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5 things you didn’t know about The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart on Prime.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is a stunning Prime Video series, which follows the cross-generational trauma of Alice Hart, a young girl living on the eastern coast of Australia. 

At nine years old, Alice's (Alycia Debnam-Carey) mum Agnes (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) and abusive father Clem (Charlie Vickers) died in a fire. This prompted Alice to return and reconnect to the place where her parents met, Thornfield Flower Farm, which is run by her estranged grandmother June, played by Hollywood star Sigourney Weaver.

It is at this secluded wildflower farm that June takes in women who are escaping violence and distress, and as Alice grows older, some startling revelations about their family's dark past are brought to the present. 

The seven-episode series also stars Asher Keddie, Leah Purcell and Frankie Adams.

With an all-star cast of women and glowing reviews so far, we've rounded up some unexpected facts about the emotional Prime Video series. 

The series is a book adaption.

The Amazon Prime series is adapted from a book by Holly Ringland. The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart was Ringland's debut novel, launching in 2018 and becoming an international best-seller.

The author's story was adapted for the screen by showrunner Sarah Lambert. The seven episodes are directed by Glendyn Ivin and executive produced by Jodi Matterson, Steve Hutensky, Allie Goss, and Big Little Lies' Bruna Papandrea. 

Like the record-breaking book it was based on, the series had the biggest opening weekend globally for any Australian release on Amazon Prime. 

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Sigourney Weaver hadn't read the book before auditioning.

In an interview to promote the series, Weaver told PerthNow that she only read the book after the first three episodes of the script were sent to her. 

“I really hadn't ever read anything like this, this story that pulled together so many different strands of girls and women of all different ages," the Alien actor added. 

"And had them enter this beautiful story of second chances and reaching safety and change." 

Sigourney Weaver in The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. Image: Prime Video. 

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Sigourney Weaver was drawn to the project so she could work in Australia. 

The Golden Globe winner was attracted to joining the series so she could work with one of Australia's most respected directors while also enjoying everything this country has to offer. 

"I was attracted by the fact that Glendyn Ivin was directing it," she told PerthNow

"And frankly, my husband (Jim Simpson) and I - my husband's a surfer - we also really wanted to come to Australia ... and we had the most marvellous time."

The series was filmed in stunning locations across Australia. 

Taking inspiration from the book, the series is set in some of Australia's most beautiful locations. The novel's fictional town of Wyuna was actually set in the Northern New South Wales town of Grafton, Hart House was replicated at Doust House in the picturesque cane fields, while the Hideaway Beach was filmed in North Beach in Mylestom. 

Flower Farm was filmed at Scone's Bickham House, while scenery like the Workshop and Green House were found at Jonima Flower Farm.

The series also utilised Australia's Red Centre as its canvas, with the final episodes spanning sacred landscapes from the Alice Springs Desert Park and Ormiston Gorge to the Simpsons Gap and Larapinta Trail. 

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The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart almost had a different ending.

Warning: spoilers ahead!

The seven-episode series culminates in the death of June, before Alice, Twig and Candy set fire to one of Clem's wood carvings of June.  

But according to director Glendyn Ivin, this final fire scene wasn't in the original script.

Alycia Debnam-Carey as adult Alice in The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. Image: Prime Video. 

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"When I first read the first draft of episode seven, that fire wasn't there," Ivin told TheWrap

"As I was reading and I was getting towards the last few pages, I really thought as I turned that last page that there was going to be a fire, but there wasn’t, there was something else," the director recalled. 

"I rang Sarah [Lambert] and I said, 'Sarah, we've got to have the fire. It's gotta happen.' And she was like, 'No, no, no, there's too much fire' and I was like, 'No, no, there's not enough. We have to do this.' So there was a bit of an arm wrestle there."

Ultimately, Ivin's ending was chosen. "I'm glad we got it through. It's a really beautiful ending, and fire for Alice, in her life, has always been a destructive element," Ivin said. 

"It's the burning of 'You don't get to have my story. You don't get to tell me who I am. You don't get any of that. I'm going to burn this down and create my own.' A new story can come out of that, which is owned by Alice, Candy, Twig, Sally, etc. It's a symbol of rebirth, really the phoenix rising out of the ashes."

Feature Image: Prime Video. 

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