On a cloudy mid-September afternoon, Isla Johnston, the 18-year-old star of Baz Luhrmann’s eagerly awaited film about Joan of Arc, is strolling through the Cloisters. This museum—a 1930s blend of medieval monasteries and priories brought from Europe to the northern tip of Manhattan—is the perfect backdrop for her Vogue photoshoot. Luhrmann’s films are deeply rooted in history and known for their bold, time-bending twists—like turning Shakespeare’s Verona into a modern beach town, or having the rowdy crowds at the Moulin Rouge dance to “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

Yet as Johnston steps into a 12th-century structure taken from a Cistercian abbey near Bordeaux, the past feels immediate. The space seems to echo with the whispers of Benedictine monks, and light streams through the arched stone windows just as it did a thousand years ago.

Luhrmann’s Joan of Arc film (still untitled, and set to begin filming next year) will tell one of history’s most extraordinary sacred stories: that of a 17-year-old girl from the French village of Domrémy, guided by divine voices and visions to save France during the Hundred Years’ War with England. By 1420, France was under English control, and the young, uncertain French heir—the future Charles VII—was in retreat, defeated and insecure. The strategic city of Orléans was under siege, but in 1429, teenage Joan broke the blockade, turning the tide of the war and helping the French monarchy regain power. As Luhrmann put it, Charles VII was on the verge of fleeing. “If that had happened, we’d all be eating English sandwiches in France. No more baguettes. Can you imagine such a devastating reality?”

Joan of Arc’s story has been told so often it’s hard to see what’s left to uncover. You could trace film history just by listing the actors who’ve played her: Geraldine Farrar in Cecil B. DeMille’s Joan the Woman (1916), Maria Falconetti in Carl Theodor Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Ingrid Bergman in Victor Fleming’s Joan of Arc (1948), Jean Seberg in Otto Preminger’s Saint Joan (1957), and Milla Jovovich in Luc Besson’s The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999). Her legend inspired both Voltaire and Mark Twain; in Henry VI, Part 1, Shakespeare portrayed her as a shepherd’s daughter lifted by divine inspiration (or madness) beyond her station and gender. And at the closing of the 2024 Olympics, she appeared as a vision riding a glowing mechanical horse down the Seine, seeming to walk on water.

That’s a lot for a young actor to take on. But Luhrmann has a knack for discovering remarkably talented performers early in their careers, almost like using a divining rod: Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in Romeo + Juliet, Austin Butler in Elvis. For this film, he wanted someone with great physical stamina to play Joan. In Johnston, he also found someone relatively unknown. “I feel blessed that we found her,” Luhrmann says.

Johnston grew up on a farm in rural southeastern England—”the middle of nowhere,” she calls it—where her family grew wheat, barley, rapeseed, and sugar beet. Her mother had modeled in New York before returning to the UK to manage her husband’s family farmland in Suffolk. (Her father now works in IT.) Johnston and her younger brother spent their childhood with cousins “riding around the fields in the back of trucks,” she says. We’re sitting in a plain break room at the Cloisters, where a security guard sips his tea nearby, and she tells me about riding ponies almost daily, wandering into forbidden fields, and making quick getaways from angry

Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about Isla Johnston being described as Baz Luhrmanns modernday Joan of Arc in Vogues September 2025 digital cover story

FAQs Isla Johnston as a Modern Joan of Arc in Vogue

BeginnerLevel Questions

1 Who is Isla Johnston
Isla Johnston is a rising actress who is the subject of Vogues September 2025 digital cover story

2 What is the Vogue September 2025 issue about
The issue features a major profile and photoshoot of Isla Johnston creatively directed by the filmmaker Baz Luhrmann

3 Why is she being called a modernday Joan of Arc
This is a metaphorical title from Baz Luhrmann It suggests she embodies Joan of Arcs qualitieslike courage conviction and a visionary spiritbut in a contemporary context relevant to todays world

4 Who is Baz Luhrmann
Baz Luhrmann is a famous and highly stylistic Australian film director producer and screenwriter known for movies like Moulin Rouge The Great Gatsby and Elvis

Advanced Detailed Questions

5 What is the significance of Baz Luhrmann directing this feature
It signifies that this isnt a standard fashion photoshoot Luhrmann is known for his grand theatrical storytelling His involvement elevates the feature into a short cinematic piece blending fashion film and narrative

6 How does the photoshoot visually represent the modern Joan of Arc idea
While the specific images are in the issue you can expect Luhrmann to reinterpret medieval or warrior themes with highfashion elements This might mean modern armorinspired clothing dramatic lighting and poses that convey strength and determination

7 What does this Vogue cover mean for Isla Johnstons career
A Vogue September cover is the most prestigious in the fashion calendar Being chosen for it especially with a visionary like Luhrmann signals that Johnston is a major rising talent to watch in both the fashion and entertainment industries

8 Is Isla Johnston playing Joan of Arc in an upcoming movie
The FAQ description does not mention a new movie role The Joan of Arc title appears to be a creative concept for the Vogue story not an announcement of a specific film project