Trivia / Rabbit-Proof Fence

• Actor-Shared Background: Everlyn Sampi's mother Glenys was taken at the age of four and not reunited with her family until ten years later. Both Phillip Noyce and the actress herself later admitted that she almost was Molly completely.
• Amateur Cast: Most of the child actresses were untrained. Word of God is that it was more important to find people who were in touch with Aboriginal traditions and lifestyles. They recruited veteran coach Rachael Maza to serve as a tutor for them.
• Creator Recovery: Although Everlyn Sampi was distressed at the start of filming, she actually describes the movie as "making me love myself again". She had been dealing with a rough childhood and sexual assault that wasn't reported until ten years later, and the process of making the film gave her so many positive experiences that it helped her move past some of her trauma.
  "I had all these experiences, all this lovely thank you from everybody … even the Indigenous mob, they cry when they see me [on screen] and it makes me proud. It makes me feel that I actually did something."
• Doing It for the Art: Phillip Noyce turned down the chance to direct The Sum of All Fears to direct this instead. Peter Gabriel likewise did the score for no fee.
• Dyeing for Your Art:
  • Everlyn Sampi had long braids when she was cast, and was required to have her hair cut to shoulder length. The process rattled her and she actually ran away from set, being found an hour later in a phone booth trying to call a travel agent and fly home.
  • Tianna Sansbury likewise had long hair that was cut short to play Daisy.
• Enforced Method Acting: For the scene in which the children in the dormitory find out the three girls have escaped, Phillip Noyce told funny stories off camera to get the young actresses laughing and excited.
• Fake Australian: Kenneth Branagh (Neville) is Northern Irish. A marginal example, since most white Australians at the time were descended from British and Irish, and he uses his own accent.
• Never Work with Children or Animals: As the child actresses were not working professionals, there were several weeks of extensive rehearsal with an acting coach who was used to working with children. Everlyn Sampi was struggling with extremely low self-esteem, feeling she didn't deserve to be the lead, and tried to run away twice. Philip Noyce admitted he wasn't certain if she would even turn up for filming. The shoot itself however went pretty smoothly.
• No Budget: Only made for $6 million, since it was unlikely to be financed by any major studios without some heavy Hollywood sugarcoating.
• One-Take Wonder: There was only one take of the abduction scene because it was so traumatic to the child actors.
• Real-Person Cameo: The real Molly Craig cameos in the end scene, walking with a stick.
• Reclusive Artist: Everlyn Sampi retreated from the public eye and didn't give a full interview to a journalist until 2013.

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