Gemma Ward
Encyclopedia
Gemma Louise Ward is an Australian fashion model turned actress.
, Western Australia, the second of four children of Gary Ward, a doctor, and Claire, a nurse. She has an older sister, Sophie
(who also became a model), and younger twin
brothers, Oscar and Henry. She was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College
and Shenton College
. Gemma was the family clown whose ambition was acting. Her passion for acting was born in 1997, when she was cast as the witch in a school play of Hansel and Gretel
when she was ten.
Ward's brush with modeling was an accidental one. She was discovered in 2002, at the age of fourteen, while accompanying her friends to the Australian modelling competition Search for a Supermodel. As she said herself in a Teen Vogue interview, she ended up being scouted herself:
Ward didn't win the competition, but her fragile, unique look, got the attention of a spotter from Vivien's Model Agency who saw her potential and made a show reel. The show reel then landed on the desk of ace model scout David Cunningham from the New York agency IMG
. "Look how confident she is. I mean, she looks like she's been doing this for years, and she's a 15-year-old kid walking in an alleyway in Perth [...] She's a supermodel
, for sure," Cunningham said.
debut in May 2003. Within a year, she was in Italy
meeting Prada
designer Miuccia Prada
. Her look inspired a new generation of baby doll-like models such as Vlada Roslyakova
, Heather Marks
, Lily Cole
, Lisa Cant, and Jessica Stam
. In September 2004 at only sixteen, Ward became the youngest model to appear on American Vogue
photographed by Steven Meisel
as one of the nine "Models of the Moment" with Daria Werbowy
, Natalia Vodianova
, Gisele Bundchen
, Isabeli Fontana
, Karolina Kurkova
, Liya Kebede
, Hana Soukupova
and Karen Elson
. In February 2005, Ward appeared in no less than 20 New York runways
for designers that included Vera Wang
, Oscar de la Renta
and Klein
, and was rumored to earn about $20,000 per show. And at 17, she became the famous face of Calvin Klein
’s Obsession Night perfume billboards – bumping Kate Moss
out of a job in the process. Ward was reportedly paid $1.3 million
for the Calvin Klein campaign and counted similar deals with Burberry
and Valentino
among her model earnings.
Ward then graced the Spring 2005 cover of TIME Magazine's
Style & Design issue. In September 2005, Ward secured a coveted place on the inaugural cover of Vogue China posing between Chinese models Du Juan
and Wang Wenqin and was shot by leading photographer Patrick Demarchelier
. A staggering 300,000 copies sold in the first three hours. "She is every inch blue chip," Vivien's agent Suzie Deveridge said. "Right now she's considered the No. 2 model in the world – and she isn't even 18 yet."
By 2006 Ward became Australia's brightest fashion star since Elle Macpherson
. At the age of 18, Ward became the first model ever to appear on the cover of Teen Vogue
magazine. She was then featured in the Australian television program 60 Minutes as the "It Girl
". She was earning $25,000 to stride the catwalk. In Allure
magazine (October 2006), Ward is described as "the model of the moment." Allure
s creative director Paul Cavaco stated: "We went through a period that was very va-va-voom, but now the pendulum has swung back. Gemma is ethereal, not earthy." Photographer Michael Thompson says, "She's an exotic blonde, the rarest of creatures."
In July 2007, earning at an estimated total of $3 million in the past 12 months, Forbes
named her tenth in the list of the World's 15 Top-Earning Supermodels. In October 2007 Ward appeared on the cover of the very first issue of Vogue India, centered between Bollywood actresses Bipasha Basu
and Priyanka Chopra
shot by photographer Patrick Demarchelier
(who also photographed her in Vogue China) and it became the second time Ward has appeared on an inaugural issue. Vogue Paris
declared her one of the top 30 models of the 2000s.
Ward hasn't walked down a runway since the spring 2008 shows. Her last modeling gig was an appearance on the cover of and inside the October 2008 issue of Spanish Marie Claire
.
Slightly over a year later, in November 2009, Ward's agent officially announced her retiring from the industry after her notable absence in the past few runway seasons. Following a series of criticisms about her weight gain a spokesperson from Viviens modelling agency in New York released a statement, saying: "Gemma hasn't committed to returning to modeling at any time soon", adding Ward had the agency's full support. Again, Ward quickly dismissed the retirement claims, confirming that she would return to modeling in 2010.
