s trying to be in them. I think that creates a dynamic of normalcy in a strange way.”

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_{SIDE-NOTE acknowledges the Eora people as the traditional custodians of the land on which this project was produced. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. We extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples reading this.}