I feel like she should be more famous! At least…
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Mia Wasikowska
JaxArcher — 10 years ago(January 03, 2016 03:35 PM)
On the level of Jennifer Lawrence. Mia always blows me away on screen especially in period pieces. She was also incredible in "In Treatment" and has risen since but I feel like she should be as recognizable, if not more, as Jennifer Lawrence.
-
Weber4278 — 10 years ago(January 03, 2016 04:36 PM)
Well other then 'Alice in Wonderland' (which was really 'the Johnny Depp show', and even though Mia was the main character he was really the 'star' of the piece and sort of stole her thunder in that film) Mia hasn't really done a big blockbuster type of film where she is undoubtedly the 'star', to really give her mainstream pop culture levels of fame.
Jennifer Lawrence has the Hunger Game Franchise, and the X-Men franchise which is part of why she is much more well known.
But truth be told I don't really think Mia wants that type of fame, if she did she could pursue more action/adventure type of projects. I think she just prefers smaller films which is fine. But I'd really like to see her land a good dramatic role eventually, that will give her more recognition for her acting talent, she definitely deserves it. -
josephmramirez — 10 years ago(January 03, 2016 08:23 PM)
There are two main factors that account for the great difference in fame. The first one has been mentioned by Weber4278. Remember that the movie industry, and pop culture celebrity in general, are very much "What have you done for me lately?" contests. Mia starred in a billion-dollar picture in 2010, but then what? Let's summarize the last five years of the two actresses' careers:
Major Roles in "Franchise" Films, 2011-2015
Mia Wasikowska: 0
Jennifer Lawrence: 6
The second factor is high-profile professional recognition. Mia's mid-budget and arthouse films have earned her some critical praise, but they have not done the job of attracting the most important awards or nominations. Again, let's compare the two actresses, this time looking at their entire careers:
Academy Award Nominations
Mia Wasikowska: 0
Jennifer Lawrence: 3 (1 win)
Golden Globe Nominations
Mia Wasikowska: 0
Jennifer Lawrence: 4 (2 wins)
Screen Actors Guild Nominations (individual only)
Mia Wasikowska: 0
Jennifer Lawrence: 3 (1 win)
In a way this is an unfair comparison, because Jennifer Lawrence, who is actually a year younger than Mia, has had the absolutely perfect career to date in its combination of commercial success and professional honors. It would be asking a lot for there to be
two
such careers among young actresses of the same generation. However, I think it's reasonable to conclude that while Mia Wasikowska has had a fine career so far, especially in terms of the
quality
of much of her work, she's far from being a superstar in the public consciousness, or even a household name. -
Weber4278 — 10 years ago(January 03, 2016 08:42 PM)
Truth be toldand this is just my opinion so don't shoot meI think Jennifer Lawrence is a bit overrated these days. She's a good actress, but I don't think she's as amazing as some people make her out to be, she's just been extremely lucky with her career thus farHunger Games really made her a household name, but personally I think her better work is in her non-franchise films.
Just my opinion -
josephmramirez — 10 years ago(January 03, 2016 09:30 PM)
JL is a good example of someone who appears to have benefited from a high "Q score," which measures a combination of familiarity (does the public know who you are?) and popularity (does the public like you?). She seems to have leveraged herself into a position in which she'll be considered a major awards contender for any late-in-the-year picture in which she appears. That's enviable PR clout. I think she's usually effective, but I can't say I've been awed by anything she's done. She's kind of a classic "movie star" in the sense that a big part of her own personality comes through in all her roles. In contrast, I would say that although Mia Wasikowska has a recognizable style as an actress, her native personality is less obvious as a building block for her characters.
Your opinion about JL's movies is not really atypical, since all her nominations have come for films other than
The Hunger Games
or
X-Men
. -
oladesuolusola-106-499749 — 10 years ago(January 19, 2016 10:07 PM)
Jennifer Lawrence has5b4 4 Academy award nominations now, no longer 3. I love Mia too and I think her path as an actress is just different and shouldn't be compared. I prefer Lawrence though.
-
jlim80 — 10 years ago(January 20, 2016 05:06 AM)
Their career paths have been totally different. Not that Mia hasn't done a big blockbuster, but she seems to prefer smaller budget/independent films.
Also, as much as I find Jennifer Lawrence overrated, she has the typical Hollywood starlet good looks. Mia is pretty and has a quirky sense of style, but lacks that extra something that would make her mainstream popular. And she perhaps isn't interested in being that. She appears very introverted and shy.
