About Abbie Cornish
Abbie
Cornish's fearless performance as a free-spirited teenager in the indie
feature "Somersault" (2004) won the Australian actress her first favor
with international critics, but unfortunately it was accusations of her
alleged involvement in the 2006 divorce of actors Ryan Phillippe and
Reese Witherspoon that was her ticket to overnight fame. Despite the
publicity onslaught surrounding the high profile Hollywood break-up,
Cornish soldiered on with well-received notices in "Elizabeth: The
Golden Age" (2007) and Jane Campion's "Bright Star" (2009), where her
innate talent, already recognized by her native homeland, elevated her
above the gossip and established her as a significant talent on the
rise.Born Aug. 7, 1982 in Lochnivar, New South Wales, Cornish grew up
on a large farm with her parents and four siblings. "Boredom" was the
answer she gave for pursuing a career in front of the camera, and after
winning a contest through the Aussie teen magazine Dolly, she
landed an agent and began auditioning for roles on Australian
television. Her first critical notices came at the age of 15 when she
played a quadriplegic in the television series "Children's Hospital"
(Two Network, 1997). Two years later, Cornish - who had since moved away
from her parents at the age of 16 - was honored by the Australian Film
Institute for her performance in a 1999 episode of the police drama
"Wildside" (Australian Broadcast Corporation, 1997-99). Despite the
acclaim, Cornish devoted an equal amount of her time to her studies and
planned to become a veterinarian.
A string of impressive roles in Australian features quickly followed her AFI win - she was a sexually charged poetess who goes missing in the lesbian-themed mystery "The Monkey's Mask" (2000); a venomous schoolgirl in the black comedy "Horseplay" (2003), and a young drug casualty in the rave-culture drama "One Perfect Day" (2004) - but it was "Somersault" (2004) that made critics around the world stand up and take notice. An often disturbing drama about a teenage girl's headlong dive into sex and the people around her who seem all too willing to take advantage of her naiveté, Cornish's performance earned her raves at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as awards at numerous film festivals in her native country and around the world.
Two years later, Cornish's success in "Somersault" paid off in spades with high-profile roles in a string of attention-garnering features. She co-starred with fellow Aussie superstars Heath Ledger and Geoffrey Rush in "Candy" (2006), a stylized romance between a heroin-addicted poet (Ledger) and a painter (Cornish). She also showed off a flawless American accent as a California teenager searching for her father in "A Good Year" (2006), Ridley Scott's adaptation of the Peter Mayle novel about a businessman (Russell Crowe) who inherits a vineyard and its offbeat neighbors.
After "A Good Year," Cornish became involved in two projects - one of which garnered considerable press (mostly of the prurient-investigative kind). "Stop Loss" (2007) was the film, directed by "Boys Don't Cry" helmer Kimberly Peirce, that she was working on in the United States when reports surfaced that she and co-star Ryan Phillippe were engaged in an affair. The alleged incriminating evidence came to light shortly after Phillippe and his wife, Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon, had announced their separation in the press - which naturally led the media to speculate that Cornish was the crux of their marital discord. Her representatives openly and sternly denied any wrongdoing on the part of the actress, but there was no denying the fact the two were a couple after a discreet amount of time had passed and they were seen together, openly affectionate in public.
Back on screen, Cornish co-starred in "The Golden Age" (2007), director Shekhar Kapur's follow-up to "Elizabeth" (1998), in which she portrayed Elizabeth Throckmorton, secret wife to Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen) and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett). Her starring role as the lover of iconic poet John Keats in Jane Campion's "Bright Star" (2009) brought Cornish significant notice, including Best Actress nominations from the British Independent Film Awards and the Satellite Awards, as well as dark horse Oscar talk.
