Speaking to Empire about her role as Bertha in John Hillcoat’s prohibition-era drama Lawless, Wasikowska said: “To find material that, as a young person, resembles the reality of being a young person, is rare.

“Because people like something that’s comfortable and idealised but isn’t necessarily a reality.”

The Australian actress rose to prominence in 2010 after starring as Alice in Tim Burton’s $1 billion-grossing Alice in Wonderland, before starring opposite Michael Fassbender in Cary Fukunaga’s adaptation of Jane Eyre. In 2012, she will appear in John Hillcoat’s Lawless and Park Chan-wook’s Stoker.

She explained to Empire magazine: “My character is a Mennonite. She’s very sheltered and very protected and her romance with Jack (Shia LaBeouf) is her first introduction to an outside community.

“It was cool she questioned where she came from. For me, no one chooses how they grow up and what influences them as a child. But you do get to a certain age where you’re able to question what’s been installed in you, so that’s something I was thinking about. She’s looking for some sort of freedom.”