Jennifer Jason Leigh

 

  1. Jodie Foster, Taxi Driver, 1975.

  2. Brooke Shields, Pretty Baby, 1977.    The plot sickens… A prostitute allows her 12-year-old daughter’s virginity to be auctioned off in a brothel in the red-light Storyville district of New Orleans, circa 1917. Elegant French director Louis Malle saw 29 hopefuls and/or instant (parental) refusals for pretty little Violet. From Laura Dern aged 10 and future Sex And The City co-stars Cynthia Nixon, at 11, Sarah Jessica Parker, 12 (like Shields) and (the often too buxom) teenagers JJL, Melissa Sue Anderson, Rosanna Arquette, Linda Blair, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bridget Fonda, Jodie Foster, Mariel Hemingway, Helen Hunt, Anissa Jones (who tragically ODed at 18 before her audition), Diane Lane, Kristy McNichol, Tatum O’Neal (Dad said no), Dana Plato (Mom said no), Michelle Pfeiffer, Ally Sheedy, Meg Tilly, Charlene Tilton (pre-Dallas)… to seven twentysomethings. However, no make-up and soft lenses could make 12-year-olds out of Isabelle Adjani, Bo Derek, Carrie Fisher, Melanie Griffith, Amy Irving, Mary Steenburgen or Debra Winger.

  3. Margot Kidder, Superman, 1977.
  4. Brooke Shields, The Blue Lagoon, 1979.    Grease director Randal Kleiser’s #1 choice was willing – nudity or not nudity.  But her father, actor Vic Morrow, refused his permission. She made up for it in an often nude career.  (She chose her Jason name in tribute to Jason Robards, a close friend of the Morrow family). 
  5. Cherie Currie, Foxes, 1979.   Sex and the underage American teenage girl… Two films had the same subject that year.   JJL, Rosanna Arquette, Diane Lane and Kristy McNichol (who won the other one, Little Darlings) were seen before runaway Annie went to Currie of… wait for it… The Runaways band. She only made six other movies; Hansel & Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft in 2012 was her first for 22 years!
  6. Brooke Shields, Endless Love, 1980.   Now this doesn’t happen very often… Shirley Knight was displeased with Brooke Shields as her teenage daughter and set about re-casting Jade. She gave a list of better prospects to her director Franco Zeffirelli. Including JJL, Rosanna Arquette, Linda Blair, Bo Derek, Carrie Fisher, Jodie Foster, Melanie Griffith, Kristy McNichol, Michelle Pfeiffer. Knight wuz right. They were all better, with the possible exception of beauteous Bo. Zeffirelli, however, was a very macho Italian maestro. He was the boss. OK, ready Brooke – and… action! And do the best you can.
  7. Debra Winger, An Officer and a Gentleman, 1981.  “You ain’t nothing special. You got no manners, you treat woman like whores and…you got no chance of being no officer.” There was a lot of choppping and changing about the officer and gent’s lady, Paula Pokrifki. Geena Dabvis, Rebecca De Mornay and Meg Ryan auditioned. Then, Paula  became Kim Basinger, then Anjelica Huston, then Jennifer Jason Leigh… JLT departing for Fast Times At Ridgemont Highwas Winger’s lucky day. Although she never got on with Gere (“a brick wall”) and hated the film, despite her Oscar nomination.
  8. Elizabeth McGovern, Once Upon a Time in America, 1982.  Italian maestro Sergio Leone claimed he interviewed “over 3,000 actors,” taping 500 auditions for the 110 speaking roles in his New York gangster epic.  He certainly saw 33 girls for nymphet Deborah Gelly: Rosanna Arquette, Kim Basinger, Jennifer Beals, Linda Blair, Glenn Close, Jamie Lee Curtis, Geena Davis, Farrah Fawcett, Carrie Fisher, Bridget Fonda, Jodie Foster, Melanie Griffith, Linda Hamilton, Daryl Hannah, Goldie Hawn, Mariel Hemingway, Diane Lane, Jessica Lange, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Heather Locklear, Kristy McNIchol, Liza Minnelli, Tatum O’Neal, Michelle Pfeiffer, Meg Ryan, Susan Sarandon, Cybill Shepherd, Sissy Spacek, Meryl Streep, Kathleen Turner, Sigourney Weaver, Debra Winger. Plus Brooke Shields as the younger version. Deborah was 15 in the first script; McGovern was 20.
  9. Jennifer Beals, Flashdance, 1982.  The “nation-wide search“ (of LA…!!) came down to  20 possibilities for flashprancer Alex Owens.  JJL, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bo Derek, Janice Dickinson, Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Grey (yet she won Dirty Dancing), Melanie Griffith, Daryl Hannah, Mariel Hemingway, Helen Hunt (hated the script), Heather Locklear, Andie MacDowell, Kathy Najimy, Tatum O’Neal, Michelle Pfeiffer,  Kyra Sedgwick, Sharon Stone  and Debra Winger, Pix of the final three – Beals, Demi Moore and Leslie Wing – were shown to the studio’s  construction guys by Paramount suits asking: “Which of these women do you most wanna fuck?”   Dissolve. 
  10. Michelle Pfeiffer, Scarface, 1982.     Too hasty for her own good, she rejectedthe role of Elvira Hancock. But then so did Rosanna Arquette, Kim Basinger, Colleen Camp, Glenn Close, Geena Davis, Judy Davis, Carrie Fisher, Jodie Foster, Melanie Griffith, Kay Lenz, Kelly McGillis,Kristy McNichol, Deborah Raffin, Brooke Shields, Sharon Stone,Kathleen Turner.
  11. Lea Thompson, Jaws 3-D, 1982.   For reasons more financial than artistic, JJL auditioned for Kelly Ann Bukowski in the worst Bruce sequel of ’em all. The original producers should have had their way and made it as National Lampoon’s Jaws 3, People 0.  But Spielberg went apoplectic and threatened to quit Universal if they did!

