''The Girl Who Came Late'' aka ''Daydream Believer'' is a 1991 Australian romantic comedy film starring

Miranda Otto Miranda Otto (born 16 December 1967) is an Australian actress. She is the daughter of actors Barry and Lindsay Otto and the paternal half-sister of actress Gracie Otto. Otto began her acting career in 1986 at age 18 and appeared in a variety of ...

Martin Kemp Martin John Kemp (born 10 October 1961) is an English musician and actor, best known as the bassist in the new wave band Spandau Ballet and for his role as Steve Owen in ''EastEnders''. He is the younger brother of Gary Kemp, who is also a ...

and

Gia Carides Gia Carides (born 7 June 1964) is an Australian actress. She portrayed Liz Holt in ''Strictly Ballroom'', Susy Connor in ''Brilliant Lies'', and Cousin Nikki in ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding.'' Early life Carides was born in Sydney, Australia, t ...

; and directed by Kathy Mueller. Otto was nominated for an

Australian Film Institute Award The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry ...

for "Best Actress in a Lead Role".

Plot

The 'Girl' of the title is Nell Tiscowitz (Otto), a struggling actress with an affinity for horses. She meets wealthy rock music promoter and stable owner Digby Olsen (Kemp). Nell's best friend and flatmate, Wendy (Carides) provides dubious love-lorn advice. After Nell uses her 'telepathy' to help Digby tame horses they eventually fall in love.

Production

The film was one of five films financed by the FFC Film Fund in 1990. Otto was cast after over 200 girls auditioned; it was only her second major role, after '' Emma's War''. The role of Digby entailed looking at actors from London and Los Angeles; after Martin Kemp was cast, the occupation of the character was changed from theatre entrepreneur to rock promoter.Eva Friedman, "Kathy Mueller's Daydream Believer", ''Cinema Papers'', May–June 1992 p16-18

Release

Ozmovies says of the release:

The film was given a short release at four Hoyts cinemas (including Hoyts Centre) in Sydney, beginning 3rd September 1992, but other bookings were very limited... (It) had a frosty reception from newspaper reviewers at the time of its limited domestic release, which saw only Sydney papers (and the national The Australian) take a look at it.'Daydream Believer'
a
Ozmovies
accessed 14 October 2017.

References

External links

*
Daydream Believer
a
Ozmovies
1991 films 1990s English-language films 1991 comedy-drama films Australian comedy-drama films Films directed by Kathy Mueller 1990s Australian films {{1990s-comedy-drama-film-stub