Toni Collette’s latest film finally crossed the finish line last week.
“Dream Horse,” directed by Euros Lyn, was released Friday and is based on the true story of Welsh bartender Jan Vokes (Collette) and the unexpected success she has breeding the horse, Dream Alliance.
The film was all ready to hit U.S. theaters in the spring, until the coronavirus pandemic upended those plans. But maybe that was for the best, Collette thinks.
“There couldn’t be a better time for this kind of story,” Academy Award nominee Collette, 48, told the Daily News last week, noting that at Sundance 2020, the film “just lit up the room.”
“This story lights people up, because, pandemic or no pandemic, people always have tragedy. Life is full of ups and downs, and this just is the most beautiful story about people coming together and succeeding, you know [chuckles]? It has a huge, huge beating heart.”
The Emmy winner said she was immediately “sucked right into” the project, which “you can’t help but relate to.”
After meeting patron and horse racing enthusiast Howard Davies (Damian Lewis), Jan is inspired to establish her own syndicate to breed the horse and rounds up her fellow townspeople to do so, making Dream the pride of the town.
“It’s a beautiful story about hope and backing yourself and believing in your dreams, having the guts to go for it, living passionately,” said the Australian star. “You know, Wales wasn’t at the top of my travel hit list but it is the most stunning, beautiful country, amazing people.”
Though the “United States of Tara” star doesn’t “have boxes to check” when choosing a role, Collette said she does know pretty instinctively whether it’s for her and “whether she has “a soulful connection, whether I get it on that level or not.”
As “a sucker for stories about underdogs coming up trumps,” Collette was instantly drawn to her new role.
“Jan worked several jobs, she takes care of her parents, she’s in a relationship which is a little stale, her kids are grown up. And she’s feeling a little lost. And she’s looking for purpose and she’s looking for joy,” said the “Look Up” singer. “Little does she know when she starts to go on this adventure and get more involved, that her entire community would be moved and changed forever by their experience with Dream Alliance.”
Though she will “always put the script first,” the “Knives Out” actress said she felt “a little intimidated” when she first came face to face with the real Jan and her husband Brian.
“It’s like, I don’t know, suddenly meeting Santa Claus or something, because you’d built them up so much in your mind and you’re living with them [laughs] day and night for several months and then there they are. So it was a strange experience to meet them, but, essential.”
Much like the real Vokes, Collette’s work on the film introduced her to several horses, including Beau, with whom she developed a special bond and “completely fell in love.
“We had such an amazing connection. He really listened. And I mean, we could all see it. It was very, very clear,” said the “Nightmare Alley” actress.
At one point in the film, Jan confesses to Dream that she finally has her own identity: “I’ve never been me. I’ve been Elsie’s daughter, Dennis and Sasha’s mother, or Daisy’s wife. But watching you race, I’m Jan.”
Collette, for her part, is “so happy” for Vokes, that the film will honor her so prominently.
“Especially given her trajectory and knowing where she comes from and her struggles, and all that she’s achieved, to know that a movie is being made about her life, I found that in itself to be just magical and moving,” she said.
———
“Dream Horse” is now playing in theaters and will be available on demand June 11.
———
