Meet Isla Johnston: Baz Luhrmann’s Joan of Arc

Known for his maximalist touch of style in film and a penchant for recognising talent, Baz Luhrmann has once again locked in on both terms for his next project, a film based on Joan of Arc.

Isla Johnston, a rising British talent, has won the role following an extensive audition process.

A testament to her rapidly changing level of fame, Vogue recently spotlighted the actress for their latest cover.

The next Leonardo DiCaprio?

When Luhrmann released his 1996 romance Romeo + Juliet, the film made overnight stars out of its young leads — Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.

While Danes went on to trade her mainstream success for more independent projects, DiCaprio cashed in on his by largely sticking to the formula which made him a bonafide star.

Reteaming with the Australian filmmaker on 2013’s The Great Gatsby, the DiCaprio effect was successfully pulled by Luhrmann once again when he gave Austin Butler his breakthrough as a lead, casting the actor as Elvis Presley in 2022’s Elvis.

It is now being considered that with Johnston leading Luhrmann’s next, she is right on track for the stardom which was earned by her predecessors.

At just 18 years of age, Johnston has a mammoth task laid ahead of her, but the director who cast her told Vogue, “I feel blessed that we found her.”

“For this film, he knew he wanted someone with considerable physical stamina to play the part. In Johnston, he also happened to find someone relatively unknown,” the outlet further reported.

Meanwhile, some of the British youngster’s prior projects include the Apple TV series Invasion and Netflix’s popular miniseries The Queen’s Gambit.

Project details

The magazine has also announced that Luhrmann’s project “still untitled — and which he intends to begin shooting next year” will likely follow its subject’s typical legend.

Joan of Arc’s latest retelling will recount the story “of a 17-year-old girl from the French village of Domrémy, possessed by divine voices and visions that instructed her to save France — at that time ensnarled in the conflict with England known as the Hundred Years’ War.”

Baz Luhrmann co-wrote the screenplay with Ava Pickett, “a playwright who recently conducted the first reading of the script for most of the teams from Warner Bros, from production to marketing and publicity”, per Deadline.