From showrunnerLarysa Kondrackiand adapted from the iconic 1967 Australian novel byJoan Lindsay, the mini-seriesPicnic at Hanging Rock(streaming at Amazon Prime) tells the story of what happens when a group of schoolgirls from a local college take a day trip to Hanging Rock on Valentine’s Day 1900, and three of the girls and their governess go missing. The disappearance deeply affects the students family and staff of Appleyard College, none more so than enigmatic headmistress Hester Appleyard (Natalie Dormer), who becomes increasingly fearful that her own dark and secret past will be revealed.
At the press day, held at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, Collider got the opportunity to sit down and chat 1-on-1 with director Larysa Kondracki about taking on such a complex project, creating the visual look for the mini-series, casting this talented and diverse group of women, creating an environment where people want to come play, and the biggest challenges on this production. She also talked about wanting to do more feature films, and whether she’d ever consider taking on a big blockbuster.
Collider:I thought this was so beautifully done, but at the same time, it seems like there were so many things in it that would make this a very overwhelming project to run? So, what was it that made you want to take on all of this at once?
LARYSA KONDRACKI:The scripts read so beautifully that I was like, “Got it. No problem.” Bea [Christian] is a devious but wonderful writer. She says so much with so little. The scripts were such a pleasure to read that I was like,”Yeah, no problem. I’ll just shoot that.” And then, you get there and you’re like, “Wait a second, this is really deep and complex. I’ve gotta read this again.” And the book is like that, which she went back to. Joan Lindsay really teases little things. That’s what was so amazing, just from a filmmaking point of view. Bea’s language is beautiful. Her dialogue is stunning. She’s structurally brilliant. She’s so emotionally specific, but without pigeonholing you, and allowing so much room for interpretation. It was really lovely. From a production point of view, it was a real challenge, but it was always great to just read the script and remind yourself that it’s there. It says exactly what it needs.
It also looks and feels very unexpected, for something set in this time period.
KONDRACKI:Yeah. I just related to everyone in the scripts, including Hester, or especially Hester. She’s a woman doing her very best to right a situation, to help these girls, and to do what she thinks a woman should do. She probably needed therapy and a good shag. All these girls are just trying to find the strength to be themselves. They just happen to be in corsets and there aren’t any cars. I could easily see these scripts, exactly as written, with Valentine’s Day texts and three people disappearing at Runyon Canyon, or whatever. It felt very relevant.
This is such a talented and diverse group of women. How challenging was the casting?
KONDRACKI:Aren’t they amazing?! Natalie [Dormer] my first choice. She liked the script, so we got on a 90-minute Skype call. She didn’t want to do it, but after the call, she was like, “Okay, I’m coming.” I was like, “That was easy!” With everybody else, it was both hard yet not. It’s such a highly beloved property in Australia, so casting Miranda was tough. Good grief, how many times did poor Lily [Sullivan] come in? It was like casting Jesus. We knew she was the one, but we had to go to every door, just to make sure. It was likeAmerican Idol. No stone was left unturned. Maddie [Madden] was actually the first person cast. We were like, “There’s Marion.” It was interesting because suddenly they were like, “Would there be an indigenous girl there in the 1900s?” And we were like, “Who gives a shit? Write it into the story.” I know it meant a lot for her. She was like, “I never thought I’d be in a corseted period piece.”
Lily was in early, and we saw Samara [Weaving]. But also, any of them could have played any of the three characters. They’re all so good. We did a lot of trying this role and trying that role. It was just about what felt right, and then you built a cast from there. Yael [Stone] is a genius. Natalie is a powerhouse. She’s an amazing woman, who’s incredibly intelligent and somewhat intimidating, with that hoity-toity accent. She was so supportive of these young girls and such a team player. We had no time. She would change on the move and rehearse at night, and everybody saw that. It was infectious. She’s just so experienced at stage work and she’s a dancer, so she can control her body and hit a mark. And then, we had these girls, at the beginning, where you had to be like, “Ladies, the camera is over here. Turn the scene around.” They were just so free. And then, the younger girls that were essentially extras got out of school for three months to come and play, and this amazing energy formed.
I’ve been very fortunate to work on good shows, and then I’ve learned stuff from other shows. It was Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould and Melissa Bernstein onBetter Call Saul, and then also working for Noah Hawley onLegionthat made me realize how good shows are run. You are rigorous, thorough, polite, fun, and you ask people their opinions, and if they’re good, you take them. If you create an environment where people want to come play, then it’s not work anymore. We had so much bad luck with this. Honestly, it was likeLost in La ManchameetsThe Bad News Bears. From rain floods to fire alarms to dysentery that wiped out the crew for a whole week and we didn’t shut down, there was just always something. It created this energy, not unlike the story, where you’re just rebelliously trying to do it, and do it well. Everyone carried equipment and climbed up things.
