Teresa Palmer’s stunning transformation into Michelle Payne for Ride Like A Girl
FILM star Teresa Palmer has perfected a very sporting change in her latest role as champion jockey Michelle Payne in the eagerly anticipated Ride Like A Girl, as these stunning pictures show.
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TERESA Palmer has perfected a very sporting transformation in her latest big screen role as Melbourne Cup winning jockey Michelle Payne in Ride Like A Girl.
Sitting on top of a thoroughbred, dressed in the same silks Payne made famous when she won Australia’s greatest race on Prince of Penzance in 2015, Palmer looked relaxed and at home as filming on the Australian big budget film continues.
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The Australia model and movie star trotted around easily on her horse and was loaded into the starting gates as director Rachel Griffiths got to work on re-creating the race start of one of the country’s most memorable sporting moments.
In between takes Palmer spent time chatting with extras on the film, who have been recruited from Australia’s jockey ranks.
After shooting several scenes on the impressive horse, complete with Pirate of Penzance’s blaze that appeared to be painted on, Palmer returned to her trailer.
As she took off her purple, white and green silks and white pants complete with Payne’s name, and put on a thick red jacket she was greeted by her toddler son Bodhi.
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Shooting on Ride Like A Girl began in late March when Palmer revealed she has been involved in intensive training on how to ride and control a horse.
The Wolf Creek star also revealed Payne had lent the production the miniature Melbourne Cup trophy she was awarded for taking out the 3200m epic.
The home of the Melbourne Cup, Flemington Racecourse, is rumoured to be where the latest scenes are being shot but that has not been confirmed.
However sources have confirmed Victoria playing host to many of the major scenes in the film.
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TERESA PALMER AND MICHELLE PAYNE’S MAGICAL BOND
Last month Palmer told News Corp Australia of the “magical bond” she had forged with Payne.
Palmer said she felt an immediate connection with the Melbourne Cup-winning hoop and her brother Stevie, who plays himself in Rachel Griffith’s directorial debut.
“It’s funny because I’ve been rehearsing with Stevie and he keeps telling me, ‘you’re just the same height as Michelle’,’’ Hacksaw Ridge star Palmer said.
“I love him. I have such fondness for Stevie. They’re actually going to come over and we’re doing a little gathering of all the brothers and sisters in the film and all the real brothers and sisters and we’re all hanging out together. They can have a sleep over at our house and all go out for dinner.
“It’s incredibly special and I’ve fallen in love with that whole family. I’ve been up to hang out with Stevie and Michelle and Paddy. I’ve gone up to their farm and it’s a magical place and no one loves horses like they do.
“We’ve all connected and it feels pretty magical.”
“When I first met Michelle we got to sneak away and really connect and we just really got each other immediately,’’ said Palmer, who, like the jockey, is 32.
“I feel so proud of her and asked her a bunch of questions and just the way she loves her family ... her mother died when she was six months old, she has had so many accidents. She had to learn to walk again and she had to learn to speak again.
“It’s one of the only sports where men and women are competing against each other, she came out and she won. It’s just beautiful. And there are so many elements of this story that feel like a fairytale.”
Payne became the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup when she rode 100-1 longshot Prince of Penzance to an unlikely victory in 2015.
The movie will enjoy a timely release on the back of the #MeToo movement.
Announcing her role last year, Palmer wrote on Instagram: “Michelle was always warned she could never be a world-class jockey. She was not tough enough. She was not a man.”
Payne made it clear immediately after the race that she herself has suffered no lack of discrimination on account of her gender.
“It is such a chauvinistic sport,” she said.
“Some of the owners wanted to kick me off the horse, but I thought he had what it takes to run a race in the Melbourne Cup.”
She then reserved a classic Aussie insult for those who thought she might have performed her job more effectively if she was a man: “Get stuffed”.
“Racing is a very male dominated sport,” she said.
“But you know what? It’s not all about strength. It’s about getting a horse into a rhythm for you. It’s being patient.”
Payne explained that when Prince of Penzance burst to the front not even halfway down the Flemington straight, she was in awe.
“I thought ‘this is amazing’. I thought ‘I seriously can’t believe it’. I couldn’t work out why I was so calm.”
As she closed in on victory that dramatically changed.
“I never yelled so loud at a horse in my life,” Payne said.
Shooting on Ride Like A Girl will wrap up in June.
Ride Like A Girl is written by Andrew Knight and Elise McCredie. It is expected to debut next January.
Originally published as Teresa Palmer’s stunning transformation into Michelle Payne for Ride Like A Girl
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