Catapulted to fame with a breakthrough performance in the
blockbuster “Sucker Punch,” Abbie Cornish now stars in The Weinstein Company's
elegant romantic drama “W.E.,” Madonna's vision of one of the most
greatest real love stories of all time. The will be shown exclusively at Ayala
Malls Cinemas (Glorietta 4, Greenbelt 3 and Trinoma) starting Sept. 12.
“W.E.”
starts in the year 1998, when Manhattan is abuzz with anticipation about the
upcoming auction of the estate of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. But the
auction is far more than a diversion for Wally Winthrop (Cornish), a New Yorker
trapped in an unhappy and abusive marriage. Transfixed by the exquisite
artifacts of the Windsors' lives, Wally becomes obsessed with the love story of
Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough), the chic, charismatic American who
captured the heart of King Edward VIII (James D'Arcy). As she learns more about
the sacrifices Wallis made in choosing to be with Edward, Wally finds the
courage to follow her own heart and create her own happiness.
The
auction became a key narrative device in “W.E.” as Wally, visiting the auction
in a bid to understand more about what she thinks is the greatest love story of
the 20th Century, “meets” Wallis and learns about the realities of her life.
Through various objects – some everyday (a martini shaker, linen tablecloths),
some precious (a Cartier bracelet) – Wallis’s life unfolds before Wally’s eyes.
Each item tells a story, and it is through Wally’s handling of each item that
we are able to go back and forth in time and learn about Wallis.
Madonna
says, “Wally starts off her journey, longing for a loving relationship, because
she is deeply unhappy. It was important for me to create a character who was
trapped in a relationship that was not rooted in love and to have her pining
for the idea of romantic love.”
The
casting of Wally required an actress with the sensitivity to convey a myriad of
different emotions alongside Wally’s vulnerability. Says Madonna, “Wally
doesn’t really have a voice; she lives vicariously through objects and through
the Duchess. There is a quietness about her and that is why I wanted to cast
Abbie. She has a strength about her as an actress when she doesn’t say
anything. There is a weight and a sadness in that silence.”
Wally’s
obsession leads her to question her own unhappy marriage with William Winthrop
(Richard Coyle) and allows her to open her heart to a new romance with Evgeni
(Oscar Isaac). Madonna comments, “The relationship between Evgeni and Wally is
about to begin at the end of the film. We don’t know what compromises they will
make, but one thing Wally knows as a result of her journey is that there is no
such thing as perfect love, and we all have to make compromises to make a
relationship work.”
Cornish
explains her passion for the role: “I felt a strong connection to Wally and to
her journey. I thought the parallel connection story with Wallis, mixing
fiction with non-fiction was really interesting. The subject matter excited me.
When I read the script, Wally bounced off the page and got under my skin. She
was so full. And then there was the creative team. The idea of making a film
with Madonna was exciting. I was interested to see what she would do with this
film and what it would be like to collaborate with her”.
When
Cornish was preparing for her role, Madonna carefully ensured she had the right
research material to study. “Madonna and I had a lot of exchanges particularly
on email, about who Wally was, what the film is about, what it means to make it
and how to access her. She provided a lot of research material and sent me a
whole bunch of books on Wallis, her autobiography, and as my character is into
art, she sent me books on Lee Miller, Tamara de Lempicka, Frida Kahlo and just
inundated me with all this information and said, ‘Here’s Wally, she’s in here,
read this.’" Madonna also forwarded Cornish the following passage from F.
Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night:
“She
had somehow given over the thinking to him and in his absences her every action
seemed automatically governed by what he would like. So that now she felt
inadequate to match her intentions against his. Yet think she must, she knew at
last the number of the dreadful door of fantasy. The threshold to the escape
that was no escape. She knew that the greatest sin now and for the future was
to delude herself. It had been a long lesson but she had learnt it. Either you
think, or else others have to think for you, and take the power from you.
Pervert and discipline your natural tastes. Civilize and sterilize you.”
Fitzgerald’s
description gave Cornish further insight into Wally’s inner life, Cornish
affirms. “It summed up Wally’s journey, and in particular, what she’s going
through in her marriage.”
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