Top Ten: Great Jennifer Jason Leigh Movie Moments

Craig here. I've been given free reign on this week's Tuesday Top Ten. So, to keep it Actressexual I thought I'd offer up Ten Great Jennifer Jason Leigh moments. Here are some choice (short) cuts from the career of Ms. Leigh. They're in no order (chronological or preferential) and I've referred to Jennifer as JJL because, well, it saves time. Where's Margot at the Wedding? Where's The Anniversary Party? Fast Times at Ridgemont High? Synechdoche, New York, A Thousand Acres or The Machinist? Well, Nathaniel spoke about these and more in his interview with JJL a few years back. We're keen on avoiding any overlap.

1. Amy Archer, by Proxy: Goooooooo Eagles!!! JJL trying to avoid letting on that she's not really a Muncie girl at heart in The Hudsucker Proxy. She takes parodic period comedy to a higher level - not counting the Mezzanine.

2. The Mansfield Method: I'm sure we'd all shudder if I were to mention the words Tramps + Tralala + Back of a Car. But it's not that scene - although it was horrifically memorable for the sheer force of willpower with which JJL played it. In my view, just a tiny amount of genius was excreted when JJL played Tralala in Last Exit to Brooklyn. She's known to be Method on occasion - and some folk often balk at the Method Actor's over-rehearsal routine - but Tralala is exemplary evidence of how well Method can be harnessed in service of a role in an integral way. JJL didn't want to merely walk in the way she thought a 1950's hooker would - she supposed that Tralala would've walked the way Jayne Mansfield walked, since it was likely that someone in Talala's position would've wanted to emulate a then-screen icon to colour-up her own sense of self. So Tralala strutted thusly. Any time she sashays in or out of a scene you can see the results of her research bawdily trotted on the screen.

She, Jayne: JJL leads the Brooklyn charge

3. CSI: Crime Scene Intercourse: After reading Backdraft's script, JJL apparently had a word in director Ron Howard's shell-like that she 'wished she'd played the fire because it has the best part'. Girl's got a point. Who didn't go to see Backdraft to witness the spectacular immolation of a multitude of buildings? (Well, they did make a theme park attraction out of it.) JJL has claimed that she always trys to avoid straight-up wife/girlfriend roles for the sake of it, and if I'm not mistaken it was said pretty much after she starred in this. Maybe getting to grips with William Baldwin's fireman's pole atop a fire engine didn't quite cut it. But that scene was as memorable as it was dafter than a bag of cats.

4. "Sister" Act: Sinister act, more like. Lonely White Nutjob Hedy Carlson makes creative use of her spiked high heel in Single White Female. Footwear-based murdering aside, I was fully behind JJL in the film. She was much more fun to root for than Bridget Fonda's dull heroine. The film's like a style make-over lesson for psychos.

I doubt Hedy's track record at pet ownership is too reliable

5. Sister Act 2: Back on the Habit:"Take me back, take me back, take me back, take me back, take me back, take me back, take me BACK!" For the love of God, someone take her back. JJL's uninterrupted 8½-minute version of Van Morrison's 'Take Me Back' in 1995's Georgia was an audio endurance test/sublime depiction of raw vocal emotion [delete as appropriate]: those that love her (I count myself in this number) may well have liked to sit through another 8½-minutes (hang on, I don't love her that much); those that don't may have wanted to issue a fatwa upon Georgia's editor's head. This moment is unavailable to view outside of the film itself (due to some daft Van-instigated copyright business) but here - and just as memorable - is soulful sister Sadie Flood telling us she's gonna have no more Hard Times

6. The Ballad of Dorothy Parker: Of course I love me some JJL. But I've always been a fervent Dorothy Parker devotee, too. Imagine my joy, back in '94, on hearing that the former was to play the latter. (If you can't imagine that, and why would you, I'll simply say that I almost imploded with favourite female icon overload.) Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, or What Does One Have to Do to Exactly to Get an Oscar Nod Around Here?, was full to the brim of acidic put-downs and delightful quips, as was DP's MO. And here we get two of Parker's delicious bon mots, delivered in true derisory fashion, for the price of one: one being a barbed recitation of her eight-line poem Résumé, the other... well just watch the clip. Ouch, catty.

