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Jennifer Jason Leigh
FILMOGRAPHY (ONLY REVIEWED ENTRIES)
From her small breakthrough in her debut film, Fast Times at Ridgemont High (in a rather ordinary youth role), Jennifer Jason Leigh has always sought out the challenging roles. Misfits, girls on the edge of society, or in some other way deviant characters have been her most typical choices. As a result, Leigh has never achieved your typical star status, but her work has been generally acclaimed, and she has shone in some standout roles in smaller films. She was memorable opposite Bridget Fonda in Single White Female and virtually stole every scene in which she appeared in the Coens' The Hudsucker Proxy. Alongside the fantastic Kathy Bates, she shone in a soul-searching part in Taylor Hackford's brilliant Dolores Claiborne, and if you want to see Jennifer Jason Leigh at her sexiest, look no further than David Cronenberg's eXistenZ, where she and Jude Law hit it off in a peculiar little film. Leigh made her directorial debut in 1999, alongside friend Alan Cumming, casting a number of colleagues from the business in the fascinating The Anniversary Party. Although now in the latter part of her career, Leigh, in contrast to many other actresses of her generation who depended more on classical beauty, has continued to land exciting roles.
TRIVIA
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) "How could they do this to Jennifer Jason Leigh? How could they put such a fresh and cheerful person into such a scuz-pit of a movie? Don't they know they have a star on their hands? I didn't even know who Leigh was when I walked into FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, and yet I was completely won over by her. She contained so much life and light that she was a joy to behold." - Roger Ebert "The friendship of the two girls—Jennifer Jason Leigh as the 15-year-old Stacy who is eager to learn about sex and Phoebe Cates as the jaded Valley Girl Linda who shares what she knows—has a lovely matter-of-factness."
- Pauline Kael The Big Picture (1989) "Very funny performance by Leigh as a dingbat" - Leonard Maltin Backdraft (1991) "The gifted Leigh fails miserably playing a normal young woman" - Leonard Maltin Rush (1991) "Leigh, of course, is a veteran by now of grubby characters in sleazy films; she has become one of the best young actresses by accepting roles some of her contemporaries would not even consider. After her extraordinary work as a doomed prostitute in LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN, here she is again, looking sweet and wholesome, and descending into a world of people who have forgotten their better natures. Georgia (1995) "In 1994, Jennifer Jason Leigh was robbed by the Academy of a much-deserved Oscar nomination for Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. Undaunted, Leigh returned to the screen in 1995 with a pair of tremendous performances in films of vastly different tone and temperament: Dolores Claiborne and Georgia. It is for the latter movie, which the actress was instrumental in bringing to the screen, that she will likely receive the recognition she was denied last year. Georgia is a tour de force for Leigh, and her portrayal of the troubled, passionate Sadie lingers in the mind long after many of the movie's plot details have faded." - James Berardinelli eXistenZ (1999) "Jennifer Jason Leigh, that fearless adventurer in extreme roles, plays Allegra" - Roger Ebert In the Cut (2003) "Jennifer Jason Leigh's part, however, is close to typecasting. This is a role she knows all too well to make an enthusiastic effort when surrounded by material as bleak as this. But still, one has the feeling that with Leigh's range and creativity, things aren't looking quite as doomed as with Ryan." - Fredrik Fevang
Dolores Claiborne (1995) Selena St. George: [To her boss, Peter] So not only are you not fucking me now, you're fucking me. |
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