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.”

… Read the full story »

Be sure to go and check out the official Bright Star website, now live! And read on for an article regarding the film, courtesy of Mail on Sunday. The article also comes with the very first production still of Abbie as Fanny. She looks absolutely radiant and stunning! I truly cannot wait to see Bright Star!

Jane Champion comes bounding down a gravel path and, suddenly, her body goes into karate mode.

She’s only kidding - one of the assistants on Bright Star, her film about the intense relationship between the poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, the young woman he met in the last two years of his life, happens to be a martial arts champion and she’s just having a laugh with her.

All the same, it’s good to see this most passionate of directors having fun on a film that lingers on the subject of death (there’s romance as well, I hasten to add).

For me, it marked a marvellous contrast: going from the craziness of the Cannes Film Festival to contemplating Keats in the quiet of the English countryside.

Bright Star (the title of a Keats poem about Fanny) ends its nine-week shooting of principal photography today, and has brought together two of the most exciting up-and-coming stars working in cinema.

… Read the full story »

June 6, 2008 | Comment (1) | Posted by Riikka

Post Categories: 'Bright Star' | Public Events

According to Amazon. Stop-Loss will be released on Region 1 DVD on July 8, 2008. There is no cover art or features details as of now. We’ll keep you posted.

Update:
Extras will include: “Commentary by Director Kimberly Peirce and Co-Writer Mark Richard,” “The Making Of Stop-Loss,” “A Day In Boot Camp” featurette, and 11 “Additional Scenes.”

Source: DVDTown.com

Here is a little blurb from The Guardian about Bright Star and more importantly Abbie! There is a lot of high hopes for the film which is being helmed by Jane Campion who is the only woman to have won the Palme d’Or Cannes Award.

Great things are expected of Jane Campion (the only woman to have won the Palme d’Or), who is shooting Bright Star in the UK, the story of poet John Keats’s love affair with Fanny Brawne, starring Ben Whishaw and Australia’s Abbie Cornish. I heard a couple of executives discussing it after a trip to the set, where the word is that Ben is superb but that “everyone will be bowled over when they see Abbie’s Fanny.”

I personally can’t wait!

The Abbie news drought unfortunately continues. Our girl is busy filming right now so it’s all to quiet. And while there hasn’t been any real updates from us in a while I thought I might as well post about this one even though it’s not ‘major’ at all.

I have added two Stop-Loss related scans, some reviews and articles. Like I said nothing major, but fans of the film might enjoy and atleast it’s something to gander at.

By the way, If you’re ‘bored’ waiting on Abbie news feel free to stop on by Mine and Riikka’s newest fansite tributes; Amy Adams Fan and Megan Fox Daily.

GALLERY LINKS:
- Magazines: Clippings from 2008