I didn’t have the budget ofGame of ThronesorAmerican Gods, so how do you do it? Well, you go to the Dollar Store and you get some glitter and some hoses, and you just build weird shit. You try it. What’s the worst thing that can happen? You just become unemployable, I guess. So, you try it and have fun. I had this policy where whoever put the weirdest idea on screen would get a bottle of wine, and I gave out so much wine. You have to surround yourself with amazing and talented people. We had a top Australian film crew. Our DP, Garry Phillips, shotCatch a Fire, our second unit DP shot the originalMad Max, our production designer, Jo Ford, didAnimal Kingdomand all of David Michôd’s stuff, our costume designer, Edie Kurzer, was really unbelievable, and she had no time, and our make-up key, Kirsten Veysey, had just finishedLionwith Nicole Kidman. They were so experienced, and between them, they certainly had no problem telling me what they thought. We all just became friends. When you have such an experienced crew, they can pull stuff off, so much faster.
Did you ever have days onPicnicwhere you were worried that it just wasn’t going to happen and things weren’t going to work out, and that you might not get it finished?
KONDRACKI:Oh, every minute of every day, but I’m like that. I’m just anxious. The one scene that scared the living shit out of me was the swarm at the end of Episode 3, when all of the girls go crazy. I was like, “I just don’t know how to do this!” And then, on top of that, I had the girls. It was early days, so the young girls were still extras. They became a glorious cast, but they weren’t sure if they could talk or not. And then, Yael was sticking toilet paper in her mouth, so that she was like Marlon Brando, in a yellow smurf outfit. All of the girls were running around, and then Mademoiselle slaps Edith, and Edith was spitting on her. I was just like, “Oh, this is gonna be hard!” It was just about breaking it down. I loved the movieMartha Marcy May Marlene, and I used the soundtrack quite a bit for my temp. There’s a track on there that I think is called “Swarm,” and it’s just a little buzzing. I knew that’s what that scene should be. I wanted it to be a buzzing that gets louder and escalates. And there was one day, where we were on the rock, and they were like, “You have no time left.” There were so many characters going through so many things. So, I shot eight scenes, at the same time, with seven actors, just walking through different parts of the rock, in an hour and a half. There was no attitude and everyone was just doing it. And I got the best compliment from (director) Michael Rymer. He said, “Ed Wood would have been proud!” I loved that!
You wrote and directed a feature film,The Whistleblower, which came out in 2010, but you’ve been doing primarily television since then. This feels much more in the movie vein because it’s one six-hour story.
KONDRACKI:Yeah, it’s like a six-hour movie, in a way. We really didn’t lock until we locked all of the episodes at once.
Does it make you want to do another film?
KONDRACKI:Yeah, I have a few films in development. I’ve been trying. I think the landscape is changing so much and so quickly. I actually really do love the mini-series space. I think it’s quite cool. A lot of times, with an indie film, you’re in and out so fast. With this, I got the time to really play with it, and develop working relationships that are quite strong. You get a shorthand. I’ve tried to get a lot of movies going. It’s very tough. I tend to have maybe a slightly more left of center sensibility. I think what’s nice now, and hopefully there’s some momentum behind a couple of these projects, is that that’s whatPicnicwas. It’s a six-hour movie that’s a little left of center, but we’ve made it commercially accessible. I’m hoping to do the same thing. There’s a lot coming in, and I’m actually just trying take a break and think about it. I really like the producing element of it, as well, so I’ve set up a bunch of shows, in that capacity, some of which I’ll direct and some I’ll just support.Picnictaught me a lot. It’s an amazing opportunity right now because there’s so much content.
With so many superhero and comic book movies andStar Warsmovies, people are begging for more women in charge of them. Is that something you’d like to throw your hat in the ring for, or would you rather do something smaller?
KONDRACKI:I don’t know. It’s been brought up a little bit. I think you just have to relate to something, personally. I respect the craft of filmmaking so much. Fans deserve certain things, so if it’s something that I get, or that speaks to me, fine. What I love about television, and especially the mini-series space, is how it’s evolving. Even aesthetically now, you have to compete with all these things. Being at a place like Amazon, and now with their new head, it’s really supporting curated and high-profile shows. If I can create or run or produce highbrow genre television shows, that would be great. I love Lynne Ramsay, I love Darren Aronofsky, and I love Sofia Coppola. you may take your wilder swings, on that side of things. Hopefully, it’s a balance that one can find.
When it comes to TV, you’ve directed episodic and you’ve directed a pilot. Do you have a preference, or do you like mixing it up?
KONDRACKI:I like mixing it up. I really loved doingPicnic. The showrunning of it was really fun. I loved putting it all together, at the end, and being so heavily involved in the sound design and the music. But then, I thoughtTangerinewas a brilliant movie, shot on an iPhone for $1,000. It just comes down to the story, and a lot of it is timing and kismet.
