
FINALLY!!
Role switch not so alien
She has been described as having an alien look, but can Gemma Ward pull off the angel of mercy look? The world's number two runway/editorial model may have to ditch the next European show season if funding comes through for The Black Balloon, the debut feature of the filmmaker Elissa Down. Ward is to co-star as Jackie, a teenager who helps her boyfriend accept his brother's autism. Down says the 12-week shoot is due to start later this year, timing which could clash with the spring/summer 2007 runway season, when Ward stands to earn about $680,000.
The Black Balloon is very close to home for Down, who has two autistic brothers. She described Jackie as a "lamplighter - one of those characters who take wounded people under their wing" and wrote the part with Ward in mind shortly after the then unknown 13-year-old Perth teenager appeared in Down's 2001 short Pink Pyjamas.
"Who would think that at the start of the process, in 2002, that she would go and become famous? It's like 'Thanks for that'," Down says.
The filmmaker may need to rethink the film's title after being mortified to discover recently that Black Balloon is street jargon for heroin paraphernalia.
Down says: "It's not the best look when you're trying to market a film to teenagers."
[smh]