Cornish, 25, made waves with a feature debut in the Oz indie hit Somersault (2004), where she played a sexually precocious teen runaway. She has since played opposite Heath Ledger in the drug addict film Candy (2006) and held her own against Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007).
Cornish has also been making a splash in the tabloids. She was rumoured to be the third party who ended Ryan Phillippe's marriage to Reese Witherspoon in 2006. Onscreen, there is no denying the actress glows and glides.
In her own words: 'Whenever I am acting, it's everything. Between action and cut, I live in this suspended time. It's really an amazing experience.'
Must see: Somersault (2004), Candy (2006) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
Look out for: Stop-Loss, the Iraq War drama by Kimberley Peirce (Boys Don't Cry, 1999) with Ryan Phillippe; the Viking epic Last Battle Dreamer, also with Phillippe; and Bright Star, Jane Campion's period romance between 19th-century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne.
Say it isn't so: A self-proclaimed tomboy, Cornish was only 12 years old when she learnt how to drive.
