From About.com / By Rebecca Murray

Abbie Cornish has become one of the most sought after young actresses in Hollywood. With her starring turn as Queen Elizabeth I's favorite lady-in-waiting in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Cornish really emerges as a force to be reckoned with.

Bess was not only a close confidante of Elizabeth’s, but also in a way someone Elizabeth could vicariously be friends with. How was it trying to be a part of Elizabeth and also trying to make Bess her own person?
“That’s an interesting question, actually. For me there was always a sense that Bess is very good at what she does, obviously, to be in that position. But I always felt like the true Bess, she protected herself. I always felt that her inner child was kept underneath the corset.

There were many dreams and thoughts that she had, which I don’t think she freely expresses to the Queen. I mean, the Queen has a sense of them because she herself is human. But Bess maintains constantly around the Queen and so I guess for me there was a separation, you know?

Bess’ involvement with the Queen was first and foremost work, and second of all compassion and love. But there’s only a certain extent that you can give over to that love and compassion to someone else when ultimately at the end of the day they can behead you or send you off into the outer world, which at that point in time was a completely different life. So I think there was an attachment but also a sense of self, if that answers your question.”

Did you and Cate Blanchett hit if off immediately? How did you two get that sense of ease between the characters?
“Well Cate’s an incredible woman and an incredible actress, first of all. She’s very focused in what she does. I felt in working with her that she had this tremendous amount of work to do, in relation to her own character and her own performance. She was always aware of everyone else around her and particularly for me, I felt there was a watchful eye over my character, over scenes and the dialogue. And it was nice to have that there. There was a very comfortable feeling from me towards Cate, both professionally and personally.

I think Shekhar [Kapur] just did such an amazing job in expressing his thoughts on that relationship and encouraging exploration of that relationship, because it’s so intricate and difficult. You can’t sum it up in one sentence. You really can’t. And so to have the ability to do that with people like Cate and Shekhar was just a pleasure.”

And your scene dancing with Clive Owen, what was that like?
“Yeah, that was really fun. It was interesting learning that dance. The first day I was like, ‘Do we have to do the real thing today?’ Because in your own clothes -- my clothes -- it’s really different when you’re in, you know, this whole outfit with layers and layers of material. I was kind of a little bit shy and it’s very physical and upfront. But on the day it’s a different thing. You get into that world and that sense of the court, and it was fun learning that.”

Do you find it’s easy to really get into character when you’re in costume and surrounded by this set?
“I think it does make a difference. I found unexpectedly actually that the costumes for me became key to who Bess was. It was a passionate feeling about her life, at that particular point in time. The first week on set of wearing the corset I felt very restricted, and I felt I couldn’t breathe property. I didn’t have my full lung capacity and I actually felt a little bit miserable and I started to wonder, ‘Wow, this woman has one of the most prestigious jobs in the court and she has beautiful clothes, beautiful jewelry and yet she can’t breath properly. There’s a lack of freedom.’ And that got me thinking, you know, ‘How does she feel?’ There’s an exterior and then there’s an interior, which is quite constraining. There’s a feeling of constraint and restriction there.”

Can you talk more about working with Shekhar Kapur and how he challenged you as an actress to get the performance you give in the film?
“Shekhar, the weeks leading up to the shoot we just spent a lot of time talking, and talking about everything. About Bess, about the film, about that life. The most wonderful thing about Shekhar is he continues to explore up until -- well he never stops exploring really. Even when I talk to him about the film now, it doesn’t feel like it’s in a vault. It still feels open and alive."

Did you research the period and did you learn about the real Bess?
“I really wanted to know about the real Bess. I felt that it was very important to create some sense of connection to her and to life. It’s difficult because not an extensive amount is written about Bess, but I gathered the bits that I could. And also talking to Justin, we had a historian on board, and just questioning him about little things. About how do I stand when she walks in? Does she kneel? How far down does she bow? All these little things, I guess.

But the most interesting thing, and the most creative insight for me into Bess, came in a portrait. I found this portrait of her in a book, which just pushed through the image and went straight through me. It’s difficult because there’s no real photographs of a person around that time and so you have to rely on an artist’s interpretation. But there was something I felt was coming through this portrait and so I got it blown up really big. These people put it in my trailer and so I would see her when I came in, when I left, and I would check in with her. She had these very – Bess didn’t have blue eyes in the film, but these very blue, very open, almost ocean-like eyes and there was this slight smile on her face, but the lips were pursed so here was a happiness and contentment, a sort of a givingness to the moment but a constriction. And that was the profession, I felt, coming in. And then the open eyes and stuff and the dream, there was something about her that was dreaming of something outside of that moment. And so that I felt affected me.”