After avoiding the spotlight for three years, Ward opened up in an exclusive interview for The Sunday Telegraph in January 30, 2011. There she explained that her break from the media spotlight "was something spurred by Heath's death". As for her career she went on to say:
Ward shot her first pictorial in years in Australia’s Sunday Telegraph
Magazine for the February 6, 2011 edition.
and Rhys Wakefield
in Australian director Elissa Down's film The Black Balloon
as the girlfriend of a boy whose brother has autism. The Black Balloon
had its world premiere at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival
in Germany in February 2008, where it received a Crystal Bear as the best feature-length film in the Generation 14plus category. She was also cast opposite Liv Tyler
in the suspense thriller The Strangers
as one of the three masked intruders, "Dollface". In the summer of 2009, she took classes at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting
in New York.
After three years out of the spotlight, Ward made her international stage debut in 22 March 2011 for the (PTC) Perth Theatre Company's production of The Ugly One. The play centres on the modern obsession with physical beauty and the need to resort to plastic surgery
. Her star power brought the PTC a tonne of publicity and boosted ticket sales. Perth Now’s Maria Noakes gave Ward positive reviews for her performance.
MTV Networks
' NextMovie.com named her one of the 'Breakout Stars to Watch for in 2011'. In the summer of 2011, Ward played Tamara, an antagonistic mermaid, in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
, opposite Johnny Depp
.
after media articles linked the two together at end of 2007 holiday celebrations.
Ward and Heath Ledger
first met in November 2007 in New York when Ward had just turned 20. Both were struggling with things and they bonded over that. In The Sunday Telegraph 2011 interview, Ward confirmed that they had "developed a relationship and we started seeing each other." The two then spent Christmas together in their home town of Perth
before returning to New York where Ledger died less than a month later, on 22 January 2008.
Early life
Gemma Ward was born on 3 November 1987 in PerthPerth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Western Australia, the second of four children of Gary Ward, a doctor, and Claire, a nurse. She has an older sister, Sophie
Sophie Ward (model)
-Biography:Sophie Ward was born in Perth, Western Australia, as the first child of Gary and Claire Ward. She is older sister of model Gemma Ward and she has younger twin brothers, Oscar and Henry Ward.-Career:...
(who also became a model), and younger twin
Twin
A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
brothers, Oscar and Henry. She was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College
Presbyterian Ladies' College, Perth
The Presbyterian Ladies' College , is an independent, day and boarding school predominantly for girls, situated in Peppermint Grove, a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia....
and Shenton College
Shenton College
Shenton College is a co-educational Independent Public Secondary school located in Shenton Park, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.-History:...
. Gemma was the family clown whose ambition was acting. Her passion for acting was born in 1997, when she was cast as the witch in a school play of Hansel and Gretel
Hansel and Gretel
"Hansel and Gretel" is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a cannibalistic hag living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children...
when she was ten.
Ward's brush with modeling was an accidental one. She was discovered in 2002, at the age of fourteen, while accompanying her friends to the Australian modelling competition Search for a Supermodel. As she said herself in a Teen Vogue interview, she ended up being scouted herself:
I had come straight from my auntie and uncle's farm, and I was wearing this big gray barn jacket with mud all over it. When the scout came up to me, I said, 'No, thank you.' They forged my mum's signature [for mandatory parental consent], and pushed me in front of the cameras.
Ward didn't win the competition, but her fragile, unique look, got the attention of a spotter from Vivien's Model Agency who saw her potential and made a show reel. The show reel then landed on the desk of ace model scout David Cunningham from the New York agency IMG
IMG Models
IMG Models is one of the major international modeling agencies, currently representing only female models. Its mother office is in New York City, with branches in Paris, London, Milan and Hong Kong. It is a division of New York, NY-based IMG...
. "Look how confident she is. I mean, she looks like she's been doing this for years, and she's a 15-year-old kid walking in an alleyway in Perth [...] She's a supermodel
Supermodel
The term supermodel refers to a highly-paid fashion model who usually has a worldwide reputation and often a background in haute couture and commercial modeling. The term became prominent in the popular culture of the 1980s. Supermodels usually work for top fashion designers and labels...