  12. Linda Hamilton, The Terminator, 1983. 
    In all, 55 actresses were considered, seen or tested for Sarah Connor (aged 18; Linda was 27) opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. James Cameron auteured Sarah for Bridget Fonda. She passed; so did Tatum O’Neal.    He decided to go older… and Glenn Close won – her schedule didn’t agree. OK, Kate Capshaw! No, she was tied to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – and Kathleen Turner was Romancing The Stone. Debra Winger won her audition, said yes… then no.   The other 48 ladies were The ’80s Group: JJL, Rosanna Arquette, Kim Basinger, Christy Brinkley, Colleen Camp, Jamie Lee Curtis, Geena Davis, Judy Davis, Mia Farrow, Carrie Fisher, Jodie Foster, Teri Garr, Jennifer Grey, Melanie Griffith, Darryl Hannah, Barbara Hershey, Anjelica Huston, Amy Irving, Diane Keaton, Margot Kidder, Diane Lane, Jessica Lange, Kay Lenz, Heather Locklear, Lori Loughlin, Kelly McGillis, Kristy McNichol, Michelle Pfeiffer, Deborah Raffin, Meg Ryan, Susan Sarandon, Ally Sheedy, Cybill Shepherd, Brooke Shields, Sissy Spacek, Sharon Stone, Lea Thompson, Sigourney Weaver… one aerobics queen, Bess Motta (she became Sarah’s room-mate, Ginger Ventura), two singers (Madonna, Liza Minnelli), two Brits (Miranda Richardson, Jane Seymour), five essentially funny girls, Goldie Hawn, Rhea Perlman (Mrs Danny De Vito), Gilda Radner, Mary Tyler Moore… plus the new MTM, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, then from Saturday Night Live. Most were in contention again a few years later for Fatal Attraction (won by Close) and The Accused (going to Foster and McGillis). Ten years later (after T2), Linda gave birth to Cameron’s daughter and Josephine’s parents wed in 1997… for two years.

