Jennifer Jason Leigh
Encyclopedia
Jennifer Jason Leigh is an American film and stage actress, best known for her roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High
, Single White Female
, Last Exit to Brooklyn
, Georgia
and Short Cuts
. She is also the co-writer and co-director of the film The Anniversary Party
, made with fellow actor Alan Cumming
.
Leigh is known for her emotionally raw and often sexually explicit portrayals of vulnerable and damaged women, and for her intensive method
inspired research into her roles.
. She is the daughter of actor Vic Morrow
and screenwriter Barbara Turner. Leigh's birth name was Jennifer Leigh Morrow. She changed her surname early in her acting career, taking the middle name "Jason" in honor of the actor Jason Robards
, a family friend. Leigh's parents were Jewish, of Russian descent on her father's side.
Leigh has an older sister, Carrie Ann Morrow, who was credited as a "technical advisor" in Georgia
, and on whom the role of Sadie Flood was reputedly based. Leigh also has a half-sister actress Mina Badie, from her mother's marriage, who acted alongside Leigh in The Anniversary Party
. The director Reza Badiyi
was her mother's second husband and was at the time her step-father.
Performing Arts Training Center in Loch Sheldrake, New York
summer acting workshops given by Lee Strasberg
and landed a role in the movie The Young Runaways
(1978). She received her Screen Actors Guild
membership for an episode of the TV series Baretta (1975) when she was 16.
An episode of The Waltons
and several TV movies followed, including a portrayal of an anorexic teenager in The Best Little Girl in the World
, for which Leigh dropped to 86 pounds (39 kg) under medical supervision. She made her big screen debut playing a blind
, deaf, and mute
rape
victim in the 1981 slasher film
Eyes of a Stranger
. In 1982, she played a teenager who gets pregnant in the Cameron Crowe
- scripted high school comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High
, which served as a launching pad for several of its young stars, including Sean Penn
, Judge Reinhold
, Forest Whitaker
, Eric Stoltz
, Anthony Edwards
, Phoebe Cates
and Nicolas Cage
. In 1983 Leigh had a small role in the Rodney Dangerfield movie Easy Money, playing the eldest of two daughters, who marries a man that Rodney disapproves of.
With the exception of Ridgemont High, Leigh's early film work consisted of playing fragile, damaged, or neurotic
characters in low-budget horror or thriller genre films. She played a virginal princess kidnapped and raped by mercenaries
in Flesh & Blood
(1985), an innocent waitress pursued by the psychotic title character in The Hitcher (1986) (both films pitting her opposite Rutger Hauer), and a young woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown
in Heart of Midnight
(1989).
In 1990, Leigh made a significant career breakthrough when she was voted the year's Best Supporting Actress by both the New York Film Critics Circle and the Boston Society of Film Critics
for her portrayals of two very different prostitutes: the tough streetwalker Tralala who submits to a brutal gang rape in Last Exit to Brooklyn
, and Susie, a teenage prostitute who falls in love with ex-con Alec Baldwin
in Miami Blues. Reviewers commented on Leigh's raw emotionality and apparent lack of vanity in her performances, especially in Last Exit which controversially featured prolonged scenes of sexual violence.
Leigh was then cast in her first mainstream Hollywood studio film, the firefighter drama Backdraft
, in which she played a somewhat more conventional role as the girlfriend of lead actor William Baldwin
. Leigh reportedly told director Ron Howard
that she wished that she could be the fire because it had the film's best role. In subsequent interviews, Leigh has stated that the role is her least favorite performance: "In mainstream movies, the woman's role is mostly just to prove that the leading man is heterosexual. I'm not good at that, and I'm not interested in that."
Leigh found more success in the gritty crime drama Rush
(1991), in which she portrayed an undercover narcotics policewoman who becomes a junkie in the line of duty in and falls in love with her partner Jason Patric
. Her next film Single White Female
(1992) was a surprise box office success, bringing Leigh to her largest yet mainstream audience. As Hedy, the psychotic "roommate from hell" who steals flatmate Bridget Fonda
's identity and boyfriend and commits murder with a stiletto
heel, Leigh created a memorably vulnerable and frightening character, and was awarded the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain
and nominated by the Chicago Film Critics Association
for Best Actress.
