Toni Collette felt like she was being "punched" during every scene in 'Glassland'

She said: "Usually when you're shooting a movie you start with an easy, ease-in scene.

"Maybe you'll walk from your car to a store. But there was no such scene in this movie. Every scene was like being punched."

Despite finding it challenging, the 'Muriel's Wedding' star admitted she was "blown away" by the script and says she knew she was "eager to jump in" after conducting a Skype chat with the movie's director and writer Gerard Barrett.

She added to The Guardian newspaper: "My agent sent it to me, and it blew me away. Then I spoke to Gerard on Skype. We had some frozen, frustrating moments, as you do with technology, but I really got a sense of a very grounded, perceptive, wise person.

"He wrote it, he understood what's going on in the story. It's so much more than a kitchen-sink drama. It's a love story, and it has poetry.

"It rang very, very true. Ultimately, no matter what kind of story it is, if there's a kernel of truth in it that resonates with me, I'm very eager to jump in. I just knew I had to do it. I'm never really a fence-sitter. I'm either on or off."