, for sure," Cunningham said.
It girl, 2004–2007
At 15 Ward made her Australian Fashion WeekAustralian Fashion Week
Australian Fashion Week is an annual fashion industry event showcasing the latest seasonal collections from Australian and Asia Pacific Designers...
debut in May 2003. Within a year, she was in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
meeting Prada
Prada
Prada S.p.A. is an Italian fashion label specializing in luxury goods for men and women , founded by Mario Prada.-Foundations:...
designer Miuccia Prada
Miuccia Prada
Miuccia Prada is an Italian fashion designer and entrepreneur. She also has a Ph.D. in Political Science.Prada was born in Milan, the youngest granddaughter of Mario Prada, founder of the company. According to: Forbes.com's The World's Richest People 2001: "She and her husband, Patrizio Bertelli,...
. Her look inspired a new generation of baby doll-like models such as Vlada Roslyakova
Vlada Roslyakova
Vlada Roslyakova is a Russian model.- Early life and modelling :...
, Heather Marks
Heather Marks
Heather Marks is a Canadian model known in the fashion world for her big eyes and doll-like or elfin features. Her high fashion looks have booked her many campaigns, and her career has followed those of other doll-like models, Gemma Ward, Caroline Trentini, Lily Cole, Lisa Cant, Vlada Roslyakova,...
, Lily Cole
Lily Cole
Lily Luahana Cole is an English model and actress. Cole's modelling career was launched by a chance encounter with Benjamin Hart in Soho, London when she was 14....
, Lisa Cant, and Jessica Stam
Jessica Stam
Jessica Stam is a Canadian model. She is considered to be part of the crop of models described as "doll faces" alongside Gemma Ward, Sasha Pivovarova, Vlada Roslyakova, Lily Cole, Caroline Trentini, Devon Aoki, and Heather Marks...
. In September 2004 at only sixteen, Ward became the youngest model to appear on American Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
photographed by Steven Meisel
Steven Meisel
Steven Meisel is an American photographer, who obtained popular acclaim with his work in US and Italian Vogue and his photographs of friend Madonna in her 1992 book Sex...
as one of the nine "Models of the Moment" with Daria Werbowy
Daria Werbowy
Daria Werbowy is a Ukrainian Canadian model. She is perhaps best known as a spokesperson for the French beauty brand Lancôme.-Personal life:...
, Natalia Vodianova
Natalia Vodianova
Natalia Mikhailovna Vodianova is a Russian model and philanthropist who now permanently resides in the United Kingdom.-Early life:Born in Gorky, Soviet Union , Natalia Vodianova grew up in a poor district of the city with her mother and two half sisters, one of whom has cerebral palsy...
, Gisele Bundchen
Gisele Bündchen
Gisele Caroline Bündchen is a Brazilian fashion model, occasional film actress and goodwill ambassador for the UN Environment Programme.In the late 1990s, Bündchen became one of the first in a wave of Brazilian models to find success...
, Isabeli Fontana
Isabeli Fontana
-Early life and discovery:Fontana was born in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. In 1996 she made it to the finals of the Elite Model Look when she was just 13 and in the following year she moved from South of Brazil to Milan, Italy, to start her modelling career.-Career:...
, Karolina Kurkova
Karolína Kurková
Karolína Isela Kurková is a Czech model, best known as a former Victoria's Secret Angel, and an aspiring actress. Mario Testino said of Kurková, "The proportions of her body and her face, as well as her energy level, make her a model who could fit almost into any moment." Vogue editor Anna...
, Liya Kebede
Liya Kebede
Liya Kebede is an Ethiopian model, maternal health advocate, clothing designer and actress who has appeared three times on the cover of US Vogue . According to Forbes, Kebede was eleventh-highest-paid top model in the world in 2007...
, Hana Soukupova
Hana Soukupová
Hana Soukupová is a Czech model. She has participated in the Victoria's Secret fashion shows and modeled for the Victoria Secret Catalog.-Early life:...
and Karen Elson
Karen Elson
Karen Elson is a British model, singer-songwriter and guitarist.As a child, Elson attended North Chadderton School in Chadderton with her twin sister, filmmaker Kate Elson. She began working as a model as a teenager....
