By: debbie lynn elias
Abbie Cornish is one of the brightest young stars in film today. Whether sweetly knocking us out as Sweet Pea in Sucker Punch, transporting us into the 19th century and breaking our hearts with the love story of John Keats and Fanny Brawne, getting psycho with six other psychopaths in Seven Psychopaths or pushing the limit with Bradley Cooper in Limitless, she is chameleonic and fascinating to watch. And while 2014 will bring us a rock em, sock ’em Cornish as Ellen Murphy in the much anticipated reimagination of Robocop, she’s currently making noise in David Riker’s THE GIRL. Unlike any role in which we have previously seen Cornish, Riker examines the issue of immigration through the eyes of Ashley. A single, 25 year old Texan mother who has lost her son to the welfare system, Ashley is filled with anger, self-loathing and hatred, seeing alcohol as her only friend and the rest of the world, including her father, as her enemy. Turning the tables on immigration by seeing it through the eyes of a young jaded American affected by the plight of one such group, and particularly a young girl whose mother dies in an effort to attain the “American Dream”, Riker delivers a film with minimal dialogue that rises and falls on the understated dramatic conviction of Cornish and newcomer, Maritza Santiago Hernandez.
I had a chance to speak with Abbie Cornish in this one-on-one interview in which Cornish opens up about the life well travelled, the challenge of multiple dialects and accents within the film, and how she went from dreams of being a veterinarian to being THE GIRL.
Abbie, this was, first and foremost, an absolute joy to see this film; such a different performance for you. It‘s very intense and compelling on so many levels.
Yea, for sure. Definitely. Thank you so much. That means so much to me.
This role is out of the realm of those characters we normally think of with you in mind. How did this role come to you?
Originally there was actually someone else cast in the role. But that didn’t end up happening and they changed. I don’t really know the details, but basically the role was open and I read the script and I really loved it. David Riker [director] was a big fan of mine and we met and he offered me the role. It was sort of one of those films where as an actor you’ll die to do that film, and it feels so right and you can’t imagine it being played by anyone else. For me, Bright Star was like that with Jane Campion. Candy was like that, the film I did with Heath Ledger. Somersault was like that. There was no doubt in my mind that those films were meant to be for me. Right place, right time, right point in my life. It was one of those gigs. And I gotta say, [THE GIRL] changed my life. The experience of making the film changed my life. It was much bigger than just the experience of being an actor and making a film.
How did it change you? This is a powerful role and the topic is so polarizing in many respects.
I think Mexico struck a chord with me. Mexico made its way into my heart and I also think the Mexican culture and Mexican people made their way into my heart. And I’ve travelled a lot. I started travelling when I was 17 and the places that affected me the most – I mean, I LOVE travelling anywhere in the world – but the places that affected me the most were places like Morocco and Brazil, so for me Mexico kind of resonated on a similar level with those places. I just think it struck a nerve, it struck a chord. I was completely absorbed in that character in that world and the experience of making the film; the cast, the crew, the relationships that I developed with everyone. It was a very spiritual experience. There’s not really any other word for it. It was a very very vibrant, spiritual, intense and lovely experience with so much joy.
What is it about Mexico that strikes that chord within you?
Mexico is two sides of the coin. Itfs the dark and the light. The richness of life, but also, the possible poverty of what it is to be human on this earth and the hardship and the joy that it brings, the joy of life and the smiles that life brings you. But also sometimes the hardships, too, if the reality of making a living in wherever youfre born and the life youfre born into. Itfs just beautiful to experience that.
I think that‘s something that is truly captured with the film. There is the vibrant color and the saturation during the night with the neon lights and the glow, and then the grittier, grimier, not-so-nice greys that daytime brings. But then there is the exuberant joy when Rosa is reunited with her grandmother. The palettes and the emotions are so different among all of it and it allows you to really see both sides of the coin just in this one film.
Yep. I agree. It’s all there. And you know what’s really beautiful, too? It’s like these ideas that are really big, big issues of this film – American culture, Mexican culture, the whole idea of the border, the idea of America being this idea of bounty and possibility and promise of life, and the idea that it’s crossed that border, and then turning that on its head and showing an American’s journey through Mexico and how that affects their life and how that changes their life. Also, history. The history of America, the history of South America; even for me coming from Australia, our country has a very similar history to america and deals with similar issues. So, dealing with it on this very specific intimate scale that youfve brought right down into the absolute heart of that, I love that. It’s almost like the film is an apex for all of those issues.
The character of Ashley is a very complex character with great rage, great denial. We see this wonderful metamorphosis – much of which we see tacitly see on your face – as the film progresses. Did you shoot this chronologically and how did you emotionally prepare yourself for the range of emotion and transformation that you would have to go through?
That’s a good question. To be honest, I think life prepared for me for that role. I don’t think I prepared myself. I think life prepared me and just [my] experiences and other people’s experiences, and just being open and listening. I kind of felt very open making that film and it’s a very vulnerable place to be in but to draw a parallel, I think it was the right time in my life to make that film. I felt compelled to tell that story because I think that story is within so many people. The journey from the dark to the light and the idea of hope. We aren’t all built – even those of us who seem more privileged or who seem to have more of these things that those who don’t have want – but we’re all dealt cards and unfortunately for Ashley, she felt like she was being dealt all the bad cards out of the hand. And she now has a lot of anger, a lot of resentment, a lot of hate, a lot of self-loathing. I knew that at the end of that story it was worth living in that character to know that at the end there was light. It’s very intense on screen, but a lot of the time I was having an amazing time on set – so happy, laughing; it was so beautiful. The people were amazing. It was just an incredible experience so it’s very much channeled onto the screen. To be honest, I think I just relinquished myself in that role and I really enjoyed that. It was nice to explore all those parts of myself. Sometimes it was hard and sometimes it was rough and sometimes I had to muster things up, but you have to let go a little bit. Sometimes before a scene you have to take yourself to a certain place. I really loved that crew because they supported everything that needed to be done to make that film a good film. It was really incredible. I actually didn’t ever really think about it, but I know there were times I had to go to a certain place that maybe was a little bit dark.