In a change of pace from her "bad girl" roles, Leigh played the fast-talking reporter Amy Archer in the Coen Brothers
’ comic homage to 1930s screwball comedy
The Hudsucker Proxy
(1994), modeling her performance and speaking style on the early work of Katharine Hepburn
. Leigh took her first lead role as the writer and critic Dorothy Parker
in Alan Rudolph's film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
(1994). Her performance was highly acclaimed, receiving a Golden Globe nomination and a Best Actress
award from the National Society of Film Critics
, as well as Best Actress awards from the Chicago Film Critics Association
and Fort Lauderdale Film Critics.
Arguably Leigh's finest performance was in the role of Sadie Flood, an angry, drug-addicted rock singer living in the shadow of her successful older sister (Mare Winningham
) in Georgia
(1995). The film was written by Leigh's mother Barbara Turner, and was co-produced by Turner and Leigh. The story of intense sibling rivalry and the problems of drug addiction within a family are reputedly based on Leigh's sister Carrie (who is credited as "technical adviser" on the film) and her relationship with Leigh as the more successful sister. Turner, Leigh and Morrow have made no public comment as to whether the film is biographical. For the role, Leigh dropped to 90 pounds (40.8 kg) and sang all her songs live, including a rambling 8½-minute version of Van Morrison
's "Take Me Back" performed as her character is under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Georgia was met with universal critical praise, with Leigh's performance hailed as one of the best of the year. Peter Travers
of Rolling Stone
wrote that "[Leigh's] fierce, funny, exasperating and deeply affecting portrayal commands attention"; James Berardinelli
claimed, "There are times when it's uncomfortable to watch this performance because it's so powerful", while Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times
said "Leigh’s exceptional performance tears you apart… we've never seen anything like it before." Leigh won a Best Actress
award from the New York Film Critics Circle and another from the Montreal World Film Festival
, as well as an Independent Spirit Award nomination. She was widely predicted to receive her first Academy Award nomination for the role, but controversially, was not nominated, although her co-star Winningham received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Throughout the 1990s, Leigh showcased her versatility working with a number of acclaimed independent film directors. In 1993, she joined the ensemble cast of Robert Altman's film Short Cuts
, playing a phone-sex operator who diapers her newborn baby while talking to clients. Leigh reportedly interviewed phone sex operators as part of her research for the role, and wrote most of her own dialogue for the phone sex scenes.
She co-starred with Kathy Bates
as a tormented, pill-popping woman hiding a history of childhood sexual abuse in the adaptation of Stephen King
's novel Dolores Claiborne
(1995). Working again with Altman, a family friend, she played a streetwise kidnapper alongside Miranda Richardson
in Altman's Jazz Era drama Kansas City
(1996). Taking another radical change of pace, she starred in Agnieszka Holland
's version of the Henry James
novel Washington Square
(1997), as a mousy 19th-century heiress courted by a gold-digger. In David Cronenberg
's eXistenZ
(1999), she played a virtual reality game designer who becomes lost in her own creation. She had a brief role as a doomed gangster's wife in Sam Mendes
's Road to Perdition
(2002), and co-starred as Meg Ryan
's brutally murdered sister in Jane Campion
's erotic thriller In the Cut
(2003). After a long period of avoiding prostitute roles, she played alongside Christian Bale
as his prostitute girlfriend in the thriller The Machinist
(2004). Mick LaSalle
of the San Francisco Chronicle
commented that "As the downtrodden, sexy, trusting and quietly funny prostitute, Leigh is, of course, in her element". Her performance as a manipulative stage mother in Don McKellar
's film Childstar
won her a Genie Award
in 2005.
In recent years, Leigh appeared in the 2008 ensemble film Synecdoche, New York
and has acted in two films written and directed by her then-partner Noah Baumbach
- Margot at the Wedding
, co-starring Nicole Kidman
, and Greenberg
as Ben Stiller
's love interest.
Leigh has received three separate career tributes - at the Telluride Film Festival
in 1993, a special award for her contribution to independent cinema from the Film Society of Lincoln Center
in 2002, and a week-long retrospective showing of her film work held by the American Cinematheque
at Los Angeles' Egyptian Theatre in 2001.
in Sam Mendes
' Broadway revival of musical Cabaret
on Broadway
, succeeding Natasha Richardson
who originated the role in Mendes' production. She succeeded Mary-Louise Parker
in the lead role in Proof
on Broadway in 2001. Her theatrical appearances include The Glass Menagerie
, Man of Destiny, The Shadow Box, Picnic, Sunshine
, and Abigail's Party
. She is currently playing Bunny in the Broadway
revival of House of Blue Leaves in New York City
alongside Ben Stiller
and Edie Falco
.