A string of impressive roles in Australian features quickly followed her AFI win - she was a sexually charged poetess who goes missing in the lesbian-themed mystery "The Monkey's Mask" (2000); a venomous schoolgirl in the black comedy "Horseplay" (2003), and a young drug casualty in the rave-culture drama "One Perfect Day" (2004) - but it was "Somersault" (2004) that made critics around the world stand up and take notice. An often disturbing drama about a teenage girl's headlong dive into sex and the people around her who seem all too willing to take advantage of her naiveté, Cornish's performance earned her raves at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as awards at numerous film festivals in her native country and around the world.
Two years later, Cornish's success in "Somersault" paid off in spades with high-profile roles in a string of attention-garnering features. She co-starred with fellow Aussie superstars Heath Ledger and Geoffrey Rush in "Candy" (2006), a stylized romance between a heroin-addicted poet (Ledger) and a painter (Cornish). She also showed off a flawless American accent as a California teenager searching for her father in "A Good Year" (2006), Ridley Scott's adaptation of the Peter Mayle novel about a businessman (Russell Crowe) who inherits a vineyard and its offbeat neighbors.
After "A Good Year," Cornish became involved in two projects - one of which garnered considerable press (mostly of the prurient-investigative kind). "Stop Loss" (2007) was the film, directed by "Boys Don't Cry" helmer Kimberly Peirce, that she was working on in the United States when reports surfaced that she and co-star Ryan Phillippe were engaged in an affair. The alleged incriminating evidence came to light shortly after Phillippe and his wife, Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon, had announced their separation in the press - which naturally led the media to speculate that Cornish was the crux of their marital discord. Her representatives openly and sternly denied any wrongdoing on the part of the actress, but there was no denying the fact the two were a couple after a discreet amount of time had passed and they were seen together, openly affectionate in public.
Back on screen, Cornish co-starred in "The Golden Age" (2007), director Shekhar Kapur's follow-up to "Elizabeth" (1998), in which she portrayed Elizabeth Throckmorton, secret wife to Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen) and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett). Her starring role as the lover of iconic poet John Keats in Jane Campion's "Bright Star" (2009) brought Cornish significant notice, including Best Actress nominations from the British Independent Film Awards and the Satellite Awards, as well as dark horse Oscar talk.
Partners
Companion | Ryan Phillippe. Met on the set of Stop-Loss (2008); rumored to have been the cause of his break-up from Witherspoon, but Phillippe denied this; spotted together several times in 2007; began acknowledging their relationship in 2008; split in February 2010 |
Family
Father | Barry Cornish. Divorced from Abbie s mother |
Mother | Shelley Cornish. Divorced from Abbie s father |
Sister | Isabella Cornish. |
Career Milestones
| Began taking jobs as a model after reaching the finals of a Dolly magazine competition | ||
1997 | Acting debut on the Australian series Children s Hospital, playing a quadriplegic | |
1999 | Became a regular on the crime drama series Wildside (ABC) | |
2000 | Film debut, The Monkey s Mask starring Kelly McGillis | |
2001 | Landed a regular role on the Australian series Outriders | |
2001 | Was the first actress to play Penne on the Australian series Life Support | |
2003 | Appeared in the film Horseplay, a comedy about a horse trainer | |
2004 | Co-starred with Hugo Weaving in the 18-minute short Everything Goes, directed by Andrew Kotatko | |
2004 | Earned rave review portraying a runaway teenager in Somersault | |
2006 | Cast as Russell Crowe s long-lost American cousin in A Good Year | |
2006 | Received widespread critical acclaim as Heath Ledger s heroin-addicted lover in Candy | |
2007 | Joined Cate Blanchett and Clive Owen in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, a sequel to the award winning feature Elizabeth | |
2008 | Co-starred with Ryan Phillippe in the war drama Stop Loss | |
2009 | Played John Keats muse Fanny Brawne in Jane Campion s Bright Star | |
2011 | Co-starred in Sucker Punch, an action-fantasy film written and directed by Zack Snyder | |
2011 | Co-starred in the period drama W.E. written and directed by Madonna | |
2011 | Co-starred with Bradley Cooper in the thriller Limitless | |
No comments:
Post a Comment