Hannah Diviney is a busy woman! A writer, actor, and activist for both women and people with a disability, Glam was lucky to catch her for an interview about her new feature film Audrey.
“There’s a fair bit going on at the moment! I guess that’s what happens when you are promoting a project and working on other things at the same time. It gets a bit crazy!”
Audrey is Diviney’s first feature film, although she has came into the public eye in the SBS series Latecomers.
“I was in the midst of promoting [Latecomers] and I was on breakfast television talking about how I was, as far as we know, the first person with a disability in Australia to do a sex scene on television. Not a piece of history I ever thought I ‘d own. The producers [of Audrey] happened to see that clip and had also got their hands on some early cuts of the series. So I got an email from the casting director offering me the role of Norah. And I was like, wait…you’re not even going to have me audition? This feels like the kind of thing that happens to Margot Robbie. I was like sure why not, and here we are!”
In Audrey, Diviney plays the role of Norah, younger sister to the eponymous Audrey. The role has her, amongst other things, running people over with her wheelchair, demanding fencing lessons, and having a slightly dodgy sexual encounter.
“That [sex scene] was a lot more awkward to film than the first one. I think it was the context in which it was happening for my character and also the fact that she’s meant to be 15. But it needed to be awkward to work in the movie.”
As for the fencing, it was originally going to be something quite different.
“Our incredible writer Lou Sanz has been working on this script for over 20 years and had a lot of experience with disabled friends. She had written Norah to have cerebral palsy but potentially a different form [from mine]. So in the original script she was a lot more mobile and her sport of choice was going to be Mixed Martial Arts! Instead of knocking Irene down with her wheelchair she was meant to deliver a roundhouse kick to the face. I looked at the script and said look I am happy to do whatever you want me to do as an actor but I think this might be a bit beyond the realm of possibility! So Sanz decided to replace the sport and silly me thought she would replace it with the standard tennis or basketball. When she came back with fencing I thought I don’t know how to explain to you how giving a girl with not great motor control a sword is a terrible terrible idea…!”
Diviney is now working on some scriptwriting herself.
“I’m always writing. It’s how I process the world. But I would love to get into screenwriting, and I’d love to put out a novel. As long as I’m doing things with words and I’m crating stuff and telling stories, whether as a writer, an actor or an advocate I’m happy.”
Advocating for greater representation in all walks of life, has been something Diviney is perhaps most well-known for. It is area where her passion and intelligence particularly shine through.
“The [screen] industry has to stop viewing diversity and inclusion as risk. They have to stop feeling that telling stories that are nuanced, complex, and show people as they actually are is going to be something that effects the bottom line. They have to trust that audiences are hungrier and smarter than that. They need to stop backing the same voices all the time. If all the people who have power in our industry look the same or are names that have built reputations or are trusted to sell something based on who they are then its not going to move very far. Our industry becomes stagnant. I think you have to be willing to give other people a chance and that’s equally in front of the camera and behind it. And it doesn’t have to be palatable. There needs to be genuine and non-tokenistic inclusion. That involves making some tough decisions and making some people who have been comfortable quite uncomfortable.”
Audrey itself is a beacon in this field, with its diverse cast and crew.
“I’m really proud that we are the first Australian feature film to get a Reframe Stamp. This was an initiative started by the Sundance Institute, IMDBPro, and Women in Film LA. They’ve just introduced the scheme into Australia and we were the first to quality. That means that we have a female director, a female writer, a female lead, and either 50% of our crew and/or 50% of our heads of department as female or gender diverse.”
The quality of Audrey speaks for itself. This dark, edgy, and very funny film, is set to break down barriers, and delight, as well as discomfort, audiences.
“I hope that people are exited to see Audrey and that even if the film shocks them or makes them feel uncomfortable, which it might, that they sit with that. “
Audrey has just opened in cinemas.
Read our review here.
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