  13. Bess Motta, The Terminator, 1983.     Director James Cameron later talked with JJL about Ginger – then changed his mind.
  14. Mia Farrow,  Hannah and Her Sisters, 1984.    JLL was in the Woody Allen frame for Hannah.  But he felt he required a  more experienced actress. Such as Jessica Lange, Kay Lenz, the unknown Annie Potts… and even Kim Basinger!  And Mia being Mia, she had “a small sick feeling”  that the script revealed Woody’s feelings for her younger sister while he’d really been inspired by the sisters in Anna Karenina!
  15. Ally Sheedy, St Elmo’s Fire, 1984.     Directors John Hughes and Joel Schumacher were rather like Lucas and Spielberg in the 70s: dipping into the same talent pool. Those Brat Packers Hughes kept in the high school Breakfast Club, Schumacher made, as here, college kids. When Hughes said “Why can’t I make movies like The Lost Boys, Joel?” Schumacher replied: “Why can’t I make Pretty in Pink?”  The answer was different experiences. Joel’s was “drinking at nine, smoking at 10, sexually active at 11.”
  16. Anjelica Huston, Prizzi’s Honor, 1984.      “So let’s do it. Right here. On the Oriental. With all the lights on.” Maerose Prizzi knew what she wanted, where and when from her Family’s hit man, Jack Nicholson – the unlikeliest Mafioso since the Corleones’ James Caan. Before realising his daughter was Oscar-winning perfection, director John Huston looked at some 19 potential Maeroses. From the sublime JJL, Rosanna Arquette, Liza Minnelli, Demi Moore, Michelle Pfeiffer (been there, done that and got the Married To The Mob and Scarface t-shirts), Debra Winger… to the ridiculous: Geena Davis, Melanie Griffith, Daryl Hannah, Emma Thompson, Sela Ward, Debra Winger… and the damn stupid: Linda Blair, Carrie Fisher, Kelly LeBrock, Heather Locklear, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ally Sheedy.
  17. Madonna, Desperately Seeking Susan, 1985.      For her second movie, New York director Susan Seidelman saw various New Young Things and became verycurious about a certain singer. “She was picked for her persona, since she had no body of work yet.”
  18. Colleen Camp, Clue, 1985.      Anyone for Cluedo? Because that’s whatv we’re watchuing here. “We’re trying to find out who killed him, and where, and with what!” UK auteur Jonathan Lynn told Buzz Feed he ruminated over JJL, Madonna and Demi Moore for ze typical French maid cliché. Until Camp turned up – and on – in her own French maid outfit. He loved her comedy skills. Even more so, her figure. “There was no avoiding it.” Chicago critic Roger Ebert called her “bouncy.”
  19. Geena Davis, The Fly, 1986.   “Be afraid, be very afraid!”After Linda Hamilton passed – “it’s too disturbing!” – Canadian director David Cronenberg suggested JJL or Laura Dern as Victoria Quaife. His producers (Mel Brooks included) preferred an unknown. “I think I can help you there,” said their star, Jeff Goldblum, introducing them to his then-lover.  And, said Cronenberg: “Nobody else even came close.”
  20. Glenn Close, Fatal Attraction, 1986.

  21. Jodie Foster, The Accused, 1988.
    Awful thing to say. Except it is true. Jodie Foster would never have won her (first) Oscar for this trenchant drama – if actress Kelly McGillis had not been raped in 1982… At first, the role of the rape victim Sarah Tobias was written for Andie MacDowell. She passed. The Paramount suits then saw 34 other young actresses for the (real life) victim. Or, for their own rape bait fantasies – including 16-year-old Alyssa Milano! Foster was refused a test because she was “not sexy enough”! And, anyway, the studio had decided upon McGillis, a high flyer in  Paramount’s Witness and Top Gun. And, naturally, she refused point-blank! She knew what it was to be brutally raped and Kelly had no wish to revisit the horror and agony of her own assault six years earlier. The suits were annoyed. They needed her. She was hot at the box-office, their box-office. They had made her a star!! Eventually, McGillis agreed to play Sarah’s defence attorney – on condition that unsexy Jodie played Sarah! The suits caved, tested Foster and the rest is Oscar history… So is the huge list of talent also seen for Sarah.   Starting with the Fatal Attraction also-rans:  JJL, Rosanna Arquette, Ellen Barkin, Kim Basinger, Jennifer Beals, Jennifer Grey, Melanie Griffith, Linda Hamilton, Darryl Hannah, Diane Keaton, Demi Moore, Kelly Preston, Meg Ryan, Jane Seymour, Sharon Stone, Meryl Streep, Debra Winger.   And moving on to the younger Melissa Sue Anderson (trying to break her Little House on the Prairie image), Justine Bateman, Valerie Bertinelli, Phoebe Cates, Jennifer Connelly, Joan Cusack, Judy Davis, Kristin Davis, Bridget Fonda, Annabeth Gish, Mariel Hemingway, Kelly LeBrock, Virginia Madsen, Brigitte Nielsen, Tatum O’Neal, Molly Ringwald, Mia Sara, Ally Sheedy, Brooke Shields, Uma Thurman.  Oh, and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, said the suits, was “too nice.” Rape victims shouldn’t be nice? Oh, Hollywood!