Drugs cause cramp? But sitting awkwardly will give you terrible posture Dotty.

7. Just a small hitch...: I'll bet that JJL's waitress Nash regretted downing the dishcloths and ditching diner life for a jaunt on the open road with C. Thomas Howell's lanky drifter in The Hitcher. Should she have gone? Should she have stayed? Oh, these decisions just tear you apart, don't they?

8. gAmeZ-R-uZ: Death to Videodrome! Long live The New flesh!... Oops, I mean, Death to the demoness Allegra Geller! Yes that. And long live eXistenZ! Hurrah. I think of this film every time I have to remove the giblets from a chicken at Sunday lunch (though I stop short of attempting to make a bone-gun out of its innards - I don't think my other half would appreciate a wishbone to the face). And I also think of this film every time I think about JJL and David Cronenberg. Which is a lot. If you haven't seen it, go and see Inception for a quick reminder; better still - watch the film itself. Two moments here: when Allegra gets out of the game ("Have I won? Have I won the game?"); and when we're not quite sure whether she has or whether she hasn't. ("Hey, tell me the truth... are we still in the game?")

Game playerZ Law and JJL

9. Cutting the call short: When most stay-at-home moms are cradling a phone receiver in one hand and a baby in the other they're probably having a much-needed chinwag with a friend. Short Cuts' Lois Kaiser, on the other hand, is a staunch multi-tasker. Verbally assisting a stranger to get his rocks off is as much part of her day as changing nappies. Chris Penn wasn't so keen, mind you.

For once, JJL hangs up so she can hang out.

10. After Birth of a Notion: JJL plays performance artist Lydia Johnson in Christopher Guest's movie-making spoof The Big Picture. In the film Guest and Leigh cheekily extract the urine out of performance art, turning it into a daft mockery of the strained seriousness that can all too often be found in the fine art world. Those who didn't think JJL had an aptitude for comedy should watch this clip. Mad and, indeed, cap.

* The main picture up top is a bonus moment, #11. JJL as Pauline in In the Cut: wandering around a garden in the morning, filling her head with beautiful thoughts - before she went and lost it.

Are there any moments I've missed that y'all like? Or are these enough for one day thankyouplease?

Beauty Break: Nicole Kidman

I've never been one to collect memorabilia, stills or autographs. But if I did I'd surely have a stash to represent my Kidmania. So happy 43rd to the Oscar winner.

all photos from this great website

In addition to that Trespass picture which sounds like a disaster, Kidman will soon be doing an HBO picture called Hemingway & Gellhorn. I smell Emmy nomination.

Here are arguably my six favorite pictures of Nicole from the past six years. Arguably because I argue with myself, don't you? Argue with yourself, not me, I mean.

random photo shoot, 2007

promoting Margot at the Wedding with Jennifer Jason Leigh in 2007

With Baz, her best iconographer, in 2008

random photo shoots from 2005 & 2007

<--- a 2006 photoshoot. I wish I knew the photographer's name.

Fansites like the great Nicole's Magic are a godsend. Visit them! I wish all actresses had fansites this devoted. It's easy to find similarly strong sites for other mega-stars like Pfeiffer or Streep. But sadly many of the great actresses have almost nothing online or scattershot, out of date sites. I've found that the name actresses from 70s through the early 90s are the biggest problem area. Once you hit the mid 90s, the internet had begun to take over and the stars from the 1950s and earlier will always have the "classic hollywood/nostalgia" factors going for them in terms of archiving. But inbetween those eras it's tough going if you want to see great photoshoots and whatnot.

Just about my only gripe with the best fansites of moviestars is that they tend to not list the photographers when they're sharing photoshoots from the years. Usually if you're scanning from a magazine the photographers name is right there and they definitely deserve the credit.

In chronological order, my six favorite Kidman performances: To Die For (1995), Moulin Rouge! (2001), The Others (2001), Birth (2004), Dogville (2004) and Margot at the Wedding (2007) with apologies to a handful of others. Here's hoping Rabbit Hole (2010) disrupts this list. Not that that will be easy to do because that list feels pretty untouchable. I didn't even have room for her 'violent jolt' in The Hours (2002).
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Streep Nom #10: The Bridges of Madison County

We've been looking at each Meryl Streep Oscar nod and its competitive field. Previously: 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 85, 87, 88 and 90.

