Yahoo News Leave No Trace has found the next Jennifer Lawrence
Debra Granik has a knack for bringing talented actresses to the world's attention – first it was Vera Farmiga in 2004's Down to the Bone, followed by the then-unknown Jennifer Lawrence in 2010's Winter's Bone. Maybe you've heard of her since?
Thomasin McKenzie is the director's latest discovery and based on both her talent and that Granik seal of approval, she's one to watch out for.
Granik revealed to Digital Spy that the Kiwi actress submitted her audition from long distance, and followed that up with additional work after the initial conversation.
"My conversation with her was lyrical," Granik says. "She is unjaded, in my opinion, and uses her imagination in a very rich way. She had already done a lot of conjuring of this character.
"She was filled with her own sense of wonder about, 'Oh, what would it be like for this and that?' To have a conversation like that, she's already increasing my interest in the story."
As we'd expect from a female lead in one of Granik's films, McKenzie's character is a lot tougher than she looks at first glance. And the actress herself embodies those same characteristics.
"She's already giving me signs like, 'Yeah, I'll travel to another hemisphere. And yes, I will learn to use these knives, and I will learn how to light fires in the rain. I like to get dirty'," Granik says, adding, "She's entourage-less. She's not prissy. She's got moxie."
Our review of Leave No Trace describes McKenzie as: "naturalistic but not mumblecore, she quietly fills the screen and absorbs all your attention.
"She bears a striking resemblance to a young Jodie Foster, and like Foster early in her career, feels more mature than her years should allow."
Granik says the actress is not dissimilar to the on-screen character, to the point that they eventually named her Thom.
"We called her Thom in rehearsals. A couple of nights before starting the film, we discussed it, [saying], 'I'm just so tempted to call you Thom because it's become the way that Ben [Foster] relates to you. It feels right'. So it was agreed upon. I said, 'I feel like you bring a lot of yourself to the role. Would it be confusing or helpful?' And she thought it would be helpful."
Granik is also happy to be known as someone who has a knack for finding amazing often-unseen actors for her films.
"Oh, I like it," she confirms. "I like the idea that people renew this system that used to be part of the UK and American filmmaking in the '40s, which was the idea that there was frequent excitement when it said '…and introducing'.
"You'd see it on posters, the idea that you can introduce someone. I don't mean that in an egoistic way. You have someone that you enjoyed or you resonated with. Literally, that means that you're exposing filmgoers to a new actor that you thought was doing wonderful work."
And US-born Granik sounds like a Brit as she delivers our favourite description of McKenzie: "She's a good egg."
Leave No Trace opens in UK and US cinemas on June 29, 2018.
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