Jocelyn Moorhouse on bringing together Kate Winslet, high style and revenge in the black comedy The Dressmaker

The characters and quirky premise of the outback-set back comedy The Dressmaker got Moorehouse back in the director’s chair. It’s what drew actors Kate Winslet and Liam Hemsworth, too, says the filmmaker.

From left, Judy Davis and Kate Winslet in The Dressmaker. Photos courtesy Front Row Filmed Entertainment

The Dressmaker has finally dragged Jocelyn Moorhouse back into directing, and she's in no doubt as to what made this the right movie to announce her return: delicious characters and the backdrop.

“I just loved the characters,” says the Australian filmmaker. “I loved them and the premise of it being set in the 50s and bringing couture fashion to a dust-bowl town in the middle of nowhere.”

Moorhouse, who has made award-­winning movies such as Proof (1991) and How to Make an American Quilt (1995), returns to the director's chair for the first time since 1997's A Thousand Acres. She spent the intervening years "busy being a mother". She hasn't been entirely out of the industry, however – her husband is Muriel's Wedding director P J Hogan, and she has served as a producer on a number of his movies in those years in-between.

Moorhouse is no stranger to working with A-listers. And while The Dressmaker stars Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth and Hugo Weaving, her previous efforts had her directing Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder and Russell Crowe. So, does her pedigree make it easy to persuade Holly­wood stars to leave their Los Angeles bubble and fly around the world to shoot an Australian indie in the outback?

“No, it’s not easy at all actually,” says Moorhouse. “I did lot of begging, had a lot of meetings. I must have been persuasive I guess, but ultimately they said, same as me, that they loved the script. That was great as I had no idea how they’d react, but I knew I wanted them and thought ‘I can only ask’. An actor can only go on what they’re reading, so if they like what they read they might give it a go.”

Hollywood stars can come with a reputation for being slightly needy. And since Winslet plays a diva, did her commitment to method acting lead to challen­ging situations?

Not at all, says Moorhouse.

“Kate’s really not high maintenance. She was a real partner on making the film. She gave it her all and was a total cheerleader for the whole crew and cast. It was like having your sister on set, encouraging you. She’s such a fine actress. The hardest thing for me was choosing the best bits, as I got to see all the other takes that didn’t end up in the movie.”

The fictional town of Dungatar is home to all manner of townsfolk, and Moorhouse insists it isn’t too far removed from the reality of rural Australia. “We really do have some extremely eccentric people living in little towns a few hours from the big cities,” she says.

“I did have to say to the actors: ‘Have a lot of fun, push a little further than you think you need to, and if you go too far I’ll pull you back, because we don’t just want to be extreme and quirky, we’re also trying to tell a really beautiful story.’

“I liked that the lead [Winslet’s Tilly] was motivated by certain amount of revenge. She’s quite driven by the desire to get even, and I thought it was a really strong idea with a crazy story­line, but still stays emotional, too. Underneath all the comedy there’s a painful and, ultimately, loving storyline and we didn’t want to lose track of the truth of the piece. The way things that happened to you as a child can haunt you your whole life. I actually lost my mother during production, so I had a very personal emotional attachment there too, so I’m sure I brought some of that to the film.”

Moorhouse is already looking forward to her next project.

“I’ve nearly finished the first draft of new script,” she says. “It’s a love story set in 1850s Germany, so I hope to get that shooting in Europe by early next year.”