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The cast
Bright Star's two leads, Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw, also helped clear out any stuffiness that might be expected with a story starting in 1818. "Period films can feel stuffy and you need actors to feel real," says Campion. "Abbie can make things feel so immediate. And Ben's also very real."Chapman agrees the casting has also been crucial. "We wanted to have the freedom to cast the actors of our choice and we happened to choose leads from each country. Abbie and Ben are quite exceptional. They completely surpassed our wildest dreams in bringing the two characters to life."
"I remember first meeting Ben Whishaw outside the audition room. I looked at this young man, this creature, beautiful like a cat, not real almost. When he spoke, he sounded like Keats, not posh, slightly London or northern. In the audition he was completely brave, open emotionally, febrile yet strong and very sensual and intimate with the actress reading for Fanny. Later in rehearsal I found his presence addictive. Ben is not chatty but deeply honest and trusting. When Ben and Abbie finally first met before rehearsals, I remember Abbie saying something like, "G'day mate."As underplayed as those first words were, it was a special match. I watched the appreciation, intrigue and respect between them grow daily," continues Campion.
"We were very lucky with Ben as Keats," adds Chapman. "He somehow encapsulates the innocence of a young man but with a great deal of wisdom. Keats was very determined to express whatever his art was - which was poetry in this case - it could have been as a musician these days. Although, Keats trained to be a doctor, he was determined to be a poet."
Ben Whishaw was 'ecstatic' to be cast in the central role. "I found the script really moving and I was in tears by the end of it. That's what I always look for, an emotional response to something. I didn't know anything about him [Keats], but something in it hit me. When I went for the audition I had a possessive feeling about it, this is mine, I understand this person."
For Whishaw the role also brought a sense of responsibility. "The more I read about him, the more I realised there was centuries devoted to literature about this man and so many people had their own notion of who he was. You want to be able to honour that in some way and realise this man in a way that is true for them, but you also have to be true to your own vision and Jane's vision of him, which is probably the most important thing. Jane sees him as somebody with a larger capacity than most of us to be open to the divine: a kind of angel. I think he was very complicated and probably a genius."
Campion found herself using her daughter as inspiration for the character of Fanny. "Writing Fanny was difficult as I don't think of myself as witty. My daughter Alice who is 13, however, is very passionate and quick speaking, so whenever I got to a point when I thought 'what would Fanny do about this?', I thought what would Alice do about it, and that really helped me out. She was a kind of muse for me. Then along came Abbie. She's a singular minded person and would definitely have the courage to do what Fanny did; to go against what society thought was suitable and to pick a partner who was almost inevitably going to cause her extraordinary pain. Abbie can make anything sound present and real. I don't know how she does it. She's got this knack of turning words on a page into something that's real in the world. I was never sure how she was going to go with any particular thing, but she certainly had Fanny under her skin. I was not only surprised and moved by the depth of her performance, but also by how funny and light, even silly she can be." Chapman worked as executive producer on Cornish's breakout film Somersault in 2004, and believed the Australian actress could master an English accent. "I was excited by the idea of Abbie being cast as Fanny," says Chapman. "She's completely direct and real, but there's a kind of looseness, freedom and vivacity to her which suits the character. Abbie has an incredibly direct gaze but she can also express youthful, uncontrolled feelings really well. Fanny goes from being a light-hearted girl, whom Keats describes as a minx, to someone with great gravitas."
Cornish was attracted to the project by the strength of the script and the characters. "I fell in love with the script as soon as I read it. It bounced off the page into my imagination and just came to life. She's such a gorgeous character. She's just starting to discover love and find herself through love. Keats opens her to life and I thought that was really beautiful. It's such a beautiful love story."She adds, "I was also very interested by the journey Fanny goes on in these two years: falling in love, getting engaged and having the person she loves die. When you've played a character that's actually existed there is a huge responsibility to play it as honestly and as truthfully as possible. You research their life and then you try to transport that through your acting, but you also have to trust your instinct and what feels right and I think it's incredibly important to follow that."
Kerry Fox, who starred in Campion's An Angel at my Table joined the cast as Fanny's mother Mrs Brawne. "This character was very important to me. Having a daughter myself I was very aware of the part played by Mrs Brawne in the story. Her relationship with Fanny was so complicated. She was Fanny's comforter but also responsible for her future, that clearly could not include a penniless poet. Mrs Brawnes' sympathy for the lovers and good sense were at war with each other until she finally relented, moved by the love she witnessed between them. Kerry's natural compassion and the innocence she conveyed was crucial to the role and also an important other tone in the film." Campion said.