Having said that though, I love Mia and her acting. I think she's very much a chameleon in her work innocent and naive one minute, coquettish and provocative the next, and vulnerable yet strong all at the same time. -
kellcramer — 10 years ago(January 22, 2016 07:21 PM)
I really like Mia but she really needs to shake things up a bit. I think the actress I would compare Mia with is Lily James.
Lily seems to be getting the period piece films that typically Mia cornered. Lily also did Cinderella and managed not to get overshadowed by Cate Blanchett in the way Mia did in Alice with Johnny Depp.
Lily seems also to be more outgoing and from the looks of her latest movie looks pretty good doing action sequences. -
Weber4278 — 10 years ago(January 22, 2016 09:17 PM)
Lily also did Cinderella and managed not to get overshadowed by Cate Blanchett in the way Mia did in Alice with Johnny Depp.
The Mad Hatter is much more of a scene stealing type of character then The Wicked Stepmother. Johnny Depps wackyness would have overshadowed Lily James too had she been playing opposite him.
It wasn't Mia's fault that she was playing the 'straight' character in a film that had way too much Mad Hatter stuff. -
josephmramirez — 10 years ago(January 25, 2016 10:12 AM)
I really like her choices..she seems intelligent enough not to go down the RomCom/rubbish blockbuster route.
A vital part of being a successful actor is choosing quality projects that have enough personal appeal to inspire good or great performances.
Other important parts of the job are working regularly, and reaching substantial audiences. Even the most talented actor doesn't want to be limited to productions with three-week runs in mostly empty theaters. Some concessions must be made to mass appeal.
Balance is essential. A successful actor in 2016 ideally should appear in a mix of ambitious independent films, well-crafted midbudget releases with some commercial aspirations, and yes, the occasional blockbuster if possible. Bigger pictures make smaller pictures possible by increasing the actor's recognition and popularity, and demonstrating box office potential.
Performance quality aside, the bottom line at the moment is that Mia could use a
hit
. -
LifeVsArt — 10 years ago(January 25, 2016 11:13 PM)
I agree with what you write, but who knows if she even cares about that; it's hard to tell (I hope she does, at least somewhat). A more mainstream type film, once in a while, is necessary. Mia seems to be drawn to psychological, surreal, visually poetic, edgy, auteur directed movies, which I LOVE, and watch multiple times, but the mass audience doesn't pick-up on that type of thing - they're often divisive films, bless her heart. She's such an amazing actress, with an almost mystical presence, I want her to keep making the kind of movies I love, but a big picture would be welcomed. I guess we've got "Alice Through the Looking Glass" coming next, so hopefully that will provide the occasional blockbuster spot.
-
kellcramer — 10 years ago(January 27, 2016 08:51 AM)
A vital part of being a successful actor is choosing quality projects that have enough personal appeal to inspire good or great performances.
Other important parts of the job are working regularly, and reaching substantial audiences. Even the most talented actor doesn't want to be limited to productions with three-week runs in mostly empty theaters. Some concessions must be made to mass appeal.
Balance is essential. A successful actor in 2016 ideally should appear in a mix of ambitious independent films, well-crafted midbudget releases with 5b4some commercial aspirations, and yes, the occasional blockbuster if possible. Bigger pictures make smaller pictures possible by increasing the actor's recognition and popularity, and demonstrating box office potential.
Performance quality aside, the bottom line at the moment is that Mia could use a hit.
So eloquently stated.
I think many if not most of Mia's fans love her choices in movies. But there comes a point in time when you have to realize as a performer that your movies just aren't being seen. Her films generate little to no publicity which mean even the arthouse crowd fails to see them. The films where Mia is the sole lead often go straight to VOD/DVD, no theatrically life whatsoever. As a fan I would like to see her films have a theater run and yes be in awards contention.
Mia is well known in the industry and is seen by many directors and studio executives as a top choice and talent. But with so many talented actresses coming along, how long will Mia continue to get all of these quality leading roles? The point is Mia's films have little to no critical acclaim and no box office potential.
I'm not saying that to be insulting but saying that as a fan that just wants more for her career. There is no way that a film like Tracks should have gone completely ignored. -
josephmramirez — 10 years ago(January 27, 2016 08:46 PM)
There is no way that a film like Tracks should have gone completely ignored.
Tracks
was an utter nonentity, commercially speaking. But it's not as though the film was bungled; it's well-crafted, engaging, and even beautiful in an austere way. One might therefore conclude that the appeal of the "Woman vs. Nature" story must be inherently limited, and that's why no one anywhere saw
Tracks
, or bothered to promote it. Yet only three months later (based on U.S. release dates),
Wild
turned in 11x the global grosses of
Tracks
. Eleven times! It was essentially the same movie, but with a better-known, American actress in an American setting. It also earned an Academy Award nomination for Reese Witherspoon.
