Bright Star

ABOUT THE CAST

Fanny Brawne - Abbie Cornish
Abbie Cornish grew up on a farm in the Hunter Valley region outside Sydney, Australia. Her first acting job came at the age of 15 in an episode for the Australian Broadcasting commission series ChildrensHospital.

Abbie then starred in Wildside (1997), a gritty Australian police drama series, for which she won the Young Actor's AFI Award at the Australian Film Institute for her performance. Abbie was next seen in Samantha Lang's feature film The Monkey's Mask (2000). From 2000 to 2004 Abbie worked on several television shows and films including Life Support, One Perfect Day (2004) and Marking Time (2003)- for which she received her second AFI Nomination.

Abbie's international breakthrough role was as 'Heidi' in Cate Shortland's Somersault (2004) - her first collaboration with Bright Star producer Jan Chapman. Abbie won the Australian Film Institute, the Inside Film Award and the FCCA Award for Best Actress for her stunning performance. 2006 saw Abbie pull off yet another masterful performance in Neil Armfield's Candy, for which she again received both AFI and IF Award Nominations and won the FCCA Award for Best Actress.

Abbie’s other credits include Ridley Scott's A Good Year (2006), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) and Stop-Loss (2008), the second feature film from American director Kimberly Peirce.

John Keats - Ben Whishaw 
Ben Wishaw came to the fore early in his career playing the title role in Dom Rotheroe's My Brother Tom, for which he was named Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards 2001.  He then went on to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 2003.  Ben has appeared in Roger Michell's adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel Enduring Love and Matthew Vaughn's Layer Cake before taking the lead role in Tom Tykwer's Perfume: A Story of a Murderer, for which he was nominated Best Actor at the European Film Awards and for the BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award in 2007.

In 2005 Ben starred as Rolling Stones singer Keith Richards, in the biopic Stoned, before going on to interpret the venerable Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes' award-winning I'm Not There.  Ben, together with his co-stars, won a 2008 Independent Spirit Award for this role.  More recent credits include Brideshead Revisited directed by Julian Jarrold and Tom Twkwer's The International.  He will next be seen on screen in Julie Taymor's The Tempest.

Ben's theatre work includes the stage adaptation of Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials", the title role in Trevor Nunn's electric 'youth' version of "Hamlet", for which he received an Olivier award nomination, and  Katie Michell's 2006 version of "The Seagull" at the National Theatre.

For TV, Ben starred in the popular comedy-drama "The Booze Cruise" for ITV and "Nathan Barley" from director Chris Morris.  Most recently he starred in the tv series Criminal Justice."

Mr Brown - Paul Schneider
Paul Schneider will next be seen opposite John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph in Sam Mendes Away We Go.  He has also appeared in Lars and the Real Girl, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Family Stone  and garnered critical notice for his work as Jesse in Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown.

Paul co-wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed All The Real Girls directed by David Gordon Green. The film was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and Schneider was nominated for a Gotham Award for his performance.

His other film credits include George Washington, written and directed by David Gordon Green, Security Colorado, and The Rough South of Larry Brown. Paul directed his first feature film entitled Pretty Bird which starred Paul Giamatti and Billy Crudup and screened in competition in Sundance in 2008.

Mrs Brawne - Kerry Fox
Born in Wellington New Zealand Kerry came to prominence playing author Janet Frame in the movie An Angel at My Table directed by Jane Campion, which garnered her a Best Actress Award from the New Zealand Film and Television Awards.

Kerry has gone on to build a truly international career, working far and wide in quality independent films and on television. She received praise and a nomination at the Australian Film Institute Awards for her leading role in Country Life, starred in Danny Boyle's Shallow Grave, was nominated for the Canadian Academy Award (Genie Award) for her supporting role in The Hanging Garden and starred in Michael Winterbottom’s Welcome to Sarajevo.

In 2001 she won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for 'Best Actress' for her role as Claire in Intimacy (directed by Patrice Chereau). Bright Star is her second collaboration with Jane Campion (after An Angel at My Table) and also with producer Jan Chapman following her lead role in Gillian Armstrong’s film The Last Days of Chez Nous.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Writer and Director - Jane Campion
Born in Wellington, New Zealand into a theatrical family, Campion graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Victoria University of Wellington then pursued a Diploma of Fine Arts at Chelsea School of Arts in London, completing her studies at Sydney College of Arts where she majored in painting but made films.  Subsequently, Campion completed three short films at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in Sydney. 

Campion’s career owes much to Frenchman Pierre Rissient, a seasoned Cannes selector who discovered her three short films in the Australian Film Commission archives in 1986.  He invited them along with her television feature Two Friends, to a special programme in Cannes and Peel, her first short film won the Palme D’Or.

In 1989 her first feature “Sweetie,” was selected by Rissient, this time for main competition.  Rissient later connected Campion and Chapman to CIBY 2000 who fully financed her second feature The Piano (1993). This film also premiered at Cannes and won the Palme D’Or for best film and best actress.  The Piano won more than thirty awards including nine Oscar nominations and three Oscars.

Other films include:  An Angel At My Table, originally intended for television but screened as a feature in 1990 at the Venice Film Festival where it won seven prizes including The Silver Lion; A Portrait Of A Lady; Holy Smoke and In The Cut.