Abbie Cornish has made her mark in edgy, unconventional films such Candy and Stop-Loss, but the 27-year-old Aussie is finding 2009 is turning into her biggest year yet. She’s already drawing raves for her work in Jane Campion’s “Bright Star” (more on that later), but she’s currently spending her days playing Sweatpea in Zack Snyder’s highly anticipated new epic “Sucker Punch.”

Cornish jumped on the phone earlier today to discuss Bright Star, but it was her enthusiasm for Punch which was most apparent. Shooting began in Vancouver last month and Cornish says Snyder’s latest is “seriously, six films in one almost.”

Well, she better get used to media days. Lots of media days. It’s almost mandatory now that journalists describe the Australian actress’s turn in Jane Campion’s acclaimed Fanny Brawne/John Keats biopic as having “Oscar buzz.” Whether that pans out or not is irrelevant – the buzz is more important than the bald guy. Oscars come and go, but you can’t buy buzz. Furthermore, her work actually warrants all the statue chat.

As the maligned and socially imprisoned Brawne, Cornish gives one of those ferocious performances that audiences love to cheer. Her Brawne is a strong, witty and determined proto-feminist, a steel buttercup who only looks like a delicate confection made from milk, butter, and spider-web icing.

Even when called to show quiet strength, Abbie Cornish brought characteristic gusto to the role of a poet’s muse in Jane Campion’s new film

Ask a question of Abbie Cornish and before she answers, she puts her head in her hands and practically stares through the table.

All those pauses – not to mention Cornish’s sharp features and long, blonde hair – can remind you of Nicole Kidman, who also doesn’t serve up easy answers to an interviewer. They’re both Australian, but at 27, Cornish is more than a decade younger. They both have been tabloid magnets – Kidman for all the reasons you know, Cornish as the gossiped-about girlfriend of Ryan Phillippe, ex-husband of Reese Witherspoon.

The Australian’s turn as the romantic poet’s love Fanny Brawne shows a strength and maturity despite her youth in Jane Campion’s film.

The 19th century gentlewoman Fanny Brawne might have been lost to history were it not for her love affair with the great romantic poet John Keats. Most certainly, Brawne would have been lost to the Twitterati generation were it not for 27-year-old Abbie Cornish’s interpretation of her in Jane Campion’s Bright Star, which chronicles her attachment to Keats, who died of tuberculosis at 25. The film opens Friday.

The 19th-century gentlewoman Fanny Brawne might have been lost to history were it not for her love affair with the great romantic poet John Keats.

Most certainly, Brawne would have been lost to the Twitterati generation were it not for 27-year-old Abbie Cornish, who portrays Brawne in Jane Campion’s Bright Star, which opens Friday. It chronicles Brawne’s attachment to Keats, who died of tuberculosis at 25.

“They seemed like two peas in a pod,” Cornish said of the couple. “The sense of humor, the sensitivity that was in her was also in him. That was a very rare thing to run into a man like that for her. She grew up in the country. She was just very enthralled by his zest and enthusiasm, and his appreciation of beauty and the smaller things.”