‘It was life-changing, a total rollercoaster’: Olivia DeJonge on her big Hollywood break and why she hasn’t moved to Los Angeles

Olivia DeJonge opens up about the ‘life-changing’ aftermath of starring in a Baz Luhrmann film – and why she has never relocated to Los Angeles.

Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

Olivia DeJonge on “It Boys”, Elvis – and facing up to her most challenging project yet.

1. She won an AACTA Award for her portrayal of Priscilla Presley opposite Austin Butler in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 blockbuster Elvis, yet 26-year-old Olivia DeJonge has a healthy perspective on fame.

The glittery whirlwind of press for that movie took her to the Cannes Film Festival, the Academy Awards and global red-carpet events.

“It took me quite a while to come back down to normal afterwards. I had to sort of recalibrate my values and what was important to me.

“It was all this energy, then a total flatline. I wasn’t naive [enough] to think that it was going to be the big thing for me. But it was life-changing, a total rollercoaster. I hold it in high regard.”

Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

2. This September will mark 10 years since the release of M Night Shyamalan’s movie The Visit, DeJonge’s first big role: “It sort of awoke something in me. I was just a child … Well, I was 15. I couldn’t watch it for years. I felt so embarrassed – you grow so fast, and you see yourself and go, ‘What were you doing?!’ But I have a lot of love for that film now.”

‘I am nervous in a way!’ Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

3. When DeJonge appears in Tom Wright’s lauded stage adaptation of Joan Lindsay’s classic Australian novel Picnic At Hanging Rock later this month, playing one of four schoolgirls whose excursion to the titular rock becomes a creeping mystery on Valentine’s Day in the year 1900, she will be making her live stage debut. “I’ve never done theatre. Wow. It had always been a dream, but it felt – not foreign – but I did wonder how I could break into that side of the industry,” she tells Stellar.

“When I heard about Picnic I wanted to do whatever I could to be part of it … and the rest is history.” As for rehearsals, and the fact she won’t be able to simply try another take – a safety net she can rely on in film and TV productions?

“I’m lucky in that all the other girls have done theatre before. I feel like I’m in good company. They all seem so relaxed about it. It’s not as bad as you think it’s going to be.

“I am nervous in a way I haven’t been before, but I think that’s the intrigue and a lot of the reason [for doing it] – just stepping into that fear, I suppose.”

4. Earlier this summer, DeJonge visited the real-life Hanging Rock, in the Macedon Ranges north-west of Melbourne, for the first time. “It was so eerie,” she says.

“I don’t know if you had those dreams as a kid where things felt big and small at the same time … That’s kind of what it felt like. There’s an otherworldliness to it.”

‘I’ve been acting since I was young, so I was always comfortable being a character in front of a camera.’ Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

5. In the upcoming miniseries The Narrow Road To The Deep North, based on Richard Flanagan’s 2013 novel about an Australian soldier in World War II, DeJonge joins an all-star cast led by Jacob Elordi, who – like Butler – has been heralded an “it boy” of the moment. “They’re really hard workers [who] have a lot of integrity about the work they do,” DeJonge says of her co-stars. “They want to be the best. I was lucky to be able to learn from them. And they were also quite normal. The perception of people in the industry is often just that: perception. They’re just two kids who love movies, you know?”

Olivia DeJonge on the red carpet at the Sydney premiere of Elvis. Picture: Damian Shaw

Elvis co-stars Austin Butler and Olivia DeJonge. Picture: Getty Images

Picture: Getty Images

Austin Butler, Olivia DeJonge, Baz Luhrmann and Tom Hanks, of Elvis. Picture: Getty Images

6. For her fashion shoot with Stellar, DeJonge models new-season looks in different textures – sheer, velvet and lace – brought together for a vibe that’s both strong and feminine.

“I love the clothes,” she says. “I love the energy. You allowed me to have some expression in the images, which I really liked.”

Over the years, she admits, photo shoots have taken some getting used to. “I’ve been acting since I was young, so I was always comfortable being a character in front of a camera. But the second I had to be myself, I sort of froze up. It was probably a confidence issue, being looked at as ‘me’. It’s definitely something I’ve had to work on.”

7. DeJonge, who is based in Melbourne – where she lives with a rescue kitten named Wilbur – says she doesn’t feel any pressure to move to the US.

“I love America, but I think my love for film and my curiosity for it comes from not being around it all the time. You can also audition from home; every US thing I’ve got, I auditioned for it from Australia, including Elvis. Some people thrive on being around all that, but I don’t think that’s me. I’m at my happiest at home.”

Picnic At Hanging Rock runs February 17 – April 5 at the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre. For more information, visit sydneytheatre.com.au.

Read the full Sunday Seven with Olivia DeJonge in Stellar tomorrow. Find Stellar inside The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), The Sunday Mail (QLD) and Sunday Mail (SA); at stellarmag.com.au or Something To Talk About, wherever you get your podcasts.

Originally published as ‘It was life-changing, a total rollercoaster’: Olivia DeJonge on her big Hollywood break and why she hasn’t moved to Los Angeles