Drew Barrymore and Toni Colette are the best of mates in Miss You Already.
Drew Barrymore and Toni Colette are the best of mates in Miss You Already.
Each of her memorable characters contains a little bit of irrepressible Aussie. Toni Collette talks to Helen Barlow.
Ever since Muriel Heslop broke into Abba songs to escape her humdrum existence in Porpoise Spit, Toni Collette has been playing women with a lot of drive - and it's something she has in spades.
It was no coincidence that she could handle the rigours of embodying a woman with multiple personalities in the hit series United States of Tara, nor that she could lend a lot of sass to her rock journalist Ellie Klug in her recent little-seen gem Lucky Them.
Collette, star-sign Scorpio, plays another such sassy individual in her new comedy-laced drama Miss You Already, directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) only her Milly character discovers she has breast cancer and she doesn't take the news too well.
"Milly and Ellie are narcissistic," Collette admits. "They're not entirely likeable, they're very flawed and make bad decisions. Milly's not entirely heroic even though it's her story. I like that."
As with so many dramatic set-ups Milly's life starts out as near perfect. She has the hunky rock star husband (Dominic Cooper), two great kids and a job she adores.
When she is diagnosed she finds it hard to share her experience with her family, especially after a double mastectomy, and breaks loose with Jess (Drew Barrymore), her more retiring childhood best friend who reluctantly becomes her accomplice heading to the Yorkshire Moors for what might be her final fling.
Did Collette feel guilty having so many laughs around a tragic situation?
"Don't you think they go hand in hand? That's the great thing about this film. If it was all hand-wringingly sentimental it would be a nightmare. No one would want to watch it because it would feel fake and indulgent. It's not like that. It's quite realistic and hard to swallow at times. It's also really exuberant."
Collette had sought the Jess role but when Jennifer Aniston dropped out of the rowdier Milly part, she went after it. She wrote to Barrymore, hoping she would come on board.
"I'd met Drew a couple of times and in fact she'd offered me a bunch of jobs," Collette recalls. "We have a couple of girlfriends in common but we'd never hung out. We had a week of rehearsal, but from day one it was like, 'Yeah we're on!' We just got each other and it only got better and better. I think it gives the movie something really special."
A film made by women for women, Miss You Already is a rarity. Based on a script by Morwenna Banks, who had three friends die from cancer, the film is also a call to arms and a call to check your boobs.
When I ask if Collette has put hers on that cold metallic cancer detector, she fails to respond specifically, though says, "Yeah, I think if nothing else this film will remind people to keep on top of their health. Cancer is everywhere; it's hideous. If you haven't had cancer in your family, someone you know will have had it.
"But the film is also about female friendship and these great women who are audacious and outrageous and so much fun to be with."
There are even lively roles for treasured veteran actresses like Frances de la Tour as a wigmaker and a rare appearance by the still gorgeous Jacqueline Bissett as Milly's self-involved TV star mum.
"Wow, how incredible to be able to work with Jacqueline," enthuses Collette. "She's a lot of fun, really quite candid and often says things that surprise me, which I love."
The mother and daughter are ultimately two fiercely independent characters who come together when the going gets tough. Collette shares a palpable chemistry with the 60s icon, as she does with Barrymore.
So is this a feel-good film about cancer? "It's a feel-good film about life and appreciating and celebrating life and appreciating what you have."
Collette's other upcoming film, a Christmas horror story called Krampus, is likewise a mix of genres. "I love films that defy categorisation. Life is not one colour and I prefer films that reflect the human condition."
In Krampus, Collette plays an American mum, and she's a British mum in Miss You Already. Is it something about her age?
Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore pose for photographers at the European Premiere of Miss You Already in London. Photo / AP
"Are you kidding me? I've always been a mum age. I was 24 when I did The Sixth Sense [and 31 in Little Miss Sunshine]. Isn't it great that they're not just mums, that they're these amazing, fully realised women?"
For her voices in the animated feature Blinky Bill she is of course Australian.
"I play a couple of emu twin sisters, Cheryl and Beryl," she explains in strong Aussie tones. "To be honest it was brief, but I'm so familiar with that story and it was a really sweet thing to be a part of for my kids."
She probably had to make up for daughter Sage, 7, and son Arlo, 4, seeing their mum looking gaunt and with a shaved head in Miss You Already. "They don't want to see it again," she confides. Her musician husband Dave Galafassi, the drummer in her band Toni Collette & the Finish, of course had seen it all before.
"I think it was more traumatic for everyone else around me but it was just what the character was going through and I knew I had to do it. In fact I've shaved my hair four times before, so it was quite liberating yet again."
After famously piling on an incredible 18kg for her breakthrough in Muriel's Wedding, Collette was likewise prepared to lose weight to reflect Milly's deterioration. "I wasn't weighing myself and it was just a matter of how I looked and felt."
Health conscious in her own life, the weight loss was always within reason. Is she still vegetarian? "I was vegan, I was vegetarian I was vegequarian. And I just looked like a leopard; I was covered in bruises.
"A naturopath said that my blood type needs meat so now I eat everything. I love juice, green juice, I do a lot of fresh juices. I try to keep fit and exercise. I like doing Tabata, which is what I guess CrossFit is based on.
"I discovered it when I was getting ready for Miss You Already. It's the most difficult thing I've ever done but it's really impactful. You get it over and done with quickly and you're kind of set for the day."
Collette lives in Los Angeles where she clearly blends in. She was reminded of her love of London while making Miss You Already, as the film is also an unabashed love letter to the city.
"I spent most of my 20s there and I liked being back so much I didn't want to leave. In fact we contemplated staying there afterwards and we did for a little while. Culturally, it's so exciting and the food is great - remember when the food was shit? It's so much better now."
Despite all the flitting around that comes with the demands of her job, she says she will always call Australia home. "Family, friends, the beauty of it and great Thai food. It's always so comfortable to roll around in."
What does she think of the new Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull? Just don't get her started on Tony Abbott.
"Thank God there's a new Prime Minister. How embarrassing was he? Agghh, bring him down, dude! That was just a glitch hopefully everybody will forget."