American actor Paul Schneider was cast as Keats's friend Mr Brown. "I saw Paul in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, he's an incredible actor. He's very bold and experimental and is always looking for a way to ground things and make them real. As Brown he brings a real contrast to Fanny and Keats who are a lot more sensitive and delicate."
Two young actors, Thomas Brodie Sangster and Edie Martin were cast as Fanny's younger brother and sister, Samuel and Margaret. "The film is an intimate drama, it's power is in the subtlety and nuances of what goes on in a household," says Chapman. "Fanny is very committed to her family but the younger brother and sister provide yet another difficulty for Fanny and Keats as they are always there watching. It wasn't easy for them to be on their own. We were very impressed with Thomas, he's a gifted young actor and quite experienced. Edie hadn't acted at all. Nina Gold, our casting agent, knew Edie and put her on tape along with over a hundred girls. Later Edie was chosen from a day-long workshop with thirty contenders. Jane has an uncanny ability to make children comfortable and to encourage them to be natural and truthful."
Champion's production team
Campion chose for her DOP, 32-year-old Greig Fraser, with whom she'd previously worked on The Water Diary, a short film made for the UN. Greig came to Jane's attention when she saw his work on an award winning short Cracker Bag. "I was very impressed with the tone and tenderness of his lighting and camera work and then working with Greig was a revelation; he was as tireless as me, maybe more tireless in pursuing the best locations and serving the film as well as possible."
Her composer is 25-year-old Mark Bradshaw. "We're making this film about a genius who died at 25, so you've got to take a risk with young people," Campion says. "Mark Bradshaw is really young, but he composed some music for my 50th birthday and it was great, a mixture of very original sounds. He worked on my short film, The Water Diary and he totally understood what I wanted. As Keats wrote his greatest poetry at 23, it seemed to be a film that was asking me to believe in young people and I think he's done a fantastic job."Filming took place during April and May in 2008 entirely on location in Bedfordshire, England except for one day's shooting in Rome. The Hyde House estate near Luton was used as the main location, the two houses on the property were able to stand in for the Hampstead homes: Wentworth House, the house Brown shared with the Brawnes and Elm Cottage, where the Brawnes first lived. "It's been amazing to shoot in one location, for nearly all of the nine weeks. This estate has two houses on it, as we needed for the story, plus incredible natural gardens that could partially simulate the heath," Chapman says. "It was quite a miraculous find."
Campion adds, "We did a lot of research, but there's not a lot of 1820's left even in England. Fortunately the story only revolves around a couple of houses and the fantastic heath land all around them. Hyde House was the first location we looked at. We went upstairs on the recce and there was an old photograph of the family walking out of the local pub, and in the background I could see the pub was called Bright Star. I thought this is literally a sign. The great thing about shooting in one location is that you can see it changing through the seasons and you can anticipate things like the bluebell walk, and the leaves coming on the trees and the field of daffodils which gives it a real charm. I hope some of it's in the film!"
The production and costume designer Janet Patterson has worked on numerous films with Campion. "We've known each other all our working lives," says Campion. "I love her take on things and the way she sees a world. I wanted the gentleness and sensitivity of the story just to be. The thing I loved about the Regency period was the furniture and how bare things were. There was a natural simplicity. Keats's own house was so bare I can't believe anybody used to live there." Campion also didn't want the camera work to be distracting with clever angles or strange shots. She wanted a classical approach. "I watched some Bresson films and admired how beautifully simple they were and how they allowed the viewer to make their own mind up about what they're seeing. I felt with a story as touching and moving as ours, it was important not to have the audience feel manipulated."
"There's a lot of intimacy in the story, but in a restrained way," adds Chapman. "You imagine Fanny being able to hear Keats next door, through her bedroom wall. The intimacy is echoed in the cinematography and design, but that doesn't mean you get a lack of visual sensuality. Jane and Greig decided early on to have simple frames and not to move the camera a lot and Janet has echoed that in her design." Keats's poetry is, of course, included, but Campion made sure it was in an accessible way. "I was determined to get as much of his poetry in as we could" she says. "A lot of people feel alienated from poetry because they feel they don't understand it. But Keats is a great explainer of poetry and I wanted to use that in the story. Poetry is a drug really, it goes into your head and it sticks."
Director of Photography - Greig Fraser
Following a remarkable career as a stills photographer, Greig began working as a cinematographer with the highly acclaimed production company Exit Films. During his time there, Greig was responsible for defining the unique visual look behind many of Exit Films' award winning productions.
