Teresa Palmer says she ‘manifested’ her role in new Aussie series The Last Anniversary

An Aussie actress has revealed the incredible way she landed a role with Hollywood royalty, Nicole Kidman.

Teresa Palmer has starred in many notable roles her in impressive career. But one dream remained elusive on her career bucket list – and that was to star in a miniseries similar to Big Little Lies or Nine Perfect Strangers.

In a proactive approach, she decided to host as manifestation night and will her dreams into reality. The result? The Aussie actress is now playing the lead role in the new BINGE Original Series The Last Anniversary with acclaimed Australian producer Bruna Papandrea at the helm – the founder of production company Made Up Stories behind Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers.

Teresa Palmer attends the world premiere of The Last Anniversary on March 24.

“I have always, always wanted to do a show like those, and I’ve had those posters on my manifestation vision board before, but also Bruna Papandrea in particular,” Palmer tells news.com.au ahead of the series premiere on March 27.

“I worked with her many years ago. She gave me my first big break on Warm Bodies, and then I was just thinking about how much I wanted to work with her and I was saying it out loud and saying it to my team. And then randomly, she messaged me and said, I have a script for you and it was Liane Moriarty’s book, The Last Anniversary – it was the adaptation.

Stream The Last Anniversary on BINGE, available on Hubbl.

Palmer with Aussie author Liane Moriarty, who wrote The Last Anniversary.

Moriarty of course wrote Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, so Papandrea didn’t have much selling to do.

“She had me at ‘Liane.’ All she had to say was ‘Liane’ and I was like, ‘Yes, I’m in.’ I didn’t even read the script. I was like, ‘I’m in. I’m doing it. I’m obsessed. Here we go.’”

Nicole Kidman also served as executive producer with her production company, Blossom Films, working alongside Papandrea’s Made Up Stories to bring the project to life.

“It just made it even more of a no-brainer with Bruna and Nicole Kidman – I’ve been following her career for years and years, and I know that she’s done some beautiful things with Blossom Films and I’ve seen a lot of the shows she’s produced,” Palme recalls.

“I got even more excited when I heard that she had signed off on me playing Sophie Honeywell. What a dream come true. It felt wonderful.”

The story follows Sophie, a 39-year-old journalist who has just inherited a house on Scribbly Gum Island from her ex-boyfriend’s dead great-aunt, Connie.

But Sophie soon finds herself in the middle of a decades-long mystery that threatens to unearth secrets held by three generations of women in Connie’s family, including her sister Rose (played by Miranda Richardson).

The Last Anniversary premieres on Binge on Thursday, March 27.

“It’s such a beautiful story and it’s this multi-generational family drama. At the heart of this story, it’s really about family, but it’s underpinned with this wild mystery and this big plot twist, which Leon is obviously known for her iconic plot twist,” Palmer says.

“She’s also good at really humanising these characters and every one of them is navigating something and something that’s a lot of women deal with. We deal with themes of postpartum depression and then my character’s dealing with a challenged egg count and wanting, longing to be a mother. And then there’s dysfunctional relationships and dynamics between mothers and daughters, and there’s just so much to explore.”

The Last Anniversary was filmed on the picturesque Hawkesbury region in NSW. Picture: Binge/Mark Rogers

Palmer also praises the producing team for focusing on women’s issues and the complexities that arise for all stages of life.

“I’m really happy that women of all ages are being celebrated,” Palmer says. “I think there was a time in Hollywood where you reached a certain age and you felt like your opportunities were going to dry up.”

“But there’s been such a wonderful celebration of these strong female-driven roles for women who are in their forties, fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties and beyond. And that’s just an incredible thing and exciting for the film industry.”

The series also stars (from left to right) Susan Prior, Danielle Macdonald, Miranda Richardson and Helen Thomson. Picture: BINGE/Mark Rogers

This series is the first time one of Moriarty’s books is set in Australia and filmed near the author’s hometown of Sydney, making it all that much more special to film in the Hawkesbury region of NSW.

“This is just exciting to be able to give Australian accents to the world and to showcase the beautiful Hawkesbury River and to shoot in picturesque Australia,” Palmer says.

“It feels like a real Australian story. I’m so glad this adaptation didn’t get Americanised, that it really stayed true to the roots of her book and where she set it.”

The Last Anniversary premieres Thursday, March 27 on BINGE, available on Hubbl, and on Showcase at 8.30pm and is available On Demand

Originally published as Teresa Palmer says she ‘manifested’ her role in new Aussie series The Last Anniversary