"The corsets," she mutters. "They're as bad as everyone says. TORTURE!"
Having gone from the sweaty, rural grit of "That Evening Sun" to the limitless budget and English soundstages of "Alice," where her "soft-focus regality" (Time magazine) seemed so at home, she is most anxious to do one thing - "go back to the sort of pre-'Alice' roles I love to do. You know, small films."
So, she's done a Gus Van Sant teen drama, "Restless," "because Gus really understands the complex inner life of adolescents. He gets the alienation. I am privileged to be a part of this world, if only for a bit."
And she has tested herself on screen with a couple of the finest actresses working in the movies today - Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, who play her "moms" in the eccentric but heartfelt family dramedy "The Kids Are All Right." She plays a curious teen, on the cusp of college, who meets the sperm donor her lesbian "Moms" used to give birth to her and her brother (played by Josh Hutcherson).
"There comes a point in your life when you realize your parents aren't perfect," Wasikowska says, talking of the film's theme. "No one's perfect, but when they're your parents and you've reached an age where you can see them in a different light, that can be sad. Joni, my character, really loves her parents. At the same time, she's confused by them and by what's happening to her family."
What happens is that things are never quite the same once "the donor" (Mark Ruffalo) finds his way into their lives. This very nontraditional family is tested, and Joni comes of age as she sees that seeking a "normal" family can be a fool's errand when you already have a "normal" that works.
