# Mia Wasikowska's face becomes the story

> In Kuba Dorabialski's Venice drama, a single close-up hands the whole plot to Mia Wasikowska and the audience she stares down.
- Title: Mia Wasikowska's face becomes the story · Variety | Shortify
- Summary: In Kuba Dorabialski's Venice drama, a single close-up hands the whole plot to Mia Wasikowska and the audience she stares down. Trust an actor's face with the…
- Keywords: venice, film, mia wasikowska, acting, directing, entertainment, culture, Mia, Wasikowska's, face, becomes, story
- Source: Variety — https://variety.com/2026/film/global/mia-wasikowska-agata-the-writer-kuba-dorabialski-venice-1236859514
- Author: Marta Balaga
- Published: 2026-09-12T20:56:32+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: venice, film, mia wasikowska, acting, directing, entertainment, culture
## A face that holds the film
Mia Wasikowska carries Kuba Dorabialski's "Agata the Writer" so completely that the screen belongs to her, figuratively and literally.
## One close-up, one confession
In the film's most arresting stretch, the camera sits on her in close-up while she looks straight at the audience and tells the rest of the story herself.
## Curiosity, not caution
She took the scene because she wanted to know what it would become, not because she had worked out how it would land.

> I was so curious about it.
## Not thinking about perception
Wasikowska says she works best when she isn't measuring how a choice will be received, which is what let her commit to the direct address.

> Luckily, when I'm doing something, I don't think too much about how it's going to be perceived.
## References made it click
Dorabialski sent her material to look at, and the idea of speaking to the audience stopped feeling like a stunt and started feeling natural.

> Kuba sent me some references, which I thought were really interesting, and it felt organic.
## Then she watched it back
Seeing the finished sequence, the confidence gave way to a very human flinch at her own magnified face.

> Ok. That's enough of my face!
## Key takeaway

Trust an actor's face with the story and the camera stops needing anywhere else to go.