Cast
Abbie Cornish – Heidi
Abbie Cornish’s first feature film role was in Samantha Lang’s Monkey’s Mask, which she followed with roles in Horseplay and most recently One Perfect Day.
Her performances as Simone Summers in the ABC Television hard-hitting series “Wildside” earned Abbie an Australian Film Institute Award in 1999. Other television credits include the lead as Penne in series one of “Life Support” for SBS TV and the role of Tracey in the ABC mini-series “Marking Time” in 2003.
Abbie has also appeared with Hugo Weaving in the short film Everything Goes. Her acting career began at age 15 when she had a guest role in the ABC's “Children’s Hospital”. SOMERSAULT is Abbie’s first lead role in a feature film.
Sam Worthington – Joe
Sam Worthington is one of Australia's most exciting young actors. A graduate from Australia's National Drama Institute in 1998 (NIDA), Sam made his feature film debut in the acclaimed Australian film Bootmen (1999), a performance which earned him an Australian Film Institute award nomination.
Sam has worked with some of Australia's most successful actors and directors including Bryan Brown, Toni Collette and Sam Neill in the David Caesar directed black comedy Dirty Deeds (2001), with David Wenham and Timothy Spall in the AFI award winning box office hit Gettin’ Square (2002).
Other film credits include the American feature Hart’s War (2000) with Bruce Willis and the Australian feature New Skin (2000). His stage credits include Belvoir’s Company B critically praised tour of The Judas Kiss (1999).
Sam's upcoming film projects include Thunderstruck which is due for release mid 2004 as well the epic U.S. production The Great Raid which was filmed in Australia and also stars Benjamin Bratt and Joseph Fiennes. An all round talent, Sam has recently directed a comic short film Enzo which was selected as a finalist in Tropfest 2004.
Lynette Curran – Irene
Lynette Curran is an experienced theatre, film and television actress with over 100 credits to her name. Her theatre credits include The Real Thing, The Seagull, Vagina Monologues and All My Sons. Her television credits include Australian dramas White Collar Blue, Always Greener and Pizza.
During her impressive film career Lynette has worked with directors such as Gillian Armstrong in Oscar and Lucinda, Rowan Woods in The Boys, John Curran in Praise and Sue Brooks in the highly acclaimed Japanese Story. Lynette won the Beyond Film Best Performance by a Lead Actress award for her work in The Boys.
Erik Thomson – Richard
Erik Thomson studied performing arts at the New Zealand Drama School in Wellington as well as English Literature and Drama at Victoria University in Wellington. An accomplished theatre and small screen actor, Erik has performed in such stage titles Complete Works of Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Twelve Angry Men, and Angels in America.
His Australian television credits include Pacific Drive, Wildside and All Saints. For his work on All Saints Erik won the Silver Logie award for Most Popular Actor in 2003. SOMERSAULT is Erik's first feature film.
Hollie Andrew – Bianca
Hollie graduated from Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts (Musical Theatre) after completing an Honours Degree in Drama at Flinders University in 1999.
Hollie’s short film roles include Highway Toll, Love & Contempt, E-Love and Lessons In Love. She has appeared in the television programs CNNNN Live, Life Support and Home & Away.
Her theatre credits are Hair, Jumpin’ the Q, The 5th at Randwick, Into the Woods, Pajama Game, The Good Fight, Berlin To Broadway, Bye Bye Birdie, The Comedy of Errors, A Chorus Line, and Little Shop of Horrors. SOMERSAULT is Hollie’s first feature role.
Crew
Cate Shortland – Writer / Director
Cate Shortland studied Fine Arts at Sydney University. Cate has a Graduate Diploma in directing from the Australian Film Television and Radio School (2000) where she received the Southern Star Award for most promising student.
She has written and directed 4 award winning short films: Strap on Olympia (1995), Pentuphouse (1998), Flowergirl (1999) and Joy (2000) - all of them in collaboration with producer Anthony Anderson. The films have been received with acclaim at festivals around the world including Oberhausen, Tampere, Clermont-Ferrand, Berlin and London.
