Tim Burton has cast a little known Australian actor for the title role in his big-screen adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. The Canberra-born, 18-year-old Mia Wasikowska will disappear down the rabbit hole in Burton”s take on the Lewis Carroll classic, which is to be presented in 3D using a mix of live action and performance capture CGIAlice in Wonderland is the latest example of Burton”s passion for fantasy tales, following his earlier films Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Edward Scissorhands.
"It”s such a classic and the imagery is so surreal," Burton has said in the past. "The stories are like drugs for children. It”s like, “Whoa, man”. So I think it”s an interesting challenge." Screenwriter Linda Woolverton, who previously penned The Lion King, is adapting the novel.
The decision to cast Wasikowska brings to an end a long casting process for the role of Alice. The actor got her screen debut in the Australian TV series All Saints in 2004 and 2005. She is currently working on Amelia, the biopic of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart helmed by Monsoon Wedding”s Mira Nair.
Wasikowska will next be seen opposite Daniel Craig in Defiance, a drama about Polish Jews escaping the Nazis to join Russian fighters in the forests of Belarus.
Tim Burton”s Alice in Wonderland is due to hit cinemas in 2010.
Resource: Guardian