Moving into a freelance role during February 2002, Greig quickly took the opportunity to shoot as many diverse projects as he could. Using his strong stills background, and his broad narrative experiences, he shot Glendyn Ivin's highly acclaimed short film, Crackerbag, which won many awards including the Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. The film earned Greig a nomination for Best Cinematography at the 2003 AFI Awards.
Further work for short films include Nash Edgerton's Fuel and Lucky, Adrian Bosich's Marco Solo, Rhys Graham's Love This Time and for the following short features, Stuart McDonald's Stranded and Tony Krawitz's Jewboy. Greig's distinctive cinematography has established him as one of the most exciting cinematographers working today.
In 2005 Greig shot the feature film Caterpillar Wish for writer/director Sandra Sciberras; the short film Learning to Fly for director Jack Hutchings and The Water Diary for director Jane Campion as part of a United Nations project.In 2006 Greig shot the feature film Out of the Blue for director Robert Sarkies and producers Tim White and Steven O'Meagher, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival; and the short film Crossbow, for writer/director David Michôd. Following this, Greig shot The Lady Bug, a short film directed by Jane Campion for the 60th Cannes Film Festival anniversary, as part of a cinema collective directed by previous Palme d'Or winners. Other recent credits include the short film Netherland Dwarf for director David Michôd; Spider for director/actor Joel Edgerton and 2nd Unit Director of Photography for Baz Luhrmann's feature film Australia.
In 2008 Greig collaborated again with Jane Campion, shooting her highly anticipated feature film Bright Star in London. Following on from this, Greig shot Glendyn Ivin's first feature film, Last Ride and collaborated with Scott Hicks, shooting his feature The Boys are Back, starring Clive Owen,
Production and Costume Designer - Janet Patterson
Janet has been working with director Jane Campion for over 20 years on films that include Two Friends, The Piano, Portrait of a Lady, Holy Smoke and now Bright Star. She has also worked with Gillian Armstrong on Oscar and Lucinda (Costume Designer) and The Last Days of Chez Nous (Production and Costume Designer).
Janet is a three time Academy Award® nominee for The Piano (Costume design), Portrait of a Lady (Costume Design) and Oscar and Lucinda (Costume Design). She won a BAFTA and the Australian Film Institute Award for her Costume Design on The Piano.
Editor - Alexandre de Franceschi A.S.E.
Spanish-born Alexandre de Franceschi is a French/Italian editor who has been living and working in Australia since 1986. He is notorious for his patience, speed of work and love of literature. Bright Star is his second film with Jane Campion. Their work on In the Cut cemented a solid relationship of mutual respect which has translated in the delicate editing of Bright Star. Other credits include Australian cult-film Praise, Little Fish, The Painted Veil and the soon to be released Disgrace based on the Booker prize-winning South African novel.
Composer - Mark Bradshaw
Mark Bradshaw previously collaborated with Jane Campion as composer and musician on her two short films The Lady Bug and The Water Diary. He has composed music for several other short films the recently was The Mirage, which he also produced. Mark has written for a wide variety of ensembles, including a cappella chorus, string quartet and string orchestra. He has quickly developed an original voice as a composer and performer through extensive touring with his string/electronic/voice ensemble, Mark Bradshaw and The Like. He graduated at the College of Fine Arts in Sydney and completed postgraduate study at the University of Sydney.
Casting Director - Nina Gold
Nina Gold is one of London's leading independent Casting Directors. Upon graduating from Cambridge University where she first became involved in theatre, she began teaching drama in Paris. Nina is bi-lingual French and English. She is best known for her 12 years' collaboration with Mike Leigh, including Topsy-Turvy, All or Nothing, Vera Drake and, most recently, Happy-Go-Lucky.Nina's recent feature film credits include Hot Fuzz directed by Edgar Wright, Eastern Promises directed by David Cronenberg, The Edge of Love directed by John Maybury, Mr Bean's Vacation directed by Steve Bendelack, The Illusionist directed by Neil Burger, Starter for 10 directed by Tom Vaughan, The Other Man directed by Richard Eyre, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers directed by Stephen Hopkins and Beowulf and A Christmas Carol both directed by Robert Zemeckis. She just completed work on a film about John Lennon called Nowhere Boy directed by the leading British artist Sam Taylor Wood and is about to start work on the third Narnia film for Disney and Walden Media, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Television credits include two series of the highly successful Rome for HBO, The Red Riding Trilogy (1974, 1979 and 1983) for Channel 4/Revolution Films, Longford for Channel 4/HBO directed by Tom Hooper and The Devils's Whore for Company Pictures/HBO directed by Marc Munden. Last year, Nina won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries for her work on HBO's John Adams.
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