The Real deal
On a blustery winter’s day in downtown Sydney, Danielle Macdonald slips into the studio with no fanfare and no entourage, tugging on her oversized purple sweater and smiling shyly at the BAZAAR crew, who are setting up for her shoot. The 28-year-old Australian-born, LA-based actor is a breakthrough star, with lead roles in films including Patti Cake$, Dumplin’ and the Netflix thriller Bird Box. She has flown in to attend Sydney Film Festival to promote her latest film, the Academy Award-nominated drama Skin, in which she stars alongside Jamie Bell. Based on a true story, the dark and topical tale concerns white nationalism in America. Macdonald plays Julie, the wife of neo-Nazi Bryon Widner, both of whom eventually leave the violent, hate-filled cult despite the danger surrounding them.
“[Julie’s] story is interesting because her father was a Klu Klux Klan member, so she grew up in that community, but he got out,” Macdonald says. “She wasn’t ever really into it herself, but she was there physically. And she fell back on what she knew.” Given