When The Bridges of Madison County premiered in summer (a rare Eastwood berth, indeed) it seemed like Streep might finally win her 3rd Oscar the following Spring. She'd been away from the awards race in what seemed like forever. Hilariously, that "forever" absence had only been four consecutive years (1991-1994) but for Meryl, that's an eternity. In fact, a four year absence had never happened before and has never happened since all these years later. By the end of the 1995 film year, a really actressy one, the story was a lot different and the race was suddenly all but sewn up for Sarandon with only Streep and Stone as dark horse possibilities.

1995 the nominees were

• Susan Sarandon, Dead Man Walking
• Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas *Nathaniel's pick. This performance kills me.*
  
• Sharon Stone, Casino
  
• Meryl Streep, The Bridges of Madison County
• Emma Thompson, Sense & Sensibility
  

Trivia note: With this 10th honor, Streep tied Bette Davis & Jack Nicholson's overall nomination records (at the time -- Jack wasn't done giving Streep a run for #1) making them the collective #2 Oscar favored actor after Katharine Hepburn.

Back to the actual competition. How many times have we heard this almost-win story now? Meryl is flouncing along giddily in the general direction of the podium for her third triumph when suddenly...

But let us not bemoan that elusive third Oscar and instead marvel at how many valid choices Oscar made for 1995 and how good their roster might have been even if it had looked a lot different.

---> Meryl with Tom Cruise at the Oscars in March '96. (Note frosty snubbed Nicole, not yet ascendant, by his side)

Other 1995 women for context: Oscar chose the entire Globe Drama slate which meant that the comedic nominees were snubbed: Nicole Kidman (To Die For), Vanessa Redgrave (A Month by the Lake), Toni Collette (Muriel's Wedding), Annette Bening (The American President) and my fav Sandra Bullock perf (While You Were Sleeping). Two critical darlings Julianne Moore [safe] and the eternally snubbed Jennifer Jason Leigh (Georgia) were ignored due to being ahead of their time and upstaged by their co-star, respectively, though Leigh did win the coveted NYFCC prize. Box office queens Alicia Silverstone (Clueless) and Michelle Pfeiffer (Dangerous Minds) failed to scare up awards attention outside of MTV.

Other female leads that year included: Angela Bassett (Waiting to Exhale), Julie Delpy (Before Sunrise), Lori Petty (Tank Girl), Winona Ryder (How to Make an American Quilt), Elizabeth Berkely (Showgirls) and Sarah Jessica Parker (Miami Rhapsody) getting her first taste of romantic comedy lead stardom to come.

Bassett had a fiery 95 (Strange Days & Waiting to Exhale)

Finally, the year included a few leads who were previous Oscar winners Jessica Lange (Rob Roy), Geena Davis (Cutthroat Island), Holly Hunter (Home for the Holidays) and Kathy Bates (Dolores Claiborne) none of whom were received as warmly as had often previously been the case.

See what I mean about the year being actressy? And so many fine examples of different flavors of it, too.

Nathaniel's List: It's a tasty Oscar vintage for sure -- they done good -- but I'd have to remove Stone's effortful hot mess and Thompson's sensible sister to make room for two redheads who staked their first unmistakable claims to genius: Moore & Kidman. And though I'll always love "Cher" in Clueless, I can't make room for her in such an abundant year. That said, it's utterly shameful that the Globe Comedy nominations excluded her.

AS IF!

Your thoughts on the year, please. It's so rich, don'cha think?
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Adam Joins Margot at Pauline's Wedding

You'll know Adam from his Signatures series here at the Film Experience but I hope you'll also know him from his own blog Club Silencio where he recently made a strong case for Noah Baumbach's Margot at the Wedding. I don't love the film as much as he does, but it's a must read... especially for Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh fans.

Jennifer Jason Leigh ???