The two scenes that really sell me on the film are, first, after Rosa‘s mother is dead and Ashley goes to the girl‘s orphanage home, rather than have Ashley vocalize to Rosa what happened, David [Riker] just chooses to pull out on a wide shot almost as if showing respect, letting us just see the two of you; and, we know based solely on your body language what‘s happening. And the second instance, to just see Rosa run up to Ashley and just hug her. The two of you just make one’s heart stop. Your relationship with Maritza Santiago Hernandez, who plays Rosa, is like a flower, just waiting to see it bloom. But then there’s Will Patton who plays Ashley‘s father. You and Will are like fire and ice on screen together. Wonderful chemistry!
Wow! Oh thank you. That means a lot to me because those relationships were very important on screen and off screen. Will’s a great guy. I love him. And he’s so different. I remember the first day he was in Mexico. We both had actually never been to Mexico before. It’s kind of funny, come to think of it. I’d been there for awhile and he came down and we had dinner. There was a wonder in his eyes and a little spark that I recognized from myself from the first day I was in Mexico, which was really special. And just to hear him say, “Wow! I’ve never been down here! It’s a really interesting place! It just gets ya.” And it was so sweet. This was the perfect beginning, the perfect place to begin. And then Maritza’s just a darling, darling, darling little girl. She’s not an actor, not an actor at all. She didn’t act that movie. She just ”was” and that’s why she’s just so special. She was so brave, that girl, so brave. And so trusting. Her and I were like best friends. Our relatinship was just like best buddies but it was really sweet because sometimes if she didn’t know what was going on or if she freaked out, she would look at me and I knew exactly what she was telling me. David [Riker] would come up and say, “Her mother’s just died and she’s got to be really upset. She’s gotta cry.” David would just walk away and [Martiza] would look at me with these big wide eyes like, “How am I gonna do that? How am I going to do that?” Just with her eyes.
What was the most challenging part of doing this film?
I think the most challenging part was the dialect with the accents and the language. It was like an actor’s dream come true. It was an acting nerd’s dream, let’s put it that way. [laughing] It’s the sort of thing Sammy Rockwell would thrive on as an actor. He would love that! [laughing] It was like that for me. I was like, “Oh my gosh! I’m ready, I’m ready. This is a really tough assignment and I’m ready for it!” It was really fun. It was really good. But I’d never done anything like that. I knew that that had to be right. I knew that at the end of the day, it didn’t matter after getting everything else right, if I did not speak Spanish from my heart and soul, if I did not play a Texan woman who was 25 years old who had grown up in San Antonio, who had grown up in that culture, who had lost her son to the welfare system, who had learned Spanish on the street – I just knew if I did not get that right vocally, tonally, accent-wise, whatever else I did didn’t matter, then I would minus everything. It would have wiped the table. So you have to lay those foundations, and if they’re good and they’re strong, and all I have to do is do the other stuff really well, it’ll be okay. That was my primary focus, for sure. Because all of the other stuff, too – all of the story and the character’s journey – it’s so strong, that that just takes you. It’s like a tide. You don’t really have to think about that. You do your homework, of course, all of your emotional arcs and all of that sort of stuff and your research, and all of your building, and you fill it out. But at the end of the day that’s like gravity. So, that was the biggest challenge for sure.
At this stage of the game, let me ask you – With all the acting that you‘ve done, tv, movies, what do you find to be the greatest gift that acting has given you?
The exploration of life and this never-ending journey of learning about myself, learning about other people, learning about the world we live in and its history, its past, its present and its possible future. I just think that’s an absolute gift. That’s what we naturally do in life anyway. We’re naturally searching. It’s inevitable. I think even when our lives find a rhythm – we have our jobs, we have our homes, we have our families – it’s always evolving even in subtle ways. I just think that we’re just naturally, as humans, we search for ourselves on this planet and we search within other people for things as well. Acting is the essence of that and I love that about it.
And you wouldn‘t do anything else!
For sure. I love a lot of different things, but they’re mostly all creative. When I was a kid I wanted to be either a musician or a vet and I actually studied in school. My idea was to finish school and get the marks I needed to get to become a vet. I studied really hard. I skipped year 8. I went all the way through to year 12 and got the marks I needed to go to University to study veterinary science. And then I took a year off and I travelled. Then I came back and did an acting job. Then I did another acting job, and another acting job. And I thought, “Oh gosh! I don’t know if I want to do five years of studying.” I kind of loved this creative job I found myself in! I really loved what I was doing and I was making a living out of it. I thought, “Maybe this is my destiny.” I think the creative arts interest me. I love art, I love painting, I love photography. I’d love to direct a film one day. I also make music. It’s incredible.
You are such a renaissance woman!
Definitely!
Is there anything you can quickly tell me about Robocop that you’re allowed to tell me about Robocop?
Robocop’s been one of the best films I’ve worked on, if not THE best. The reason I say that is because it’s a very complete work. Joe Padilha is a genius. He’s such a lovely human being, so talented. All the actors are so incredible. The crew is top-notch. Oh my gosh! Seriously! I don’t if I’ve worked with a crew that top-notch. I think the film’s actually going to be a really really good film. I think it’s going to sort of transcend a little bit, maybe a blockbuster version of a Robocop remake. I think it might even go beyond that.
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