. In February 2005, Ward appeared in no less than 20 New York runways
New York Fashion Week
The semi-annual New York Fashion Week, branded Mercedes-Benz FashionWeek in 2009, is held in February and September of each year in New York City. It is one of four major fashion weeks held around the world .-History:The first New York Fashion Week, then called Press Week, was the world's first...
for designers that included Vera Wang
Vera Wang
Vera Ellen Wang is a Chinese American fashion designer based in New York City and former figure skater. She is known for her wide clientele of couture bridesmaid gowns and wedding gown collections.-Personal life:...
, Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta is one of the world's leading fashion designers. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1973.-Career:...
and Klein
Klein
Klein may refer to:*Klein, Montana, United States*Klein, Texas, United States*Klein , a family name and persons so named*Klein Tools, a manufacturer*Klein , a lunar feature* A brand of bicycle owned by Trek Bicycle Corporation...
, and was rumored to earn about $20,000 per show. And at 17, she became the famous face of Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry....
’s Obsession Night perfume billboards – bumping Kate Moss
Kate Moss
Kate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...
out of a job in the process. Ward was reportedly paid $1.3 million
Million
One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106...
for the Calvin Klein campaign and counted similar deals with Burberry
Burberry
Burberry Group plc is a British luxury fashion house, manufacturing clothing, fragrance, and fashion accessories. Its distinctive tartan pattern has become one of its most widely copied trademarks. Burberry is most famous for its iconic trench coat, which was invented by founder Thomas Burberry...
and Valentino
Valentino SpA
Valentino SpA is a clothing company founded in 1959 by Valentino Garavani. Nowadays it is a part of Valentino Fashion Group. New creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli will take Alessandra Facchinetti's seat as creative designer...
among her model earnings.
Ward then graced the Spring 2005 cover of TIME Magazine's
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
Style & Design issue. In September 2005, Ward secured a coveted place on the inaugural cover of Vogue China posing between Chinese models Du Juan
Du Juan
Du Juan is a Chinese fashion model and former ballerina. She has been touted as the world's first international Chinese supermodel.-Early life:...
and Wang Wenqin and was shot by leading photographer Patrick Demarchelier
Patrick Demarchelier
Patrick Demarchelier is a French fashion photographer.-Life:Born near Paris in 1943 to a modest family, he spent his childhood in Le Havre with his mother and four brothers. For his seventeenth birthday, his stepfather bought him his first Eastman Kodak camera...
. A staggering 300,000 copies sold in the first three hours. "She is every inch blue chip," Vivien's agent Suzie Deveridge said. "Right now she's considered the No. 2 model in the world – and she isn't even 18 yet."
By 2006 Ward became Australia's brightest fashion star since Elle Macpherson
Elle Macpherson
Elle Macpherson is an Australian model, actress, and businesswoman nicknamed "The Body". She is perhaps best known for her record five cover appearances for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue beginning in the 1980s...
. At the age of 18, Ward became the first model ever to appear on the cover of Teen Vogue
Teen Vogue
Teen Vogue magazine began as a version of Vogue magazine for teenage girls. This US magazine focuses on fashion and celebrities and offers information about the latest entertainment and feature stories on current issues and events.- Description :...
magazine. She was then featured in the Australian television program 60 Minutes as the "It Girl
It girl
"It girl" is a term for a young woman who possess the quality "It", absolute attraction.The early usage of the concept "it" in this meaning may be seen in a story by Rudyard Kipling: "It isn't beauty, so to speak, nor good talk necessarily. It's just 'It'."...
". She was earning $25,000 to stride the catwalk. In Allure
Allure (magazine)
Allure is the leading U.S. women’s beauty magazine, published monthly by Condé Nast in New York City. It was founded in 1991 by editor in chief Linda Wells, who has been at the helm of the magazine ever since. From its inception, the magazine has been widely recognized for its intelligent,...
magazine (October 2006), Ward is described as "the model of the moment." Allure
Allure (magazine)
Allure is the leading U.S. women’s beauty magazine, published monthly by Condé Nast in New York City. It was founded in 1991 by editor in chief Linda Wells, who has been at the helm of the magazine ever since. From its inception, the magazine has been widely recognized for its intelligent,...
s creative director Paul Cavaco stated: "We went through a period that was very va-va-voom, but now the pendulum has swung back. Gemma is ethereal, not earthy." Photographer Michael Thompson says, "She's an exotic blonde, the rarest of creatures."
