Abbie Cornish

Abbie Cornish
Cornish at the Toronto International Film Festival, 2012
Born	(1982-08-07) 7 August 1982 (age 34) Lochinvar, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation	Actress, rapper
Years active	1997–present
Relatives	Isabelle Cornish (Sister)

Abbie Cornish (born 7 August 1982), also known by her rap name Dusk, is an Australian actress and rapper known for her film and television roles, particularly her award-winning lead performance in 2004's Somersault, and internationally for her role as Fanny Brawne in Bright Star and her appearance as Sweet Pea in Sucker Punch.

Cornish was born in Lochinvar, New South Wales, as the second of five children of Shelley and Barry Cornish. Her sister, Isabelle Cornish, is also an actress. She grew up on a 70-hectare (170-acre) farm before moving to Melbourne, Victoria. Fascinated by independent and foreign films, Cornish skipped Year 8 in high school.

Having grown up with animals, she became a vegetarian at the age of 13. In 2006 she became an ambassador for Australian animal rights group Voiceless, The Animal Protection Institute and has since been an outspoken advocate for animal protection, taking interviews and supporting Voiceless through her attendance at various events. When Voiceless launched a national advertising campaign in 2012, she offered a heartfelt introduction to one of their commercials.

Her career began at the age of 13, when she began taking jobs as a model after reaching the finals of a Dolly Magazine competition. 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 offered her first role in a feature film, The Monkey's Mask.

In 2004, Cornish appeared in the award-winning short film Everything Goes with Hugo Weaving. She received the 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 International Film Festival for her role in Somersault. Cornish received critical acclaim for her role in Candy, opposite Heath Ledger. She has also starred in A Good Year, Elizabeth: The Golden Age and Kimberly Peirce's Stop-Loss. In April 2010, Cornish was cast in Limitless, the film adaptation of the novel The Dark Fields, directed by Neil Burger and also starring Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro.