Australian actor Abbie Cornish impressed more than boyfriend Ryan Phillippe on the set of her new film Stop-Loss.

The 25-year-old star of local films such as Somersault and Candy was director Kimberly Peirce’s first choice to play a Texan soldier’s girlfriend because of her duality – being “one of the guys” and, at the same time, the woman they all fantasise about.

Peirce said that combination of qualities was impossible to find in American starlets vying for the role.

“When we were writing the character we knew we needed a Texan girl who, if you got a flat tyre on your truck she’d go change it, if you needed a gun shot she’d shoot it, and if you got in trouble and you needed to be bailed out, she’d do it,” Peirce said.

“She was one of the guys, and yet she was totally a woman. She was the one they would all fantasise about.

“You don’t find that in American actresses – I mean you really don’t – so she was my top choice.”

Peirce is in Sydney for the Australian premiere of Stop-Loss, which tells the story of a young American soldier (Phillippe) who is ordered to return to Iraq as part of the military’s controversial Stop-Loss policy, but opts instead to go AWOL.

Cornish and Phillippe’s romance reportedly blossomed on the set of the film, following the 33-year-old actor’s split from Reese Witherspoon.

Last week the couple appeared together at the Australians in Film 2008 Breakthrough Awards in Los Angeles, where Cornish accepted a gong for her Stop-Loss role.

Cornish was not able to join Peirce on the red carpet at tonight’s Sydney Film Festival premiere at the State Theatre as she’s filming overseas.

But Peirce was more than happy to sing the praises of her film’s leading lady.

“I just think she is extraordinarily beautiful and talented,” Peirce said of Cornish.

“Whether there were a tonne of people in the scene, or there was dialogue or no dialogue, she was the centre of attention.

“The other actors had to watch out because she’s so charismatic.”

Peirce revealed she was a big fan of Australian actors and filmmakers in general, naming Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, Russell Crowe and director Peter Weir as some of her favourites.

“I have to ask, what are you guys doing that are making your actors so interesting and so full of life?” she said.

“I mean, something about the lifestyle here is making them more complicated, more interesting.

“There’s a kind of lived in quality.”

Stop-Loss opens nationally on August 14.

Source: LiveNews