The story chronicles Strayed (played by Reese Witherspoon) as her life falls apart in the wake of her mother's sudden death, setting off a chain of events, including affairs, a divorce and drug addiction.
In an attempt to find herself and regain some sense of reality, Strayed sets off on a gruelling solo hike across the Pacific Crest Trail in California and Oregon. As she makes the exhausting journey, battling injuries and animals and some scary strangers, she's frequently visited by visions and memories of her mother, who was her best friend.
Actress Laura Dern says her "heart cracked open" when she first read Cheryl Strayed's book which has been made into a film. Photo / AP
Bobbi, who appears in flashbacks during the film, is a complex character with a tough life yet a relentlessly optimistic attitude. It gets to the point where Cheryl (who has a more cynical worldview) is truly mystified about how her mother could find light in a world that can be so brutal.
One of Dern's favourite lines of dialogue is in a scene in which Bobbi is in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy. She looks out the window and says with gratitude, "I always wanted a room with a view." "She was such an inspiration to me, as a mother and as a woman," Dern said. "If you're watching this film and you consider the kind of mother you want to be, she is quite the inspiration."
Dern said she and Witherspoon, who already knew each other socially, bonded a great deal during production of the film, which was shot last year in Oregon. One thing they discussed was that even though they had both done films based on true stories, it felt different with the person right in front of you.
During the filming of Wild, Strayed was on set about 95 per cent of the time. Plus, Strayed's daughter Bobbi (named for her grandmother) actually played the younger version of Cheryl in the movie.
"Every day, you're staring behind the camera at the woman who did this, and the woman whose mother you're playing that she lost. And you just feel a real sense of accomplishment to give her story its deserved honour," Dern said.
Similarly, director Jean-Marc Vallee (Dallas Buyers Club) hadn't read Wild before he got involved in the project. After he read the script and then the book, he simply thought, "My God, I have to make this film. "With Cheryl's character, I love the way she talked about herself, how really honest she could be and how beautiful that is - it's rare to have read someone who talks about herself like that," Vallee said.
Dern sat on a panel where Strayed was asked about the most memorable aspect of the film. "I'm going to start crying, it was so moving to me," Dern said, remembering the moment. "Cheryl said, 'I got to watch my daughter get to know her grandmother through Laura.'
"Because it's a woman she'll never meet otherwise."
Movie profile
Who: Laura Dern, supporting actress Oscar nominee
What: Wild
When: Opens at cinemas tomorrow.
- Washington Post-Bloomberg
