Abbie Cornish (born 7 August 1982) is an AFI Award-winning Australian actress. She is well known in Australia for a number of film and television roles, including Penne in the comedy/lifestyle parody Life Support, and her award-winning lead performance in 2004's Somersault.

Biography

Cornish was born in Lochinvar, New South Wales, Australia, as the second of five children. Her father runs a paper recycling business and her mother is an amateur photographer. Her career began at the age of thirteen, when she began taking jobs as a model after reaching the finals of a Dolly Magazine competition.By the time she was sixteen, Cornish was juggling television acting roles with studying for her HSC, with the intention of pursuing a career as a veterinarian. In 1999, Cornish was awarded the Australian Film Institute Young Actor's Award for her role in the ABC's television show Wildside and was soon offered her first role in a feature film, The Monkey's Mask. At seventeen, Cornish traveled through the United States and Western Europe for six months, before returning to a blossoming acting career. She received the 2004 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actress at the FCCA and IF Awards and Best Breakthrough Performance at the 2005 Miami Film Festival for her role in 2004's Somersault, the film which raised her to prominence. Cornish received widespread critical acclaim for her role in 2006's Candy and starred in A Good Year, The Golden Age and Kimberly Peirce's latest movie, Stop-Loss. The media have reported that she is currently dating fellow actor Ryan Phillippe, a relationship that some media sources allege began on the set of the movie Stop-Loss while Phillippe was still married to actress Reese Witherspoon.