  22. Kim Basinger, Batman, 1988
  23. Laura San Giacomo, sex lies and videotape, 1989.     Opted for Miami Blues, instead.“It’s one of the few times I saw the finished movie and went: ‘Shooot, I wish I could have done that!’ But Laura was so rich init.I couldn’t have played it the way she did.”
  24. Julia Roberts, Pretty Woman, 1989.
  25. Marcia Gay Harden, Miller’s Crossing, 1990.  The Coen brothers tackle  30s/40s, gangster noir…  Their 1988 draft had, Kathy Borowitz, Linda Fiorentino, Laura Sametz and Diane Venora in mind for the gang boss’ moll, Verna.  (He became Albert Finney). JJL, Demi Moore, Julia Roberts, were later tested. But MGH was the best actress of them all.  Only she and John Turturro actually played the roles suggested for them two years before.

  26. Geena Davis, A League of Their Own, 1991.  
    “There’s no crying in baseball…” Long-time ball fan, director Penny Marshall had never heard of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1943-1954) until seeing a 1987 PBS documentary. She swiftly contacted the makers to join her Hollywood writers to use their title for a fictional comedy-drama version.  Penny staged baseball tests for about 2,000 actresses. “if you can’t play ball, you can’t play the Rockford Peaches!”  Geena Davis, Rosie O’Donnell, Lori Petty were best; those turned down included Farrah Fawcett, Lori Singer, Marisa Tomei and Maria Maples (before becoming the second Mrs Donald Trump).  Jim Belushi and Laura Dern were set to star in 1990 when Fox suddenly pulled the plug; Tom Hanks and Geena took over at Columbia.  Also on the plate for the star player Dottie Hinson were Sally Field, Nicole Kidman, Kelly McGillis, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Brooke Shields, Debra Winger and Sean Young.  JLL refused to even read the proffered script. “The whole idea of auditioning actresses by having them play a ball game… I don’t think so.”

  27. Juliette Lewis, Cape Fear, 1991.     Oldest with Jodie Foster at 29 among the many – Christina Applegate, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Shannen Doherty, Nicole Eggeret, Bridget Fonda, Helen Hunt, Nicole Kidman, Diane Lane, Alyssa Milano, Demi Moore, Sarah Jessica Parker, Molly Ringwald, Meg Ryan, Winona Ryder, Brooke Shields, Tiffani Thiessen, Reese Witherspoon – consideredby Steven Spielberg and, later, Martin Scorsese for the teen daughter of Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange: Danielle Bowden.  (Nicole in the 1962 original). Some found it too sexy and, indeed, few could have equalled the on-heat musk of Juliette’s totally improvised – and one take – seduction scene with Robert De Niro.
  28. Michelle Pfeiffer, Batman Returns, 1991.
  29. Sharon Stone, Basic Instinct, 1991.
  30. Kyra Sedgwick, Singles, 1992.      Although she got her big break in Cameron Crowe’s Fast Times At Ridgemont High, 1982, she dropped out of his new one for a studio movie, Rush. She later joined her planned partner, Bridget Fonda, in another studio film, Single White Female, 1992. They had plenty to talk about:Bridget was living with JJL’s ex-lover, Eric Stolz.

