Mia Wasikowska proves more popular than Alice

Mia Wasikowska, the star of Alice in Wonderland, is the latest in a long line of Australian actresses to conquer Hollywood. Critics may be divided over Tim Burton's 3D spin on the Lewis Carroll classic, but they are almost unanimous in their praise Wasikowska's performance as the film's eponymous heroine.

The Hollywood Reporter's Michael Rechtshaffen described Wasikowska's performance as "pitch-perfect" while more than one reviewer - including the Guardian's Xan Brooks and Variety's Todd McCarthy - have noted Wasikowska's similarity to Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow, arguably one of the best actresses of her generation.

McCarthy, who slams Burton's film as disappointingly "ordinary" and "conventional", reserves his praise for Wasikowska. It is not just her "willowy, Gwyneth Paltrowesque beauty", noted McCarthy, but also her acting prowess which has earned her the comparison. "[She has] a pale but powerful resolve that confers upon the picture any gravity it may possess."

Wasikowska (pronounced Vah-she-kov-ska) was born in Canberra to a Polish photographer mother and an Australian artist father. After training as a ballet dancer, she switched to acting, getting her first major break in the the Australian medical drama series All Saints.

But the actress came to Hollywood's attention three years ago when she landed a regular part in the HBO series In Treatment, starring opposite Gabriel Byrne (who plays the show's psychotherapist). Wasikowska was just 17 when she played Sophie, a suicidal teenager who has been raped by her gym teacher.

Burton has said that as he was drawn to the maturity of the young actress when sifting through hundreds of acting CVs for his Alice. "I always like it when I sense people have that 'old soul' quality to them," he says. "Because you’re witnessing this whole thing through her eyes, it needed somebody who can subtly portray that."

One blip in the good reviews came last weekend when Wasikowska found herself at the receiving end of a bizarre rant by News of the World's film critic Robbie Collin. The Australian media was abuzz with the news that the "Aussie Alice" had been savaged in a one-star review in which Collin described Wasikowska as having all the warmth "of a refrigerated trout, and a face you'd expect to see Blu-Tacked to the inside of a London phone box". He went on: "She's not a heroine - she looks like she's ON heroin."

But Wasikowska hardly needs to be troubled by Collin's uncharitable views. Since finishing Burton's movie, she has already shot another film, Restless, directed by Gus Van Sant, and is to take the starring role in the new version of Jane Eyre, with Michael Fassbender as Mr Rochester. The Aussie Alice's adventures in Hollywood continue. ·