Courtesy TIFFLiam Hemsworth and Kate Winslet are heating up the Australian outback.
The two star in The Dressmaker, a 1950s-based romantic dramedy about a woman (Winslet) who returns to her Aussie country hometown after years of working in high fashion in London. While caring for her mother (Judy Davis), Winslet is forced to face her mysterious past while also falling in love with a local farmer (Hemsworth).
Hemsworth and Winslet hit it off right away. "We didn't have much time to rehearse," director Jocelyn Moorhouse tells me. "He'd come straight off of The Hunger Games. We had one read-through the night before and then as soon as I saw him looking at her with those beautiful blue eyes of his and the way she looks back at him, I was thrilled. I knew, yeah, instant chemistry! These two are gorgeous together."
And only E! News has the exclusive look at a new selection of stills and behind-the-scenes photos from the movie. Check out the pics and more of my interview with Moorhouse below.
Hemsworth had to strip down to just his underwear for one of the first scenes he shot with Winslet and Davis, who couldn't stop laughing at the site of his near nakedness on set. "It was a potentially embarrassing scene for him," Moorhouse said. "But then again, he's quite impressive without his clothes on so he really had nothing to do worry about. Kate and Judy were having a great time doing as many takes as possible."
Moorhouse was excited about seeing a glamorous Winslet in the movie's rural setting. "I love the contrast of these people who look like they're dressed in dirty potato sacks meeting this woman who looks like she just stepped off a Paris runway," she said. "I totally fell in love with the concept of all those gorgeous dresses out there in the dusty outback."
Hemsworth may have been nervous acting opposite the Oscar winner, Moorhouse said, "but he didn't let it get in the way of being incredibly confident on set. He was very confident and cool. He was very professional and Kate makes it easy.
"She's so wonderful with other actors," Moorhouse continued. "She's so generous and so funny and just puts everybody at ease."
We know Winslet knows her way around fashion, but she also learned how to work the vintage sewing machine her character uses in The Dressmaker to help give some of the locals makeovers. "She knows all about couture," Moorhouse said. "She knows how a designer would talk to a client. But she also did a lot of research."
Moorhouse always wanted Davis to play the mom in the movie, but didn't approach her until she secured Winslet as her daughter. "Right from day one, I just couldn't believe how they were as an onscreen duo," she said. "They really love each other."
The Dressmaker is in theaters on Sept. 23.