  31. Sherilynn Fenn, Ruby, 1992.        Jennifer finally joined the Hollywood mainstream in Backdraft and Rush, 1991, and preferred Single White Female to the composite Jack Ruby stripper – perfect for Fenn’s twin peaks.
  32. Patricia Arquette, True Romance, 1992.   “I’m not a whore. I’m a call-girl. There’s a difference, you know!”  Quentin Tarantino created Alabama for Joan Cusack. UK director Tony Scott preferred Drew Barrymore, fully booked at the time.  So JJL, Diane Lane, Juliette Lewis, Bridget Fonda, Julia Roberts, Kyra Sedgwick, Brooke Shields and (inevitably) Uma Thurman were tipped for the girl…  with the name, said QT, sounding like a Pam Grier role!  Except Pam was named Jackie Brownwhen he directed her in 1997. In Tarantino’s first ending, Clarence was killed and Alabama would turn to crime with Mr. White – he’s asked about her during Reservoir Dogs, 1991.  .  And JJL was the best part of QT’s Western, Hateful Eight, in 2014.
  33. Meg Ryan, Sleepless in Seattle, 1992.    Or… When Harry Met Sally Meets When Sam Met Suzy. Same writer, Nora Ephron. Same Sally – Meg Ryan in the second of three ephemeral romcoms with Tom Hanks. Also forgetting that romcoms are rarely plausible:JJL,  Kim Basinger, Nicole Kidman, Demi Moore, Michelle Pfeiffer, Julia Roberts. And a surprise Brit. Natasha Richardson.
  34. Holly Hunter, The Piano, Australia-France-New Zealand, 1992.   Kiwi director Jane Campion shuffled  actresses for her Ada: JJL (shooting Rush), Juliette Binoche, Isabelle Huppert, Angelica Huston, Madeleine Stowe, Sigourney Weaver and Sean Young. “Americans are more pugnacious about auditioning,” said Isabelle Huppert. “I regret not fighting more for the part.” (She simply posed for some period pix and said Campion should look at her films!). Holly was able to perform most of the piano  sequences, herself – earning the Oscar and Cannes Festival best actress double whammy. And ten years later, Huppert was…   La Pianiste!

  35. Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction, 1993.
  36. Amanda Plummer, Pulp Fiction, 1993.
  37. Rosanna Arquette, Pulp Fiction, 1993.

  38. Sandra Bullock, Speed, 1993.      Although sharing the heroics and the driving of the bus-bomb with Keanu Reeves, most girls saw it as The Guy’s film. An amazing 36 refused to be Annie:  JJL, Rosanna Arquette, Kim Basinger, Halle Berry, Glenn Close(!), Geena Davis, Cameron Diaz, Carrie Fisher, Bridget Fonda, Jodie Foster, Melanie Griffith, Daryl Hannah, Mariska Hargitay, Barbara Hershey, Anjelica Huston, Diane Lane, Jessica Lange, Kay Lenz, Alyssa Milano, Demi Moore, Tatum O’Neal, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Pfeiffer, Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Winona Ryder, Jane Seymour, Ally Sheedy, Brooke Shields, Meryl Streep(!), Emma Thompson(!), Meg Tilly, Marisa Tomei, Kathleen Turner, Sigourney Weaver and Debra Winger.
  39. Andie McDowell, Four Weddings and a Funeral, 1993.  “We met 16 actresses when we went to LA,” producer Duncan Kenworthy told Deadline Hollywood 25 years later special. Triple-namers Jennifer Jason Leigh and Mary Stuart Masterson auditioned Marisa Tomei won until, ironically, until a family bereavement. “So we had no-one. When we heard that Andie was able to meet, we found her very impressive”- for  what the US distributor Gramacy wanted to  call: Rolling In The Aisles.  Or, Loitering In Sacred Places.  Or, The Best Man.

  40. Nicole Kidman, To Die For, 1994. 
    You aren’t anybody in America if you’re not on TV…” Most bright young things agreed this was a role to die for…      the girl who would do anything (murder included) to get on TV, and stay there. They included   JJL, Patricia Arquette, Jennifer Connelly, Joan Cusack, Bridget Fonda, Jodie Foster, Melanie Griffith, Darryl Hannah, Holly Hunter, Tatum O’Neal, Mary-Louise Parker, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Pfeiffer, Meg Ryan (passing up $5m), Brooke Shields, Uma Thurman. However, Debra Winger simply refused… and Kidman persuaded director Gus Van Sant that she was his destiny.