In July 2007, earning at an estimated total of $3 million in the past 12 months, Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
named her tenth in the list of the World's 15 Top-Earning Supermodels. In October 2007 Ward appeared on the cover of the very first issue of Vogue India, centered between Bollywood actresses Bipasha Basu
Bipasha Basu
Bipasha Basu is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Bollywood films. A former model, she was the winner of the Ford's Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest in 1996.-Early life:...
and Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra is an Indian actress and former Miss World. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model and gained fame after winning the Miss World title in 2000. She is often referred to by the nickname "Piggy Chops", which was given to her by co-stars on the set of the film...
shot by photographer Patrick Demarchelier
Patrick Demarchelier
Patrick Demarchelier is a French fashion photographer.-Life:Born near Paris in 1943 to a modest family, he spent his childhood in Le Havre with his mother and four brothers. For his seventeenth birthday, his stepfather bought him his first Eastman Kodak camera...
(who also photographed her in Vogue China) and it became the second time Ward has appeared on an inaugural issue. Vogue Paris
Vogue Paris
The French edition of Vogue magazine, Vogue Paris, is a fashion magazine that has been published since 1920.-1920–1954:The French edition of Vogue was first issued on June 15, 1920. More information about French Vogue in the 1920s is available in Mary E. Davis's book Classic Chic: Music, Fashion,...
declared her one of the top 30 models of the 2000s.
Retirement claims, 2008–present
In August 2008, reports surfaced that Ward was to retire from modeling to pursue acting. However, reports were quickly dismissed by Ward herself saying: "I was surprised to wake up this morning and read news of my own retirement. While I am taking some time off currently to rest and enjoy the company of friends and family, I am still very much a (excited and enthusiastic) working model and actress. I'm only 20, for God's sakes."Ward hasn't walked down a runway since the spring 2008 shows. Her last modeling gig was an appearance on the cover of and inside the October 2008 issue of Spanish Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Marie Claire is a monthly women's magazine first published in France but also distributed in other countries with editions specific to them and in their languages. While each country shares its own special voice with its audience, the United States edition focuses on women around the world and...
.
Slightly over a year later, in November 2009, Ward's agent officially announced her retiring from the industry after her notable absence in the past few runway seasons. Following a series of criticisms about her weight gain a spokesperson from Viviens modelling agency in New York released a statement, saying: "Gemma hasn't committed to returning to modeling at any time soon", adding Ward had the agency's full support. Again, Ward quickly dismissed the retirement claims, confirming that she would return to modeling in 2010.
After avoiding the spotlight for three years, Ward opened up in an exclusive interview for The Sunday Telegraph in January 30, 2011. There she explained that her break from the media spotlight "was something spurred by Heath's death". As for her career she went on to say:
In terms of me shying away from modelling, I'd like to clarify in some way that I was taking a break from many things in my life and obviously what people in the public see is that I'm pulling away from what is more 'public'. I didn't know how long it would take, I didn't know if it would solve anything, but I set out to really focus inside myself.
Ward shot her first pictorial in years in Australia’s Sunday Telegraph
Sunday Telegraph
The Sunday Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961. It is the sister paper of The Daily Telegraph, but is run separately with a different editorial staff, although there is some cross-usage of stories...
Magazine for the February 6, 2011 edition.