Between 2001 and 2003 Cate directed episodes of “The Secret Life of Us” for Southern Star/Channel 4. SOMERSAULT (2004) is Cate's feature film debut. She has been developing the screenplay with Red Carpet Productions since 1996.
Anthony Anderson – Producer
Anthony Anderson studied at the University of Sydney and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1983 and a Bachelor of Law in 1987. He established a career as a film lawyer in private practice and subsequently worked in-house in business affairs at Columbia Tri-Star and Shanahan Management.
Anthony established Red Carpet Productions in 1996 to develop independent Australian films. He produced the short dramas Pentuphouse (1998) and Flowergirl (1999) with Cate Shortland, and executive produced Joy (2000). He was also associate producer on Strap On Olympia (1995) and The Visitor (2001). Red Carpet Productions has several feature film projects at various stages of development. SOMERSAULT (2004) is it's first feature film.
Jan Chapman – Executive Producer
After completing a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts and English Literature at Sydney University, Australia, multi award winning producer Jan Chapman began her film career as a director of short films. She then honed both her producer and director skills at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, where she worked from 1982 to 1989. While at the ABC, Jan met and worked with Jane Campion on Two Friends, the first of a long list of successful collaborations between the two. In 1989 Jan set up her own production company, Jan Chapman Films, and produced her first feature film The Last Days of Chez Nous, directed by Gillian Armstrong.
In 1992, Jan reunited with director Jane Campion on the internationally acclaimed film The Piano, which was co-recipient of the Palme d'Or prize at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival as well as winner of scores of other international awards. That year Jan also won the Producers Guild of America's Nova Award for the most promising theatrical motion picture producer.
Jan then went on to produce several films in the 1990s including Love Serenade (1996), which won the Camera d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival that year. Holy Smoke (1999) followed and premiered internationally at the Venice Film Festival.
Jan's latest feature film is the striking Lantana (2001), directed by Ray Lawrence. Another successful Jan Chapman Films production, Lantana garnered an unprecedented seven Australian Film Institute awards as well as a British Independent Film award and the Prix de la Jury and Prix de la Critique prizes at the 2002 Cognac Film Festival. SOMERSAULT (2004) marks Jan's first role as Executive Producer.
Robert Humphreys – Director of Photography
Robert Humphreys has shot over 40 films for television and cinema release. He has photographed many influential short films including the multi-award winning Flowergirl and Joy for Cate Shortland, Confessions of a Headhunter for Sally Riley, Unit 52 for Tony Krawitz and Delivery Day for Jane Manning. He shot his first feature film Mullet in 2000, which was nominated for 5 Australian Film Institute awards, and he was awarded a Gold Award for cinematography at the 2001 ACS (New South Wales + Australian Capital Territory) Awards for Cinematography.
In 2001 Robert shot the feature film Walking on Water, staring Vince Collosimo, which won the Teddy Award and The Readers Prize of the Siegessaule at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2002. He reunited with Cate to shoot the feature SOMERSAULT in 2003.
Scott Gray – Editor
Scott Gray studied theatrical lighting design at the Queensland University of Technology and graduated with a Diploma of Arts in 1987. He then moved to Sydney and established a career in the film industry working in camera and art departments. He was a production runner on Until the End of the World (1990), after which he joined Sydney-based post-production house Guillotine as assistant editor to Alexandre de Franceschi.
During his time at Guillotine he edited several short films including three Dendy Awards winning films, The Existentialist Cowboy's Last Stand, directed by Adam Blaikelocke, and Pentuphouse and Flowergirl both directed by Cate Shortland. In 1996 he won an MTV Award for best editing for the music video to Alanis Morrissette's song Ironic. Scott has lived in the United States since 1999. SOMERSAULT is his first feature film.
