Trivia

Keisha Castle-Hughes was pregnant during filming.

Mary, Sunni and Esther watch an animated film called 'Fritz Gets Rich' (2005), made by The People's Republic of Animation, on television.

On the set, actress Danielle Catanzariti was nicknamed "Audrey" after Audrey Hepburn for her irrepressible spirit and professionalism. This combo of qualities especially impressed Danielle's Academy Award-nominated co-star Toni Collette, who said: "While we were shooting, she broke my heart with her honesty and she also made me laugh. I think she is a really incredible and strong individual. For someone so young, she is very clear about who she is, but not in a contrived way. I really liked her a lot."

To bring this film to life in all its humour and humanness, the filmmakers knew they would need to find the heart of their movie, and so it was that they set out on a long, challenging hunt for their Esther Blueberger. They knew the role was going to be no easy bill to fill, because the character isn't really like any other young heroine. She had to possess both innocence and a chutzpah, both high anxiety and naturally sweet spirit, both a sense of the ridiculous and a dash of the courageous. Writer-director Cathy Randall didn't know exactly what she would look like, but she knew she would know the right Esther when she saw her, so the team began scouring the whole of Australia. Over a period of four months, Randall, Stein and casting agent Anousha Zarkesh travelled to every Australian state capital across the large island nation, viewing thousands upon thousands of teen hopefuls in open auditions. Randall confessed: "It was an incredibly rigorous search, but we just knew this person had to be exceptional. The character is in every scene, so whoever played her had to be able to carry the film. I was adamant that we search far and wide until we found the right Esther." Stein laughed: "At times I wasn't sure we could keep going. As the producer, I was watching the budget and kept hoping, 'surely we must be getting close'." Then, at long last, came the breakthrough the filmmakers had been waiting for. A fourteen year-old girl called Danielle Catanzariti showed up "at a cattle call audition in Adelaide, the place I least expected to find her. She walked in and it was love at first sight. I knew instantly she was Esther", recalled Randall.

Raised a Catholic, actress Danielle Catanzariti, for her role in this film, needed to take lessons in Jewish history and Hebrew to prepare for blessing over the Torah in the Bat Mitzvah ceremony, as well as learn to break-dance during the hora sequence at Esther's "coming of age" party. But there was little doubt in Danielle's mind that she was ready to give everything for this role. She said: "I loved the script and the journey you go on with Esther through all the challenges of peer pressure and bullying and becoming yourself. She's a very strong character and I knew I was going to have a lot of fun playing her."