The same thing happened on a larger scale with Mia's
Restless
, a film with box office returns so low the producers probably had to go back and check to confirm that it had actually been released. Three years later, the very similar
The Fault in Our Stars
made more than $300 million worldwide! It must be frustrating for Mia to see her flopped film concepts becomes hits for other performers. -
SwingBatta — 10 years ago(January 27, 2016 10:35 PM)
TFIOS was based on a well-known cheesetastic YA novel that already had a large fanbase, released during the YA-novel-adaptation gold rush.
But yeah, I completely agree with you on all points. If there was anything bungled about Tracks, it was the utterly abominable marketing by Weinstein.
You four-eyed psycho. -
LifeVsArt — 10 years ago(January 27, 2016 10:47 PM)
I'm sure you also know that "Wild" and "The Fault in Our Stars" were based on recent #1 best selling books - Oprah endorsed, Young adult runaway hit, etc.- both already had very large audiences going in who knew and loved the books, which is a big reason why they were adapted into films in the first place (why Reese Witherspoon was attracted to the project and produced) and why they got the kind of major promotion/push/buzz that they did. They're also both MUCH more commercial/mainstream films. I appreciate what you're saying, but there are so many factors other than a similarity in the story, that leads to a film being a hit or not being a hit, don't you think?
-
josephmramirez — 10 years ago(January 28, 2016 09:32 AM)
Having a tie-in to a popular novel (even a "cheesetastic" book, as SwingBatta notes) is of course a great advantage that can't be replicated. However, the popularity of a novel and its screen adaptation are also important for related works, because they demonstrate the commercial viability of the material.
For example, if
Restless
were considered in isolation, the judgment might be, "A bittersweet teen romance in which the girl is terminally ill? Too much of a downer; no one wants to see that kind of story." But thanks to
The Fault in Our Stars
, we know that's not true. An audience for this kind of story does exist a large one. Unfortunately, in this case the certain knowledge is available only in hindsight, because both the novel and film of
The Fault in Our Stars
came out after
Restless
.
I doubt that the public's taste changed dramatically between 2011 and 2012, however. Realistically, evaluating the prospects of
Restless
in some sort of atemporal movie space, we'd conclude, "Your movie is quirkier and maybe less straightforwardly romantic than
Fault
, and you lack the book tie-in and Oprah endorsements as big boosters. Don't expect to be a blockbuster. But you've got a talented cast and crew, and a central story that we know has appeal. Your movie could easily be a modest hit."
But conventional "hit or flop" analysis doesn't capture the enormity of the box office failure of
Restless
. It's as if the producers simply threw the film away. Or, as kellcramer implies, perhaps they decided it should really be a direct-to-video product, and the theatrical release was reduced to a mere formality.
So yes, I agree that there were multiple reasons that
Restless
, and
Tracks
, were not even marginally successful. But I still believe there are strong indicators that they
could have been
successful again, not blockbusters or even major hits, but certainly high-performing indie films, like
Jane Eyre
.
JE
is a good example of a movie with a relatively small but well-defined target audience, which the film largely succeeded in reaching.
Many lousy movies fail all the time, but it's sad when good ones crash mightily despite reasonable prospects, assuming half-decent management and marketing. -
LifeVsArt — 10 years ago(January 28, 2016 10:20 AM)
Many lousy movies fail all the time, but it's sad when good ones crash mightily despite reasonable prospects, assuming half-decent management and marketing.
Yes, and managing and marketing is extremely important - as Swingbatta noted, Weinstien blew it (for a number of reasons). Also, for a while now, many small, arthouse type films are increasingly being marketed through streaming (Amazon, Netflix, etc.) where brief theatrical runs in limited markets are almost merely promo gestures, the films look to make their money back internationally through streaming (where the receipts I don't think are even made public) rather than theatrical ticket sales. DVD's are also becoming less of a factor. In the case of "Tracks", I wish Weinstein would have stuck with the original release date in March, rather than rescheduling it for Septemeber 19, when it was thrown into the juggernaut path of "Wild", which had just come out of a major push and oscar-hype at TFF earlier in the week. I think Weinstein was playing games with Fox Searchlight (his major competitor - other people in the industry thought this, too) and it came at the expense of "Tracks", which is a meditative, poetic film, a far cry from more typical melodramatic, formulaic Oscar-bait material, featuring a Hollywood star/brand.