Abbie Cornish finds her characters through divining the smallest of details. For 2004’s Somersault, her acclaimed breakthrough role, it was a matter of figuring out how Heidi, the haltingly hopeful teenage girl she played, would grasp a schooner of beer. But to play Elizabeth “Bess” Throckmorton, the favoured lady-in-waiting of Cate Blanchett’s Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, it was a far more difficult process of discovery.

Shekhar Kapur’s vivid melodrama was the first period piece of the 25-year-old’s short but successful career. The prospect made her nervous. Yet production staff were able to supply information, including a portrait of the real lady-in-waiting, where Cornish saw a dancer’s graceful hand and realised how gentle the character was.

The key revelation came in the first week of shooting in England this year.

Check out a new Elizabeth: The Golden Age article at News.com.au. Here’s the bit on Abbie:

While Elizabeth newcomer Clive Owen adds hunk factor to the film, it is Newcastle farm girl Abbie Cornish who has big-name Hollywood directors talking.

Sultry good looks aside, Kapur says it was the 25-year-old’s Australian Film Institute (AFI) Award-winning performance as a teen runaway in Somersault that drew him to her.

“How could you not find Abbie after seeing Somersault?” Kapur says when asked about discovering her exceptional acting talents.

“I saw Somersault and was so taken that someone at this young age could actually give such an internal, but stirring performance.

“I had been thinking about her since then and I was surprised when she called me and her agent said she would like to do this part, because I heard that every part in Hollywood had been offered to her.”

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I came across the trailer for Stop-Loss in beautiful high definition and replaced the caps with better quality versions. Be sure to check out the trailer over at HD-Trailers.net.

GALLERY LINKS:
- Stop-Loss: Trailer Screencaptures

I finally came across some images from the Melbourne premiere of The Golden Age. A different look for Abbie but I think she rocks it! I’ve also added pictures from the other Australian The Golden Age events. View all new additions here.

By the way, Abbie has recently been featured in the Australian press quite a bit. Unfortunately there is no way for us to get all of this coverage as neither of us is actually from ‘Down Under’. If you can help with scans, please contact us! Full credit will, of course, be given!

GALLERY LINKS:
- Elizabeth: The Golden Age Melbourne Premiere
- Elizabeth: The Golden Age Melboune Premiere - Herald Sun Interview

Check out this new and very informative article from The Courier-Mail, in which Abbie discusses her current projects and mentions that there’s an Australian film that she hopes to film next year. By the way, she also states that Last Battle Dreamer will start filming “somewhere in Europe – they don’t know yet” in the next few weeks.

She’s the Australian Scarlett Johansson; the next Cate Blanchett or the next Nicole Kidman; an actor tipped to be more popular internationally than Naomi Watts.

Yet 25-year-old Abbie Cornish, back home briefly to join co-stars Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush in launching the Australian release of Elizabeth: The Golden Age, says she’s unfazed by the comparisons.

Despite a cold, she’s on the phone from the venue for the Elizabeth publicity event, the Sydney Theatre Company.

“I take all that stuff as a compliment. They’re all wonderful actresses and to be compared with them . . .” says Cornish, who attracted international film interest with her lead role in Cate Shortland’s 2004’s multiple award-winning drama Somersault.

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