Still from Synecdoche New York

I'm so confused right now. Is she planning on starring in a Jocelyn Wildenstein biopic? Does she have the mumps? My apologies if that's unkind but what the hell is going on!?!* I thought she looked great in Margot at the Wedding --I mean aside from the dingy cinematography.

[last year's interview with JJL if ya missed it]

* spoiler answer: TFE reader Rosengje has solved the mystery... it's actually aging make-up job on JJL. No need to panic. She hasn't destroyed her face

We Can't Wait #1 Synecdoche New York

And so we come to the end of the 2008 "We Can't Wait" countdown. There's actually 2 more anticipatory posts to get you revved up about the new cinematic year but those are actor focused and they arrive next week (after we're done with the naked gold man). So let's wrap up this countdown with a group hug for MaryAnn of Flick Filosopher, Gabriel of Modern Fabulousity, Glenn of Stale Popcorn and Joe of Low Resolution who played in my little sandbox this week.

Our collective most awaited movie is... (drumroll)

Synecdoche, New York
Directed by Charlie Kauffman (directorial debut for the acclaimed screenwriter of Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Adaptation)
Starring we'll get to that in a second
Brought to You By US Distributor TBA
Expected Release Date Unknown but it's in post-production

Nathaniel: Synecdoche New York is about a theater director (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who builds a life size replica of New York City inside a warehouse for a production. Say what? There's also this -- his trouble with women. Those women are ...Dianne Wiest, Hope Davis, Lynn Cohen, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams , Catherine Keener and Emily Watson. Whew. And if the cast isn't enticing enough they're all in service to what sounds like another original oddity from the mind of the auteur-like screenwriter Charlie Kauffman.

So many reasons to love it on paper already. What more is there to say? I hope you'll find something...

MaryAnn: This movie was partly shot in my neighborhood in the Bronx. Part of the whole Bronx renaissance thing I was talking about before. But that's not why I can't wait to see it. I can't wait because no one consistently blows my mind like Charlie Kaufman does. And I don't get my mind blown anywhere near often enough.

Glenn: I'm intrigued and confused by this movie. I don't tend to get all excited for trailers, but I am for this one purely so we can see what on Earth Kaufman is doing? "life size replica of New York City"... say what? It is Kaufman after all so I'm sure it's even far less literal than I imagine it to be. I still can't wrap my head around it, which, in turn, is what makes me anticipate this movie so much. Plus, when you throw in a cast like that - I hope Kaufman becomes the first director in too long to properly utilise Dianne Weist - you have all the ingredients for the #1 most anticipated movie of 2008 (albeit not mine, but the group as a collective).

Can I just say how overjoyed I am that we showed a bit of spunk and personlity in our list?! USA Today did their top 16 and it's just summer/Christmas tentpole flicks such as Indiana Jones, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Narnia 2, Star Trek, The X-Files and The Mummy. I'm much more comfortable with my auteurs in action, epics in motion and all the other films we've discussed.

And thank you Nathaniel for doing the hard yards in organising this shindig. It's always great to discuss movies with people who are as equally passionate about them as I. Even if we disagree.

Joe: I agree with Glenn: we ARE awesome.

While I can't entirely ignore the nagging worry that an unbridled Kaufman could get in his own way (collaboration can be a good thing, and Spike Jonze can't be that busy on Where The Wild Things Are, can he? Okay, maybe he can.) That's a heck of a collection of women for ol' Phil Hoffman. Are we sure he's up for all that cardio?


I'm talking around the subject, because what else can we do? Glenn's right, until we see a trailer (and maybe not even then), we can't possibly presume to know what Charlie's up to. But if anyone in Hollywood has earned my complete and utter trust, it's Charlie Kaufman. Bring it on, however bizarre.

Gabriel: I'm obviously a sucker for PSH and Kaufmann (as anyone who sat next to me at Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind knows, right Nathaniel?), and of course being tangentially about the theater, Synecdoche New York plays directly into my wheelhouse.

But there's something rather splendid about the bevy of talented women here...in fact, I think it's their presence that makes me so excited in the first place. It's been so long since a great female-ensemble film has rocked my world...Evening was such a disappointment last year, and 2007 often seemed particularly oriented to the stories of men (No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, The Assassination of Jesse James, etc.). With Synecdoche and The Women and Sex & The City, I'm hoping 2008 does female actresses proud.

