“Weddings need families, and so, I think everyone was able to sort of relate … I think there’s so many people who want that sense of belonging to somewhere or someone.”
Co-starring Tapsell’s friends Shari Sebbens and Elaine Crombie, the film also honours the idea of the sisterhood.
“It was really important for me to see women who back each other, especially if one of them is still finding their way. I don’t have time for stories where women are dragging each other down,” says Tapsell. “Female friendships are important to get you through all the things that are thrown at you in life.”
For Tapsell, life of late has brought shifts aplenty – thankfully, of the positive kind. “It’s been an exciting year,” Tapsell told WHO in December, just weeks before she wed “my rock”, TV writer James Colley, in a cliff-side ceremony in Wollongong, south of Sydney.
“He planned our whole wedding … I’m really proud of him,” Tapsell told WHO of her husband, who along with her parents, was by her side on January 30, when Top End Wedding had its world premiere at the iconic Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
Parallel weddings aside, Tapsell said it was “just a coincidence,” that reel life mirrors real life. “I wrote Top End Wedding before I met James,” she told news.com.au.
“I didn’t think in a million years when I was writing it that I was going to get my own.”
Though not without its pitfalls, screenwriting was a challenge the actress relished.
“I’ve fallen in love with writing and I’ve really enjoyed the creative process on the other side of the camera,” she says. “Sometimes the process was intimidating … but I am proud of the outcome.”
You can read the rest of the article in this week's WHO magazine!