Acting
Ward has long aspired to pursue acting and drama is a passion that she has held since she was a child. She starred alongside Toni ColletteToni Collette
Antonia "Toni" Collette is an Australian actress and musician, known for her acting work on stage, television and film as well as a secondary career as the lead singer of the band Toni Collette & the Finish....
and Rhys Wakefield
Rhys Wakefield
Rhys Wakefield is an Australian actor. He is best known for portraying the main character Thomas in the 2008 film The Black Balloon., for the 2011 film Sanctum, and portraying Lucas Holden in the long-running TV series Home and Away.-Biography:Before appearing as Lucas in Home and Away, Wakefield...
in Australian director Elissa Down's film The Black Balloon
The Black Balloon (film)
The Black Balloon is a 2008 Australian|British AFI award-winning dramedy feature film which stars Toni Collette, Rhys Wakefield, Luke Ford, Erik Thomson, Gemma Ward as well as a cast of newcomers. It is directed by first time feature film director, Elissa Down.The film was released in Australian...
as the girlfriend of a boy whose brother has autism. The Black Balloon
The Black Balloon (film)
The Black Balloon is a 2008 Australian|British AFI award-winning dramedy feature film which stars Toni Collette, Rhys Wakefield, Luke Ford, Erik Thomson, Gemma Ward as well as a cast of newcomers. It is directed by first time feature film director, Elissa Down.The film was released in Australian...
had its world premiere at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival
58th Berlin International Film Festival
The 58th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 7 to February 17, 2008.- Jury :Costa Gavras - President of the JuryUli HanischDiane KrugerWalter MurchShu QiAleksandr RodnyanskyMarc BarbeAda SolomonLaura Tonke...
in Germany in February 2008, where it received a Crystal Bear as the best feature-length film in the Generation 14plus category. She was also cast opposite Liv Tyler
Liv Tyler
Liv Rundgren Tyler is an American actress and model. She is the daughter of Aerosmith's lead singer, Steven Tyler, and Bebe Buell, model and singer. Tyler began a career in modeling at the age of 14, but after less than a year she decided to focus on acting. She made her film debut in the 1994...
in the suspense thriller The Strangers
The Strangers
The Strangers is a 2008 American horror film written and directed by Bryan Bertino, and starring Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Glenn Howerton, Gemma Ward, Laura Margolis, and Kip Weeks...
as one of the three masked intruders, "Dollface". In the summer of 2009, she took classes at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting
Stella Adler Studio of Acting
Stella Adler Studio of Acting is an acting school in New York founded by the actress and teacher Stella Adler -History:...
in New York.
After three years out of the spotlight, Ward made her international stage debut in 22 March 2011 for the (PTC) Perth Theatre Company's production of The Ugly One. The play centres on the modern obsession with physical beauty and the need to resort to plastic surgery
Plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand...
. Her star power brought the PTC a tonne of publicity and boosted ticket sales. Perth Now’s Maria Noakes gave Ward positive reviews for her performance.
MTV Networks
MTV Networks
MTV Networks is a division of media conglomerate Viacom that oversees the operations of many television channels and Internet brands, including the original MTV channel in the United States...
' NextMovie.com named her one of the 'Breakout Stars to Watch for in 2011'. In the summer of 2011, Ward played Tamara, an antagonistic mermaid, in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a 2011 adventure fantasy film and the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean series...
, opposite Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
.
Personal life
In early 2008, Ward was reported to have been seeing actor Heath LedgerHeath Ledger
Heath Andrew Ledger was an Australian television and film actor. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to develop his film career...
after media articles linked the two together at end of 2007 holiday celebrations.
Ward and Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger
Heath Andrew Ledger was an Australian television and film actor. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to develop his film career...
first met in November 2007 in New York when Ward had just turned 20. Both were struggling with things and they bonded over that. In The Sunday Telegraph 2011 interview, Ward confirmed that they had "developed a relationship and we started seeing each other." The two then spent Christmas together in their home town of Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
before returning to New York where Ledger died less than a month later, on 22 January 2008.
Movies
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Pink Pyjamas | Heidi | |
| 2008 | Jackie Masters | Nominated – Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actress Film Critics Circle of Australia The Film Critics Circle of Australia is a group of cinema critics that judge Australian films.-External links:**... Nominated – Inside Film Award for Best Actress Inside Film Awards The Inside Film Awards is an annual awards ceremony and broadcast platform for the Australian film industry, a format created by Australian Producer Andrew Dillon... |
|
| 2008 | Dollface | ||
| 2011 | Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a 2011 adventure fantasy film and the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean series... |
Tamara | |
| 2011 | The Strangers: Part II | Dollface | |
| 2012 | The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922.... |
TBA |