Up to two years spent in her wardrobe practising rapping in a New Jersey accent has paid off for Australian actor Danielle Macdonald who has been dubbed a break-out star of this year's Sundance Film Festival.
Film trade paper The Hollywood Reporter described the 25-year-old from Sydney as "Hollywood's next big thing" before the film Patti Cake$' world premiere in Utah on Monday.
![Break-out role: Australian actress Danielle Macdonald as aspiring New Jersey rapper Patricia Dombrowski in <i>Patti ...](/web/20170126072636im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/x/j/j/3/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtxhzx.png/1485249773427.jpg)
Festival director John Cooper likened her talent to that of Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence, who became an overnight sensation at the festival with the 2010 film Winter's Bone.
In Patti Cake$, Macdonald plays 23-year-old Patricia Dombrowski, a New Jersey girl who dreams of becoming a rapper.
She has the beats and rhymes, which she practises with best friend Jheri (Siddharth Dhananjay) – but she also has her borderline alcoholic mum (Bridget Everett) and wheelchair-bound nana (Cathy Moriarty) to look after. As she works two jobs and holds her family together, she also tries to make a name for herself in the rap world.Before the screening in Park City, Macdonald said that the buzz around her performance was "insane". "I'm trying not to think about it," she said.
The film's director Geremy Jasper said that when he first saw a photo of Macdonald, she "looked the vision of Patti that I had when I wrote it".
Although Macdonald had the look, she had never rapped before and had to learn the Jersey accent. "I practiced for a year-and-a-half to two years. I had a rap every other week to learn and did a lot of online research, just trying to figure out the history of rap ...
"It was terrifying but I got a dialect coach and a rap coach and I just completely immersed myself in that world. I went to visit New Jersey to try to see the world and understand it and then just practiced – and I hope it came off OK.
![Clockwise from bottom left: Australia's Danielle Macdonald with <i>PattiCake$</i> co-stars Cathy Moriarty, Mamoudou ...](/web/20170126072636im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/x/i/o/i/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtxhzx.png/1485249773427.jpg)
"I practised in the closet because it was the best sound. My windows are right next to the road so it was really loud in my room but in my closet it kind of got silent. It also felt safer in my closet, rapping away at full volume."
Jasper says his star's success is down to her dedicated work ethic. "She came, she worked her ass off, she just has this depth that I never could have predicted. From the first time she auditioned, I just fell in love with her and knew she was the one.
"She's so sharp and luckily has a fantastic sense of rhythm. It was a long process but she is the hardest-working person I have ever met. She is just so diligent."
The audience at Sundance appreciated Macdonald's hard work, too, breaking into spontaneous applause when her character started to rap. There was an audible gasp of surprise during the question and answer session when they discovered she was from Australia.
Macdonald moved to LA in 2010 for casting workshops and soon landed the lead on US TV series Huge, but had to relinquish the role when her visa paperwork was delayed, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and has since had a run of small parts in shows including American Horror Story and 2 Broke Girls.
Big things beckon, with the film attracting glowing reviews and reportedly the subject of a $US10 million-plus bidding war, although Macdonald insists her rapping days are over. "I loved the experience but that was Patti and I don't have that confidence."