Hear award-winning actor tell her story - it's the stuff of legends

When Leah Purcell was about five, her mother read her a story.

It was about a woman who lived in the high country of the Snowy Mountains, a woman of great strength who, despite the odds, stayed true to herself and her children.

It was the story of the mythical drover’s wife, Molly Johnson, and it was in a book of yarns by Henry Lawson, published in 1892. Since then, it has been adapted, critiqued and reinterpreted from visual arts to the screen.

It is these stories about Molly Johnson that will be at the forefront of a special Book Club event at the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) this Sunday, 20 October, in partnership with the Canberra Writers Festival.

Special guest Leah Purcell will talk about her 2022 film, The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson – a film in which the actor, producer and writer made her directorial debut – and, for her efforts, won the 2022 AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress in a Film as well as a swag of other awards.

Yes, the gongs helped, but the film meant so much more to the Kuwa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka Murri woman: it had her heart because of the strong connection the story had with her mother, who has since passed.

In the film, Leah stars as the titular Molly, a heavily pregnant woman who is pushed to her limits and isolated in the remote high country of colonial NSW. Originally adapted for the stage, her interpretation invites the audience to see Lawson’s classic story through First Nations and feminist lenses.

The story was initially made into a short film by Sue Brooks as part of her studies at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. She used the myth of the drover’s wife to explore the portrayal of women – or lack thereof – in Australia’s cultural history. Her film is based on Murray Bail’s short story adaptation of The Drover’s Wife, and she draws on the Russell Drysdale painting of the same name.

“I remember straight away how that story resonated with me,” Leah said.

“It was the first story that, when I used my imagination, I saw myself as that boy [Molly’s son]. It was my Mum and me alone in the house.”

Leah recalls growing up feeling she was her mother’s protector, not unlike her eldest son in the film.

“It was like I was my mother growing up,” she said.

“She was an amazing woman. She raised seven kids as well as nephews and nieces.”

Leah said Lawson’s book sat on a shelf at her home for 40 years before she felt “it was time to do something”.

“I always used to think, one day I’m going to do something with it. Then one day, I was in a writers’ workshop, and I was getting frustrated and thought maybe it’s time. I had always thought about writing a play about it.

“It was a Friday night, and I remember sitting down and saying to my partner, ‘I’m going to do something with it’.

“I ended up writing the first act in five days and the second act in two days. I gave it to my partner to read and he said, ‘I think you’re on to something’.”

Her play about the drover’s wife was picked up by Sydney’s Belvoir Theatre and played to standing ovations every night.

“What I loved was that it got people talking again. It got daughters and mothers and grandmothers coming together to watch it. It opened up people to family conversations, to tell their stories – and that’s what you want,” Leah said.

The next step was to turn it into a screenplay, again another labour of love. Not only did Leah write, star, produce and direct the film, she also played location scout, looking for just the right place to set up Molly’s hut – and she found it, not a million miles from here.

“I was going back and forwards for years trying to find exactly the right spot,” she said.

“We had a location manager but I made it my business to go and talk to people.

“I’m from the bush so I know what it’s like when people just come in. You have to show you’re a good person and that you treat them with respect so they feel confident enough to trust you with their place and their stories.”

The “perfect” place was just out of Adaminaby. Leah said she told herself, “this is it” when she saw the plateau with its 360-degree view of the valley.

“I told everyone I was going for a walk. I felt so drawn to this place. There was a tree there, and I swear I had seen that tree in a dream, so I thought, holey moley, this is it. This is Molly’s place.”

The NFSA will screen The Drover’s Wife (17 minutes) and The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson (108 minutes), in partnership with the Canberra Writers Festival, on Sunday, 20 October, followed by a discussion with Leah Purcell from 1 pm at the National Film and Sound Archive, Arc Cinema. Get your tickets from the NFSA.