Nathaniel: The massive female cast is giving me tingles in special places. But I can't say that I'm thrilled that it's Hoffman that all these amazing women are orbiting. Married to Marisa Tomei in Before the Devil... you'd think that would be the tops. But now he's romantically linked to Catherine Keener (ex-wife), Samantha Morton (lover) and Michelle Williams (wife) ...all in one film! He must have sold his soul to the devil.

But I'll take Kauffman and all these women in a heartbeat. I think Kauffman writes great female characters (think of Miranda Otto in Human Nature, Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine, Keener & Cameron Diaz in Being John Malkovich, and Meryl Streep in Adaptation to cite several examples. I'm so excited for this. And you?

~finis~

We can't wait. But we have to. In most cases we'll be waiting till the fall when Hollywood finally lets their meaty films out. Which film are you salivating for that we didn't mention? And what would've been your numero uno?

<-- Sister Aloysius prays for your wicked soul if you haven't been reading the "we can't wait" countdown #1 Synecdoche, New York / #2 Burn After Reading / #3 Australia / #4 Milk / #5 Blindness / # 6 Doubt / #7 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button / #8 Revolutionary Road / #9 The Dark Knight / #10 Sex & The City: The Movie / #11 The Lovely Bones / #12 Wall-E / #13 Stop-Loss / #14 The Women / #15 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince / Introduction / Orphans
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"Breakthrough" According to the NY Times

The New York Times Magazine has another amazing photo gallery about this past year's great performances. Being the semantics bitch that I am (you know my feelings on "category fraud" at all awards shows) I am horrified to share with you that Julie Christie is among their 15 "breakthroughs" Julie f'ing Christie. Ah well... the photo gallery is beau-ti-ful, so check it out.


Juno's Ellen Page gets the cover of the magazine. These are my four favorite photos from the gallery: Christie (Away From Her), Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Margot at the Wedding... love that wintry chill and that she's so obscured) and Tang Wei (Lust, Caution. At least the NY Times noticed the dexterity of that performance). Click to enlarge of course... especially if you need to see JJL
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"Jennifer! Jason! Leigh!"

I require your patience and forgiveness. I really do. When one speaks to an actor of the caliber of Jennifer Jason Leigh, a woman long respected for rather shocking actorly dives into grueling often tortured women (think Tralala in Last Exit to Brooklyn or the disintegrating Sadie in Georgia), one should probably begin with solemn acknowledgement of their skill with the craft. But when I spoke with the one and only Jennifer Jason Leigh I actually kicked things off with a sitcom aside. "So, um Jennifer. How did you feel about Jack McFarland taking your name in vain on Will & Grace all those years. (He had such a thing for the three name actresses)?"

I don't know what possessed me. I'm really not this geeky and socially awkward in real life. Thankfully, Jennifer chuckled -- presumably for my embarrassed benefit --providing the laugh track that I needed and went with the question. She informed me that she heard about it second hand, later saw a couple of episodes and assumed it was meant with love. "A good thing, right?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

Trying to save face, I quickly moved into professional interviewer mode and we took a trip back to the 80s and her rise to fame. I asked her about those heady days, particularly in the late 80s and early 90s when critics were regularly found cracking open thesauri to find new ways to top each other in their genuflection to the girl with three first names. A critical darling she most decidedly was... and is, I should add, now that she's back to work in Margot at the Wedding.

When confronted with my curiosity about her breakthrough years, she didn't elaborate much beyond "It was a good time for me. I got to do really exciting stuff" but there was gratitude in her voice and no pretense whatsoever that she doesn't read reviews, god bless. Don't you hate when actors pretend that? I found her down to earth throughout the interview and altogether lacking in pretense. She acknowledged that it's great to read kind words about your work.

Jennifer Jason Leigh inspired heated critical devotion and public lust in equal measure as far back as Fast Time at Ridgemont High (1982) but she has never been the sort of star actress about whom the public knew too much. She was never a tabloid fixture, always an actor first, star second. I was curious to know, then, if she had experienced in this time of junkies and whores any confusion from others about where her characters ended and where she began? She admitted that it had come up romantically at the time ... "sometimes you would go on a date and you could tell that someone was expecting you to be very dramatic or very high strong or wild... all these things that I'm not at all." So she is not her characters at all? "I'd much rather play those things than be those things" she added. Terrific answer... especially when you stop to consider the things she'd be if she were the things she played.

