Two actresses, one sweet, one scary. You figure it out

If you’re the writer/director of a movie about the parallel lives of a sweet character and an imperious one, why not keep it simple and hire a sweet actress and an imperious one?

Based on back-to-back interviews in Toronto with her two rising stars, that’s what Madonna did for W.E., her new drama about Wally, an unhappy wife (Abbie Cornish) who becomes entranced by the story of Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough). And if reviewers haven’t liked the film much (it opened in select cities yesterday), her casting is beyond reproach.

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Cornish, 29, is the sweet one. She bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Nicole Kidman, a fellow Australian, but she’s dreamier, more fleshly and sensual. She speaks languidly, in a warm, throaty voice, and when she laughs it builds slowly, eventually taking both me and the other journalist in our joint interview. Cornish has worked steadily, floating seamlessly from modelling to Australian TV to films (Candy, Bright Star, Limitless) and she has at least one movie-star ex, her Stop-Loss co-star Ryan Phillippe. Her attitude, though, is one of gentle wonder. When she says, “Growing up in a valley on a 170-acre farm, I used to dream, kind of stare up at the sky and wonder what’s out there,” it’s easy to picture.

Riseborough, 30, is the imperious one. Excellent as Mrs. Simpson, she pretty much terrorizes her interlocutors. Petite and pale, she has the dark hair and red lips of Snow White, coupled with the thrilling frostiness of an evil queen. Her intelligence is evident, her diction absolute. Raised near Newcastle, England, she trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the National Youth Theatre. She played Margaret Thatcher in a TV movie, had succulent parts in Made in Dagenham and Never Let Me Go, and held her own opposite Helen Mirren in Brighton Rock. Lately, she’s been making the awards-show rounds at Madonna’s side. (I don’t know why Cornish isn’t with them. I hope Riseborough didn’t eat her.)

Unfortunately, our first two questions fail to impress her, and the conversation turns tense and icy, never to recover. I still haven’t recovered.

So I’m going to print some questions and responses, and let you take a wild guess who’s talking. (There’s an answer key at the end.)

1. What was Madonna like as a director? “She always said, ‘I’m here if you need anything from me,’ but she gave us a sense of freedom in regards to embodying the characters. When it came to shooting, she’s a very visual, detailed director. She loves blocking things out. She was specific with the way she wanted everything – the furniture in the room, how I should walk from here to there, and then look over there. Before I walked on-set, she would choose my shoes and jewellery. It was her little ritual.”

2. Based on Madonna’s reputation, did she surprise you in any way? “I don’t know what most people would think. I can’t answer the question.”

3. Did you do a lot of research? “No, I just winged it. Yes, of course. There is no sound bite not listened to, no visual clip or still not looked at, and it was the same for Madonna. Those things are an historical truth, and they serve you. But when you create a character, you have to trust they’re in your DNA, unzip the suit that you’ve acquired and leave yourself raw to the possibility of anything that might happen.”

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Two actresses, one sweet, one scary. You figure it out