Emily Browning had a panic attack when she first read the Sleeping Beauty script. The actress plays Lucy in the movie, which was written and directed by novelist Julia Leigh. Lucy is a student who is looking for ways to supplement her income. As well as the usual bar and office work she spends time as an escort and takes part in medical trials. The film has met with mixed receptions, which Emily expected. She knows the risqué subject matter will be too much for certain people – some scenes see older men touch Lucy while she sleeps. “I knew there was no way everyone was going to like it, and I”m OK with that. I”d rather make an interesting film that gets people talking, that maybe some people hate, than make the kind of “entertaining” film that everyone feels ambivalent about,” she said. “[Reading the script] made me uncomfortable. I read the first scene and had a panic attack – I had to leave it for an hour to catch my breath.” However, the star insists it”s vital to fully understand the movie before criticizing it. Lucy isn”t supposed to be someone for others to look up to, rather she”s a character designed to get people thinking. “Obviously, the fact that she”s asleep means she”s objectified to some degree, but she is completely willing to submit control to others and see what happens,” Emily, 22, told British newspaper The Guardian. “I don”t think it”s a healthy attitude for someone to have, but the film isn”t about portraying a character who”s going to be a role model for young girls. It”s about the choices we make as humans, and the battle to find control while living in a society that wants to objectify you and commodify you.” It was the medical trials she had a problem with, particularly a part where she had to have something put down her throat. “I”m really squeamish, and I did say, “If this tube has to be in my chest, I might faint,”” she recalled.
