Bond girl rumour #1 - Australian actress Abbie Cornish linked to Bond 22

12-Mar-2007 • Quantum Of Solace

The 22nd James Bond film will not start shooting until January 2008, but the media has already started to pump out casting rumours for Daniel Craig's second outing as 007.

Australian magazine New Idea has published the first Bond Girl rumour, linking actress Abbie Cornish to the lead female role.

MEDIA RUMOUR
An essential requirement for the role of Bond girl is that the actressshould be sexy, intriguing and altogether tempting to any man - including, of course, James Bond.

So when producers of the 22nd Bond blockbuster were searching for a new beauty to join Daniel Craig in the next espionage epic it was no surprise that Abbie Cornish came to their attention.

Standout performances in the Aussie films Somersault and Candy - in which she starred opposite Heath Ledger - proved she could act and work well with handsome leading men, but it was the headlines she has made in her personal life that preoved she has the sex appeal to tempt even 007 himself!

Her name was largely unknown outside of Australia until she was implicated in the break-up of hollywood 'Golden Couple' Ryan Phillipe and Reese Witherspoon. Abbie was quickly cast as the scarlet woman who had tempted Ryan, her Stop Loss co-star, away from his wife and children.

Although Abbie has denied her relationship with Ryan is anything more than a close friendship, one insider at film studio MGM, which produces Bond movies, admitted that the scandal had pushed her to the top of a shortlist of contenders to star alongside Daniel.

"Casting a Bond Girl is one of the most difficult jobs in Hollywood", the source tells new idea. "They have to be effortlessly sexy, classically beautiful and yet at the same time we try to avoid established stars.

"Abbie is perfect because she is not familiar to film audiences, but at the same time people have become intrigued by her. She may not have enjoyed being caught up in a scandal at the time but it certainly helped her profile" the source said.

24-year-old Abbie is expected to fly out to Singapore soon to meet with the producers of the movie, including Barbara Broccoli, the daughter of legendary Bond producer Cubby Broccoli, as well as executives from MGM and some of the principal cast members including, of course, Daniel.

When - as is widely expected - she signs on the dotted line, Abbie will have completed a remarkable transformation from small-town girl who grew up on her parents' farm in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, to genuine Hollywood superstar.

Thanks to `alec_006` for the alert.