Actress Mia Wasikowska talks leaving Hollywood: ‘Felt really disconnected’

Actress Mia Wasikowska said she left Hollywood behind for her native Australia because she “didn’t entirely like the lifestyle” of doing movie after movie, which made her feel “disconnected” from her community.

“I want to do more things in life other than be in a trailer,” the “Jane Eyre” actress revealed to IndieWire in an interview published Friday.

Not so long ago, Wasikowska was a Hollywood “it” girl, starring in blockbuster movies like Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland” and “Crimson Peak.” But she said after living the fast-paced lifestyle since she was a teenager, she was ready for a change of pace. 

“I didn’t entirely like the lifestyle of going back-to-back-to-back. I felt really disconnected from any greater community,” she said. 

“I was doing it since I had been 17 — well, more like 15 — but really working a lot from 17. I spent 10 to 15 years, completely like, new city, new country, every three months. And it’s like starting school again every few months. Especially when you’re younger, when you don’t have that base. I found that really hard.”

The 33-year-old said that led her to want to find a place where she could put down roots. 

“Maybe if the payoff is good and you feel really great doing it, then that’s OK. But I didn’t. So, I wanted to establish that for myself on a personal level and have more of a sense of somewhere I belong that’s not just on a film set that ends every few weeks,” she said. 

Wasikowska moved back to Sydney a few years ago and, since then, has been working on Australian independent projects like “Blueback,” a drama about an oceanographer advocating for coral reefs against poachers, which came out last year.

The “Alice Through the Looking Glass” actress said she’d like to work on Hollywood films occasionally but doesn’t see herself moving back to Los Angeles full-time. 

“I’m pretty content,” she said. “If I can have the best of both worlds, which is dip in and out of it occasionally, I’d be really happy. But I wouldn’t ever be in that place where I was just on a treadmill.

“I want to do more things in life other than be in a trailer. It’s great, and there are lots of great things, [but] the perception of it is quite different from the reality. And it didn’t suit me as a person. You can really lose perspective because you’re treated quite strangely. When that’s your only reality, it’s quite strange.”