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After almost two years away from the limelight and grieving for her friend Heath Ledger, New York-based Perth supermodel Gemma Ward plans to be back on the catwalk next year.

Ward also intends to go to university and is taking Shakespearian acting classes.

She denied international media reports that she had given up her successful modelling career.

“I have not ‘quit modelling’ and my fans back home can expect to see me back at work modelling and acting in the new year,” she said in an email to The West Australian.

Her mother Claire Ward revealed that her daughter plans to stay in the US to pursue her acting career and is considering doing a three-year course at the prestigious Yale University.

Mrs Ward said the former Nedlands schoolgirl was working towards achieving a long-held ambition to be an actress.

“She’s 22 years old and has worked incredibly hard,” Mrs Ward said. “She’s had a very difficult few years personally and now she’s having a really lovely time doing things she wants to do and enjoying being young.

“She’s been doing some great drama theatre courses and is considering doing a three-year course in Yale which is a great possibility. She’s making one step at a time.”

Discovered by a model scout in Perth at 14, Ward had a meteoric rise in the tough world of modelling and catwalks.

Her wide-eyed look and doll-like features captured the attention of leading fashion houses and she has done global runway shows for Gucci, Prada, Chanel and Versace.

She has appeared on 24 Vogue covers and was the youngest model to feature on the cover of US Vogue at the age of 16.

Many would understand how Ledger’s sudden death in January 2008 could have prompted Ward to reassess her direction and resurrect the acting ambition she had before she started modelling.

Ward’s acting aspirations received a boost last year with the success of her first major feature film, The Black Balloon – in which she played the girlfriend of a boy caring for his autistic brother – starring Toni Collette.

Mrs Ward said her daughter had visited Rio de Janeiro to see Brazil’s shanty towns, or favelas.

“She was very interested to see what’s behind the glossy facade of Brazil and looking at the slums, with a view to doing something there in the future,” she said.

Along with her father Gary, the model has visited Malawi with The Hunger Project, an Australian charity which raises funds to build facilities there.

Mrs Ward said her daughter recognised that she was very lucky to have made her money from modelling and now wanted to spend time developing herself.

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Candids > Arriving in NYC

Australian actress and model Gemma Ward showed off a much healthier frame as arrived in New York City today (November 9).

The infamously skinny star has obviously put on an extra few healthy pounds and looked great as she showed off her new curves once ditching her tights.

Gemma proved to be no diva as she unassumingly took care of her own luggage and transportation and seemed to embrace happily the low key lifestyle!

Meanwhile, Gemma Ward has reportedly quit the modelling industry after a series of media reports ridiculing her for gaining weight.

The Sunday Telegraph reports that the 22-year-old’s agent says his client does not intend to return to modelling.

Miss Ward’s modelling agency in New York, Viviens, announced that the Australian had no immediate plans to return to the industry. “Gemma hasn’t committed to returning to modelling at any time soon”, a spokeman says, adding Gemma had the agency’s full support.

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Australian supermodel Gemma Ward has quit the industry after a series of media reports ridiculing her for gaining weight, reported The Sunday Telegraph.

According to the report Ward, who celebrated her 22nd birthday last week, has revealed via her agent that she does not intend to return to modelling.

Ward has not been much in the lime-light since the death of Australian actor Heath Ledger, whom she dated briefly.

She was photographed last week in New York wearing a print jacket, shorts and biker boots and looking more like a healthy young woman and less like an emaciated wraith. Ward had previously been criticised for being too thin in the early part of her career.

The photos were posted by international fashion blogger Bryan Boy and received an number of vicious comments on her new size and shape.

Ward’s modelling agency in New York, Viviens, announced that the Australian had no immediate plans to return to the industry. ‘Gemma hasn’t committed to returning to modelling at any time soon’, a spokeman said, adding Ward had the agency’s full support.

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Australia’s top model export, Gemma Ward has quit the profession following attacks on her new shape. Pictures of Ward, 22, who went into seclusion following the death of her friend Heath Ledger, emerged last week. She was in New York attending a friend’s birthday party when she was snapped on the street. The pictures show a tall, healthy-looking woman wearing a leopard-skin coat and short skirt. She has since been attacked by fashion bloggers as being “too fat.”

Writes blogger Bryan Boy, who posted the recent photos on his website, “I think it’s very sad that Gemma gave up on modelling.” ”She’s a very beautiful woman and I think she could make a name for herself in the plus-size niche.”

News Limited reported today that Ward has revealed through her agent that she has no plans to return to her career which saw her soar to the heights of success — modelling for Prada, Versace, Chanel and Vogue.

She also diversified into acting, starring in the Australian filmThe Black Balloon.

She was linked to fellow Aussie star Heath Ledger at the end of 2007, just prior to his January 2008 death after an accidental overdose.

The only photos of her that have appeared in the public domain since Ledger’s death were paparazzi shots of her at a beach.

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Candids > In New York’s East Village

Gemma Ward turned 22.  Ward, who according to her sister Sophie dressed up as a “crazed Elvis fan” for Halloween over the weekend, appeared with a couple of friends in New York’s East Village today after an extended spell under the radar.

Happy 4th Anniversary!

Spotted: Gemma Ward on Bedford Avenue. Wearing floral print leggings and a short moto jacket.
1:33 PM Oct 24th

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Photoshoots > Advertising Catalogues > Hermès Spring 2005 Catalogue

Title: A Poetics of Fluids
Photographer: Paolo Roversi
Scanned by OriginalSin