, an independently produced feature film about a recently reconciled married couple who assemble their friends at their Hollywood Hills
house, ostensibly to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary. As the evening progresses, however, the party disintegrages into emotional confrontations and bitter arguments as the facade of their happy marriage crumbles. Leigh was reportedly inspired by her recent experience filming low-budget Dogme film The King Is Alive
. Leigh and Cumming reputedly drew freely from their personal experiences in the writing of the film. Leigh plays an aging actress who makes jokes about her lack of Academy Award nominations, and who is fearful of losing her bisexual husband (Cumming). The film was shot in 19 days on digital video, and co-starred the pair's real-life Hollywood friends including Kevin Kline
, Phoebe Cates
, Gwyneth Paltrow
, Jennifer Beals
, John C. Reilly
and Parker Posey
and also featured Leigh's sister Mina Badie. The film was well received and reviewed. Leigh and Cumming jointly received a citation for Excellence in Filmmaking from the National Board of Review, and were nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards
for Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay.
research in every role, including keeping diaries written in the character’s voice, and in the past has interviewed psychiatrists, mental patients, drug addicts, sexual abuse
survivors, prostitutes and phone sex workers to prepare for her roles.
Leigh filmed a role in Stanley Kubrick
's final film Eyes Wide Shut
(1999) as a grieving patient of Tom Cruise
, who declares her love for him after the death of her father. Kubrick wanted to re-shoot the scenes, but Leigh was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts with eXistenZ
. Kubrick took the somewhat controversial step of cutting Leigh's scenes, and recasting and reshooting the role with Swedish actress Marie Richardson
. Leigh has never commented publicly on the experience of working with Kubrick nor of being cut from the film.
Leigh has also spoken openly about a number of roles she unsuccessfully campaigned for, including the Linda Hamilton
role in Sarah Connor
in The Terminator
, the Holly Hunter
role in The Piano
, and the role of Catwoman
in Batman Returns
. Leigh was originally cast as Vincent Gallo
's girlfriend in his self-directed film The Brown Bunny
, and was apparently prepared to perform oral sex
on Gallo as the script required. Leigh subsequently commented that "it just didn't work out" and the role was eventually played by Chloë Sevigny
.
In 1997, she was featured in Faith No More
's music video for "Last Cup of Sorrow
".
She was selected as one of "America's 10 Most Beautiful Women" by Harper's Bazaar
magazine in 1989.
Leigh served as a jury member at the 2000 Venice Film Festival
.
. Leigh and her sister filed a lawsuit for wrongful death against Warner Brothers, John Landis
, and Steven Spielberg
. They settled out of court a year later. The terms of the settlement have never been made public.
Leigh was involved in long term relationships with actor Eric Stoltz
and film director Steven Shainberg
. She has also been romantically linked to actors Robert Downey, Jr. and Kevin Spacey
.
Leigh met independent film writer-director Noah Baumbach
in 2001, while she was starring on Broadway in Proof. The couple married on September 2, 2005. Their son, Rohmer Emmanuel, was born on March 17, 2010. Leigh filed for divorce from Baumbach on November 15, 2010 in Los Angeles
, citing irreconcilable differences. Leigh is seeking spousal support as well as primary custody of the couple's son, with visitation for Baumbach.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written by Cameron Crowe and adapted from his 1981 book of the same name...
, Single White Female
Single White Female
Single White Female is a 1992 American erotic thriller based on John Lutz's novel SWF Seeks Same. The film stars Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh and is directed by Barbet Schroeder.-Plot:...
, Last Exit to Brooklyn
Last Exit to Brooklyn (film)
Last Exit to Brooklyn is a 1989 English-language German drama film, directed by Uli Edel, and based on the eponymous novel by Hubert Selby Jr.- Plot :...
, Georgia
Georgia (1995 film)
Georgia is a 1995 American independent film starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Mare Winningham. In the film, Leigh played Sadie Flood, a punky barroom singer who has a complicated, jealous but loving relationship with her older sister, Georgia, played by Winningham. Georgia is a successful, talented...
and Short Cuts
Short Cuts
Short Cuts is a 1993 American drama film directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver...
. She is also the co-writer and co-director of the film The Anniversary Party
The Anniversary Party
The Anniversary Party is a 2001 American comedy-drama film written, directed, produced by, and starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming.-Plot:...
, made with fellow actor Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming, OBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actor, singer, writer, director, producer and author. His roles have included the Emcee in Cabaret, Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United, Mr. Elton in Emma, and Fegan Floop in the Spy Kids trilogy...
.
