Film & TV

Interview: A Visit with Olivia de Jonge

With M. Night Shyamalan’s new film The Visit opening soon, we caught up with Perth teenager, Olivia de Jonge to chat about her feature role.

 

The future of Australian film is in good hands, if this intelligent, talented, young lady is anything to go by. We chatted to Perth teenager, Olivia de Jonge, just before the release of her latest film, The Visit.

Having had a career in voice-over and acting since the tender age of eight, how did the role in this film come about?
I got the audition through my agent, and I knew nothing about it. All I knew was that it was directed by M. Night Shyamalan and that was enough to draw me to an audition. So I did the audition, I got a call-back and then I got the phone call!

That must have been exciting.
Are you kidding me? It was amazing! I was so, so surprised.

So what was the process like in working with Shyamalan. Was it solely script-based or was there some improvisation involved?
No, there was no improvisation, but we had several weeks of rehearsal just to learn back-stories and develop our characters. We were encouraged to reach our character arcs and push ourselves emotionally.

And with your character of Becca, how much did you feed into that?
Quite a lot really. My character is a reflection of Night [Shyamalan] himself, as someone who is really interested in film. She’s sort of a reflection of a younger Night. So Night and I worked very closely together on that.

Your on-screen brother is played by Ed Oxenbould, and you had a great chemistry. Tell us about your working relationship with him.
We’re both Australian, to start with, so we instantly clicked. We got on like a house on fire. I also have a younger brother, and [he and Oxenbould] are three months apart. He’s so incredibly talented, so mature, easy to work with and works so hard. And I think that came through in the film: we had a real, relationship.

Now there is a rumour going around the film traps that there were three versions made of the film. Is that true?
Yes! There was one version that was pure comedy, one that was pure horror and one that was a mixture of the two.

So what of Olivia de Jonge in the future. Are there any roles or directors that you have in your sights?
I love Martin Scorcese, so it would be cool to be in one of his films. And I’d love to play a super-hero on screen.

What’s next for you? You have year 12 exams to get through, but what of next year?
I’m doing a film in January which is shooting in Sydney and after that, maybe uni. I’m interested in studying psychology, but I’m getting a lot of auditions at the moment, so that’s taking up much of my time.

Whether Ms de Jonge ends up in psychology, or playing a super-hero in the next Scorcese, there is little doubt that she will make a mark on the world.

Interviewed by Tracey Korsten
@TraceyKorsten

 

More News

To Top