When asked how she had chosen her roles, Jennifer rattled through her answer to a question she'd obviously been asked a million times. She humored me anyway. For her it's not an intellectual approach so much as a "do I connect to the character?" decision. She hastened to add that "the director will come into play too. I might not see it in the page but if I like the person..." When it comes to roles she's turned down she added with honest amusement "I've made mistakes... [long pause in which I swear I did not ask but in which time Jennifer Jason Leigh read my nosey mind] I won't tell you what they are." Defeated before I'd begun I tried anyway, asking for one tiny morsel, one secret could-have-been because I have no shame. She said "I just can't do it. I would really come off like a..." her voice trailing off more in thought than annoyance I think, for she then gave a measured response about loving certain movies that she didn't think would be right for her and wishing she had made them -- at the same time fully aware that they would have been different if she had and she often respected what the other actress had done.

We talked about the directors she had worked with in the past. For those unfamiliar with her filmography, a JJL viewing frenzy is rewarding in the auteur arena...

READ THE REST for more on her enduring career, the long line of Oscar snubs, working with David Cronenberg and Robert Altman. Plus: Nicole Kidman's generosity and "willingness to believe"
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Ask Jennifer

I'm interviewing Jennifer Jason Leigh later today (UPDATE: Here it is) and I thought I might involve a lucky few of you. What question would you ask her if you got the chance? Have at it in the comments. I might just ask your question in the interview.

Vanity Fair's Hollywood ~Episode 1 (1995)

At the risk of becoming a shill for Condé Nast I want to talk about those Vanity Fair Hollywood covers. They emerge in winter/spring each year and they're usually the talk of the town(s). Let's take a trip backwards and see how this photographic/promotional shrine to stars both lasting and un has morphed over the years, to witness its prophetic moments and its stupid ones, all before the next cover lands. Sound like fun?

The first one hit in '95 calling its lingerie'd ladies "the class of 2000" ~ Starstruck I was.


Left to right: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Uma Thurman, Nicole Kidman, Patricia Arquette, Linda Fiorentino, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Julianne Moore, Angela Bassett and Sandra Bullock. The idea embedded in the title was that these were fresh careers and they were only going up, up, up. How famous were they at the time and, come 2000, how were they doing?

...............I'm playing Hollywood Historian.

Jennifer Jason Leigh --the crouching focus puller, was already quite famous. Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Single White Female and Shortcuts were behind her (amongst many others) but the next few years weren't exactly rosy. The year this cover hit she was 33 and it was arguably the last of her always shaky A-list status: Georgia failed to deliver her the Oscar nomination many expected and the Stephen King adaptation Dolores Claiborne failed to turn into another Misery at the box office. By 2000 people weren't paying much attention and she was doing voice work and small parts in indies. She's back though this year with Margot at the Wedding. Is that elusive first Oscar nomination finally in sight?

Uma Thurman had been enjoying the spoils of fame since she was 18 when she had pulled off her nightgown in Dangerous Liaisons and stood naked like Venus on a shell in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. When this cover image was released she was 25 and full of fame adrenaline from that needle plunge in Pulp Fiction which had just brought her her one and only Oscar nomination. She was also between husbands, Gary Oldman recently divorced and Ethan Hawke yet to come. By 2000 her career was also floundering (but to be fair her career has been a yo-yo of hits and misses since the beginning) but it wouldn't be long before Kill Bill resparked the fires of Umaphilia everywhere.

Nicole Kidman was 28 and most famous for being "Mrs. Tom Cruise" though she had already made Dead Calm and Flirting (pluses in the 'take me seriously as an actress' column) and a few dumber Hollywood pictures. To Die For, the career changer, was just months away. Vanity Fair wasn't too far off with their Class of 2000 idea. Kidman entered the pantheon of true movie stars by 2001 with the triple explosion of Moulin Rouge!, The Others and the shaking off of the Mrs. Cruise mantle.

