Teresa Palmer consults her "gratitude list" every night.

Teresa Palmer

Teresa Palmer

The 31-year-old Australian beauty - who has children Bodhi, three, and Forest, four months, with husband Mark Webber - is constantly amazed at how "incredible" it is that her "big dreams" of being an actress in America and attending the Academy Awards have come true.

She said: "It feels quite surreal, to be honest, but quite magical. I've been quite reminiscent lately, about being a teenager and having big dreams to come to America and to work in film.

"At night, when the kids are asleep and I have a moment to myself, I really go back to that time when I was longing to have the opportunity to be an actor working in film, and think about how incredible it is that this is all happening. It's my gratitude list.

"Sometimes I wish I could go back to that 15 year old and say, 'You'll never believe this, but on your 31st birthday you will be going to the Oscars!' "

Though the 'Hacksaw Ridge' star was "desperately lonely" when she first moved Stateside, she was able to cope because she was so "self-sufficient" from a young age as her mother Paula suffered from schizophrenia.

She told the new issue of Australia's Vogue magazine: "I became so self-sufficient because I had to grow up so quickly.

"Even though I know it wasn't a typical upbringing, I'm actually so grateful for all the experiences, because it really taught me how to take care of myself.

"I think if I had not experienced the childhood I had, I never would have been able to come out to America at the age of 19 and survive those challenging first few years where I was desperately lonely."


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