Pia Miranda didn't know how big Looking for Alibrandi would be. In one on-set moment, it dawned on her

Pia Miranda starred in one of the most iconic Australian coming-of-age films of all time, but she had no idea just how big it would be when she signed up for it.

The actress played Italian-Australian teenager Josie Alibrandi in Looking for Alibrandi, which came out in 2000 after the novel of the same name quickly became a classic.

The film helped Miranda progress her career as an actor, but it also gave so much more to the local migrant community at the time.

Watch the video above.

Miranda told nine.com.au characters like Josie were hard to come by in mainstream Australian media in the 2000s.

"It took a really specific role to come along for me to have that moment on screen," she told nine.com.au during an interview for her new project, an Audible Original book called Full Throttle.

"I think it meant a lot to people, because it was one of the first times people saw themselves reflected back ... those migrant stories were very few and far between."

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"I really think my career would have fizzled out if it weren't for the film.

"I remember the first time I won a role where the person didn't have a vowel at the end of their name, and I was like, 'Oh my god, I made it.'

"I think it meant a lot to people, because it was one of the first times [they] saw themselves reflected back."

"That was really exciting for me, just to play an Australian with no reference to my background ... because that's what Australia is."

Miranda added that she had no idea how big Looking For Alibrandi was going to be, as she and her co-star Kick Gurry had missed the initial hype of the book.

"For Kick and I, we grew up in Melbourne, so it wasn't part of our curriculum when we were at school so we missed the hysteria around it," she said.

"It probably wasn't until we were shooting a scene with lots of extras, all these kids, when we walked out of our trailers they started screaming and crying, yelling, 'Josie and Jacob.' 

"[Kick said] 'I think this might be quite big', and I said, 'So do I.'" 

Despite not knowing how popular the film was going to be, she knew it would be important to at least one community after reading the book.

"It wasn't just important to people who had the Italian migrant experience; it was important to people who had the migrant experience," she said.

"That's what makes it so great, that people from all different cultures, it means a lot to them."

Miranda's Full Throttle castmate and fellow screen icon Vince Colosimo had a similar experience of working in the media as an Italian-Australian man around the same time.

"Being with my background and working in this country ... when I went for an audition, I saw the other guys in the waiting room, some really great Australian actors," he told nine.com.au.

"I knew I had to go into that room and I had to be really, really good, or I wasn't going to get it otherwise ... that was how I felt."

"I prepared myself, knowing that I was going up against these really good actors.

"When you won those roles, there's an air of confidence that comes in ... you feel like you can do anything."

Colosimo has played a range of characters, but arguably his most iconic was Frank in The Wog Boy, in which he starred alongside Greek-Australian actor Nick Giannopoulos.

The 2000 comedy took the stereotypes held against Greek and Italian immigrants and flipped them on their heads.

It came after the live show of the same name sold out in theatres across the country. 

Home and Away actor Tai Hara, who also lends his voice to the Full Throttle audiobook, said representation in Australian media is "so important."

"If you can see yourself on screen, for any young kid, you can be it as well," Hara said.

"I've been fortunate in my career that it has shifted and changed.

"There have been plenty of roles where my ethnicity hasn't even been mentioned because it doesn't define me or my character in that way." 

The trio spoke to nine.com.au to promote their newest project – the audiobook Full Throttle, a racing love story exclusive to Audible.

Miranda, Colosimo and Hara said voice acting was a fun but different type of challenge.

They agreed happiness was one of the hardest emotions to convey in an audio booth, in comparison to on screen.

"Anything that you usually see is hard to convey," Colosimo said.

"I think happiness is the hardest, actually," Miranda added, "What's hard is trying to sound authentic, what feels authentic doesn't always sound authentic."

"With the visual taken away, so much of the acting relies on you finding those emotions through your voice," Hara agreed.

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