The Making of Miranda
We catch up with Miranda Tapsell – star and co-writer of hot new Aussie flick Top End Wedding.
TrueBlue Magazine - April/May 2019
Words by: Michelle Hespe
Miranda Tapsell reminisces about her first day of year one at Jabiru Area School in the Northern Territory. Outside of the classroom, standing in the red dirt in the hot outback, she met a shy, freckly girl. “She told me it was her first day too, and I proclaimed that we were friends, and she went along with it,” says Miranda with a smile that is dazzling many people around the world right now. “She’s still my best friend today and yes, I’m still that outspoken and decisive person. Some things have not changed.”
And other things do change, because although Miranda was on a trajectory of focussing on acting (both on stage and screen) and had starred in The Sapphires in 2012 and Love Child in 2016, she had not pursued writing as a part of her career. Then she was invited to Sundance Film Festival for both starring and co-writing the new Aussie film, Top End Wedding, with screenwriter Josh Tyler.
The film is a rom-com, set in Sydney, Darwin, and the Top End of Australia, which follows the relationship of a young Indigenous lawyer living in Sydney and her fiancé, an english lawyer who wants to follow his heart and quit working in law. Predictably, the two have very different families (stiff upper-lipped Brits meet Darwin bogans), and yet the film is anything but predictable.
Attending the Cannes Film Festival in 2012 with The Sapphires crew was a “pinchable” moment for Miranda, and it helped to cement her presence as an Australian actor with promise not only in the eyes of film critics and the public, but in her own mind.
“Walking down the red carpet with Deb, Shari and Jess (all actors in The Sapphires) I thought to myself: ‘I must be dreaming’. And the fact that the publicist managed to get my parents into the theatre with us meant the world to me. I needed them to be a part of the journey.”
There’s no denying the connection between the film’s script and Miranda’s own life, and Miranda explains that Top End Wedding was close to her heart because it was essentially a love letter to where she grew up in the Northern Territory, and to the people who raised her.
“My parents were able to come to the premiere again at Sundance and Mum and Dad were so proud of the mountain I’d climbed. Mum was really touched that I had dedicated the film to a grandmother who had passed before the film was made, and we held on to each other and cried as the credits rolled.”
Miranda is surrounded by women doing great things in their lives, and her character’s three bridesmaids in the film – all hilarious, loud and comfortable with who they are and where they live – blaze across the screen in stark contrast to that of lead character, bride-to-be Lauren. So, despite it being an Aussie-style rom-com, the film does raise two of life’s big questions: ‘Am I happy with what I am doing and who I am with?’
“Shari Sebbens, Dalara Williams and Elaine Crombie (the three women who play Lauren’s best friends) are the most talented comedic actors I know.” Miranda says. “Their timing is spot on and I needed that for the bridesmaids. I wanted them all to be the complete opposite of the Lauren, the bride-to-be, who has no idea what she wants out of her life. Her best friends, her sisters-in-arms, are comfortable in their own skin and they’re not ashamed to take their place in the world!”
When Josh suggested that Top End Wedding be a Hangover-style road trip movie across the Northern Territory, Miranda explains that this gave her the opportunity to show how interconnected all the local Aboriginal communities are in this region of Australia.
“I’m a Larrakia from Darwin and was born on that land, but I grew up in Kakadu, which is Mirrar country, and I was on Jawoyn country for school camp,” she explains.
“I have family on the Tiwi Islands and I couldn’t have done this without my extended family and The Traditional Owners. Their knowledge of their ancestral lands is what grounded the story. Through their eyes and minds the Territory became more than just crocodiles, humidity and mosquitoes. It was a privilege to have access to so many beautiful parts of the Territory because of them.”
Some of the most touching moments of Top End Wedding are set in the Tiwi Islands, and its where family comes together, and love reigns supreme.
“I didn’t grow up with my family over there, but they embrace me as their granddaughter, niece and cousin,” says Miranda. “Our production manager Libby Collins is also a proud Tiwi woman, and it’s because of her generosity and tenacity that my family and many other locals on Wurramiyanga knew the journey we were going on and that we wanted them along for the ride. We wanted to rejoice in who they are and what makes their community so special – particularly their art, songs and their love of family.”
The Wangatunga Strong Women are a vivacious group of older women in the film who sing in old Tiwi. “New Tiwi is less formal and has a lot of English thrown into it,” explains Miranda. “They wrote a song especially for Lauren – welcoming her back home with community and family. I was incredibly touched by this and I’m thrilled that it’s in the film.
”Having Aboriginal women, young and old, celebrate who they are and what makes them unique means a lot to me. What they have to contribute to this country is incredible, valid, and should not go unrecognised.
”Obviously I’ve been given amazing opportunities as an actor. Now I know what stories I want to be a part of, I only want to make more of them. I have put so much money into stories where women like me have been completely invisible. I think it’s time for more marginalised groups to be seen and heard in our mainstream stories.”
Throughout the writing and the making of the film, Miranda says that she had to listen to her gut and make decisions that she thought were kind, funny and loving. “It was a nerve-wracking time, but I still asked for what I wanted,” she says. “Finding a place to centre and ground you in this crazy life is so important. You need to be able to slow down to get some perspective. Which is why I love going back home so much.”
Speaking of being grounded, where exactly was Miranda when she found out that Top End Wedding had been accepted into Sundance Film Festival? She laughs and answers: “I was staying in a hotel room when the producer Rose Blight texted me to say: ‘Call me when you can’. When she told me that we had been accepted into Sundance, I accused her of lying, then I wept snotty tears of joy and thanked her. When I hung up, I danced like an idiot around the hotel room.”
Of course. That’s what makes her Miranda.
Top End Wedding in cinemas from May 2
MORE STORIES
The Real World of Anna Gare
She’s an accomplished chef, author, TV presenter, musician and mum who loves getting back to basics. Anna Gare chats to us about a life devoted to food, family and friends.
Step This Way
Whether it’s relaxing on white sandy beaches and sipping cocktails at sunset or seeking out dinosaur footprints and getting up close to snubfin dolphins, Broome has something for everyone.
Falls Creek: a new era
Yes, Vail Resorts have moved in, but don’t worry, that’s good news for Falls Creek. We check out some of the latest and greatest places to dine, enjoy a bevvy and lay your head after a magical day on the slopes.