Patricia Arquette was 27 in 1995 and had won her first significant group of fans through her violent prostitute role in True Romance (1993) and this same year became Mrs. Nicolas Cage. Her stardom didn't really grow much past the level she had already achieved here but as the lead in TV's Medium she's doing fairly well for herself now.

Linda Fiorentino just turning 37 was the oldest covergirl but she had just made a big splash in The Last Seduction. Her smoky sexually charged performance brought her Oscar talk but there was no happy ending to the story. Due to a television airing somewhen somewhere the film was disqualified. Even at the time as a young amateur Oscarologist I didn't think it would happen. I figured 'just ask Kathleen Turner' --she had made an even more successful erotic splash to become a critical darling the previous decade in Body Heat only to be ignored by AMPAS. Fiorentino later appeared in the smash Men in Black but never became a true "star" and hasn't appeared in a film since 2002.

Gwyneth Paltrow was 22 when this cover debuted and somehow got to wear clothes when the rest of the girls were in bedroom gear. Unfair! Aside from her familial connections (daughter of Hollywood players) and strong reviews for her memorable supporting work in Flesh and Bone (1993) she was not well known. 1995 would change all that. She had just begun dating Brad Pitt (they met filming Se7en which would debut in September that year) and in so doing was on her way to becoming a household name and starring in Melissa Etheridge videos. That's what Brad's girls do. Three years later, Brad Pitt-less, she would win the Oscar for Shakespeare in Love (1998), the first of only two women here to do so.

.........But for me in the mid 90s it was all about the last fold.

Sarah Jessica Parker at 30 had been famous for as long as Jennifer Jason Leigh. Four years prior to this cover she had improbably reinvented herself as a sexy sassy supporting movie player in L.A. Story (1991) saving her blah television career from its slow death. Well reviewed turns in Honeymoon in Vegas (1993) Ed Wood (1994) and Miami Rhapsody (1995) kept her star rising but it was the decision to return to television with Sex & The City (debuting in 1998) that made her a superstar. By 2000 she was big.

Julianne Moore at 34 was about to break. She had won a daytime Emmy in 1988 but her rise through the movie ranks was slow: as a star she's been a tortoise rather than a hare. [safe] 's release was a few months away but even that film, crucial to the Moore mystique, took years to build its critical reputation and fandom. When 2000 rolled around, just as the title of this magazine predicted, she was a major leading actress and already a two time Oscar nominee for Boogie Nights (1997) and The End of the Affair (1999).

Angela Bassett on her way to 37 had a huge breakthrough with What's Love Got To Do With It (1993) and her star was shining brightly. After this cover she had two more lead performances in hits both major Waiting to Exhale (1996) and minor How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998) --bigger hits than some of the others managed-- but her star still faded. It's maddening (see previous post for more on the plight of black actresses)

Sandra Bullock was fresh off the smash success of Speed (1994), about to turn 31 and prove her own Keanu free bankability in While You Were Sleeping (1995) and would continue to prove it for years thereafter remaining one of the mainstreams favored stars. She hasn't had a big hit since 2002 though and methinks she's transitioning to supporting roles in her mid to late 40s.

now

median age: 30
collective Oscar nominations before this cover: 2
collective Oscar nominations after: 7 --and most of those are Julianne's. 2 wins: not Julianne's. grrrr
fame levels in 2007 according to famousr, from most to least: Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Uma Thurman, Julianne Moore, Patricia Arquette, Angela Bassett, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Linda Fiorentino

Did you like this trip back in time. Want more?
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subsequent episodes: 1995 ,1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001
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Marion Cotillard & Jennifer Jason Leigh

It's that time of year. Every Sunday the NY Times Style Magazine becomes a defacto Oscar FYC ad with luscious photoshoots of would be nominees --Last week Cate Blanchett was doin' her Dylan thing as a coverboygirl. This week's lucky ladies: Marion Cotillard talking about Edith Piaf for all who will listen (though that nomination is already a done deal methinks) and a stellar five page spread of Jennifer Jason Leigh hoping to emerge as a nominee for her abused sibling act in Margot at The Wedding.