  41. Asia Argento, The Stendahl Syndrome, 1996.    When Bridget Fonda proved unavailable ,Italian horrorsmith Dario Argento talked with JJL – before giving the role to his daughter. “She has really matured as an actress since Trauma.”  Well, she had started directing in 1994..
  42. Jane Adams, Happiness, 1998.     “I’d been wanting to work with Todd since Welcome To The Dollhouse, and I auditioned twice for Happiness… once, and I didn’t get the part, and then I begged to audition again, and still didn’t get it.” She finally made a Todd Solondz film in 2004. Palindromes.
  43. Marie Richardson, Eyes Wide Shut, 1998.    The young Ingmar Bergman star replaced JJL when she and Harvey Keitel were unable to return to London for re-shoots of Stanley Kubrick’s final film. JJL was shooting David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ  in Ontario.
  44. Lucy Liu, Charlie’s Angels, 2000.   Tele-tycoon Aaron Spelling decided to put Aaron’s angels on the big screen  (to help generate a new series on the small). His first new  trio: MTV discovery Jenny McCarthy, ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and 007’s Hong Kong martial arts superstar. Then, Drew Barrymore showed him how to do it. with the  third  of her numerous (canny) productions. Just look at the 25 girls she shuffled to find the right  angel Alex Munday: Aaliyah (“too young”), Jennifer Aniston, Asia Argento, Halle Berry, Lara Flynn Boyle, Helena Bonham Carter, Penélope Cruz, Kristin Davis, Jodie Foster, Angie Harmon (stuck on Law & Order),  Salma Hayek, Ashley Judd, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nia Long, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tiffani Thiessen, Uma Thurman, Liv Tyler, , Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon, Robin Wright, Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones… And two singers: Lauryn Hill and another  Spice Girl: Victoria Beckham.
  45. Diane Lane, Unfaithful, 2001. For his passionate US update of Madame Bovary, UK director Adrian Lyne saw six potential husbands, three lovers… And as many as 15 cheating wives: Lane, JJL, Josie Davis, Kristin Davis, Portia de Rossi, Jodie Foster, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez, Alyssa Milano, Meg Ryan, Kyra Sedgwick, Brooke Shields, Tori Spelling, Hilary Swank, Kate Winslet.  
  46. Kirsten Dunst, Spider-Man, 2001.
  47. Jennifer Connelly, A Brilliant Mind, 2001.   If the choice of the right actor to  portray the schizophrenic Noble Prize-winning mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr was vital,  selecting his screen wife was even more so   – hence an Oscar for Connelly and not for Russell Crowe.  The other candidates included Julie Bowen, Toni Collette, Claire Danes, Geena Davis, Kirsten Dunst, Portia De Rossi, Claire Forlani, Rachel Griffiths, Teri Hatcher, Famke Janssen, Ashley Judd, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Catherine McCormack, Mary McCormick, Mia Maestro, Rhona Mitra, Julia Ormond, Amanda Peet, Christina Ricci, Meg Ryan, Chloe Sevigny, Alicia Silverstone, Mira Sorvino, Hilary Swank, Charlize Theron, Uma Thurman, Rachel Weisz.  PS Emily Watson was rejected as “too British” – while Salma Hayek was seen because  Alicia Nash came from El; Salvador… which must have meant the others were too American, Australian,  South African, etc.  Director Ron Howard seemed to forget they were all actresses. Odd that, as he used to be one.
  48. Renée Zellweger, Chicago, 2002.
  49. Cynthia Watros, Lost, TV, 2005-2008.    Guest shots, sure, but not a full TV series, thank you.  And it’s been that way since her career began in 1973.
  50. Marcia Cross, Desperate Housewives, TV, 2004-2012.   Not surptised JJL was considefrd. Not surprised she wasn’t interested.  And so Cross, who had been been seen for Mary Alice Young, took over Brree Van Der Kamp.  Hmnmn, very kamp…
  51. Jodie Foster, Inside Man, 2005.   JJL rejected Spike Lee’s invitation. With good reason. She’d read the script. Chicago critic Rogert Ebert saw the film and still never knew who or what Madeleine was.  “She is never convincingly explained, and what she does is not well-defined. She’s one of those characters who is all buildup and no delivery” in a a thriller  “that’s curiously reluctant to get to the payoff.”
  52. Gwyneth Paltrow, Proof, 2005.    A battle of the stage Catherines to play… her on-screen. As Hollywood tradition dictates, the Broadway star (MLP) was side-swiped, as were two others who had played the role on stage: JJL and Anne Heche. But the London West End Catherine won the movie.
  53. Jill Hennessy, Lymelife, 2008.      After dutifully waiting four years for the film to begin, Jennifer was no longer available. Enter: the ex-Law & Order series DA, 1993-1996.
  54. Anne Heche, Spread, 2008.      A change of Samantha meant Heche was the one being introduced in a great, nearly four-minute Steadycam shot.
  55. Melissa Leo, A Single Shot, 2012.   JJL was seen but Melissa had lately won a support Oscar – as Mark Wahlberg’s mother in The Fighter, 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls:  55