From turning pages to switching scenes, actress Olivia DeJonge gives Wonderland the rundown on how to make the most out of a classic take. 

Australian actress Olivia DeJonge first graced our screens as a young 12-year-old girl Maziar Lahooti’s short film Good Pretender, making her feature film debut four years later in The Sisterhood of the Night. Later, she’d reappear as the formidable Priscilla Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s critically acclaimed biopic Elvis. 

Naturally, she’s uncovered a knack for classics, so it’s only right she takes centre screen in yet another as Ella in The Narrow Road to The Deep North, a miniseries based on the Booker Prize-winning novel by author Richard Flanagan. In it, she plays a young woman fighting to define herself amidst (what feels like) uncontrollable chaos yet it’s something she approaches with both grace and grit. Set against the backdrop of WWII, the story explores love, memory, and moral fallout, told through the eyes of those caught in between – with DeJonge placed at the heart of it all. Nothing new there.

Speaking from sunny Melbourne, the blue-eyed starlet shares set days spent with glossy eyes, working alongside fellow Aussie actors such as Jacob Elordi and Odessa Young, and adding an Olivia flair to every role.

Olivia, how are you today? Thanks so much for chatting with us. Where are you speaking from, and what’s been keeping you busy lately?
Hello! I am speaking from Melbourne, Australia. At the moment I’ve been cooking a lot. Watching lots of movies and reading. I’ve been on a bit of a Todd Solondz binge watch at the moment. 

Before we dive into your new project, let’s go back to the beginning. Tell us about your creative upbringing and those early days in the industry. Did you always know you wanted to be an actor? Who first inspired you, and who were some of your early influences?
I remember watching PJ Hogan’s Peter Pan when I was maybe 8 or 9, and being enthralled with the world. Watching all the behind the scenes footage. I just wanted to be a part of it. So I nagged my parents to put me into acting class, and it kind of just started from there. 

Massive congratulations on the new project. How did this story find its way to you, and do you remember your first reaction to the script?
Thank you! I was sent the script nearly two years ago now and was so impressed by the pacing and the characters. Narrow Road is such a character driven story and they were all so beautifully written. Richard Flanagan is so singular, and I’m also a big fan of Justin so it was a dream.

Who is Ella? Where do we first meet her in the story, and what about her initially caught your interest?
We first meet her as a young woman stepping into her own. She’s an outlier in the way she reads the room and knows how to fight for what’s important to her. I was attracted to her dignity. 

Were you familiar with the book’s narrative and the real-life events that inspired it before filming? How did those source materials shape your preparation for the role?
I was aware of the book but hadn’t yet read it. We were lucky because the team on Narrow Road were really open to our interpretation of the novel and encouraged us to make it our own. Of course, Richard’s writing is so haunting, and being able to reference and build character from such rich source material is a dream. 

How was your experience working with Shaun Grant on this project? How did the two of you collaborate in bringing this character to life?
Sean is great. Sean and Justin work so well together as a team and made us feel really supported. We did a lot of rehearsals – which is rare. But it gave us time to find the chemistry and dynamic. 

You share the screen with Jacob Elordi and Odessa Young. What were your days on set like? How did you work together to bring this story to life, and do you have a favourite memory from that time
Yes! Time on set was always atmospheric. The period of the show as well as the costumes and art department felt like stepping back in time. The firework scene was my favourite to shoot. I really felt like an actor in a film. If that makes sense, it felt cinematic while in the moment. 

The story carries such weight in its themes – from love and loss to morality and survival. Was there a particular moment in the script or on set that resonated with you on a deeply personal level?
When we shot the wedding sequence – it meant so much to Ella. Symbolically. A few people got misty eyed on that set actually. It was a beautiful day. 

Words – Aswan Magumbe