Leigh is known for her emotionally raw and often sexually explicit portrayals of vulnerable and damaged women, and for her intensive method
Method acting
Method acting is a phrase that loosely refers to a family of techniques used by actors to create in themselves the thoughts and emotions of their characters, so as to develop lifelike performances...
inspired research into her roles.
Early life
Leigh was born on 5 February 1962 in Hollywood, CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. She is the daughter of actor Vic Morrow
Vic Morrow
Victor "Vic" Morrow was an American actor whose credits include a starring role in the 1960s TV series Combat!, prominent roles in a handful of other television and cinema dramas, and numerous guest roles on television...
and screenwriter Barbara Turner. Leigh's birth name was Jennifer Leigh Morrow. She changed her surname early in her acting career, taking the middle name "Jason" in honor of the actor Jason Robards
Jason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
, a family friend. Leigh's parents were Jewish, of Russian descent on her father's side.
Leigh has an older sister, Carrie Ann Morrow, who was credited as a "technical advisor" in Georgia
Georgia (1995 film)
Georgia is a 1995 American independent film starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Mare Winningham. In the film, Leigh played Sadie Flood, a punky barroom singer who has a complicated, jealous but loving relationship with her older sister, Georgia, played by Winningham. Georgia is a successful, talented...
, and on whom the role of Sadie Flood was reputedly based. Leigh also has a half-sister actress Mina Badie, from her mother's marriage, who acted alongside Leigh in The Anniversary Party
The Anniversary Party
The Anniversary Party is a 2001 American comedy-drama film written, directed, produced by, and starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming.-Plot:...
. The director Reza Badiyi
Reza Badiyi
Reza Sayed Badiyi was an Iranian-American film director. Badiyi was well known for directing episodes of many popular television series...
was her mother's second husband and was at the time her step-father.
Early work
Leigh worked in her first film at the age of nine, in a nonspeaking role for the film Death of a Stranger (The Execution) (1973). At 14, she attended Stagedoor ManorStagedoor Manor
Stagedoor Manor is a performing arts summer camp located in Loch Sheldrake, New York. Over the past 36 years, it has trained thousands of young actors, many of whom have gone on to success in film, television, and theatre....
Performing Arts Training Center in Loch Sheldrake, New York
Loch Sheldrake, New York
Loch Sheldrake is a hamlet in the Town of Fallsburg, New York in Sullivan County, New York. The zipcode for Loch Sheldrake is 12759.The community was originally named Sheldrake Pond after a deep glacially formed pond which forms the center of town...
summer acting workshops given by Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
and landed a role in the movie The Young Runaways
The Young Runaways
The Young Runaways is a 1968 teen-exploitation film that stars Brooke Bundy, Kevin Coughlin and Patty McCormack. The supporting players are Lloyd Bochner, Dick Sergeant and in one of his earliest roles Richard Dreyfuss, has a small part as Terry, a juvenile delinquent who meets a bad end...
(1978). She received her Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
membership for an episode of the TV series Baretta (1975) when she was 16.
An episode of The Waltons
The Waltons
The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...
and several TV movies followed, including a portrayal of an anorexic teenager in The Best Little Girl in the World
The Best Little Girl in the World
The Best Little Girl in the World is a 1981 television film directed by Sam O'Steen and executive produced by Aaron Spelling. The film is based upon the 1978 novel of the same name written by Steven Levenkron.-Plot:...
, for which Leigh dropped to 86 pounds (39 kg) under medical supervision. She made her big screen debut playing a blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
, deaf, and mute
Muteness
Muteness or mutism is an inability to speak caused by a speech disorder. The term originates from the Latin word mutus, meaning "silent".-Causes:...
rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
victim in the 1981 slasher film
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
Eyes of a Stranger
Eyes of a Stranger (1981 film)
Eyes of a Stranger is a 1981 slasher film directed by Ken Wiederhorn. It features makeup effects by Tom Savini and stars Jennifer Jason Leigh in one of her earliest roles.-Plot:...
. In 1982, she played a teenager who gets pregnant in the Cameron Crowe
Cameron Crowe
Cameron Bruce Crowe is an American screenwriter and film director. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes....
- scripted high school comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written by Cameron Crowe and adapted from his 1981 book of the same name...
, which served as a launching pad for several of its young stars, including Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
, Judge Reinhold
Judge Reinhold
Judge Reinhold is an American actor, perhaps best known for co-starring in movies such as Beverly Hills Cop, Ruthless People, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and The Santa Clause trilogy.-Early life:...
, Forest Whitaker
Forest Whitaker
Forest Steven Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. He has earned a reputation for intensive character study work for films such as Bird and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and for his recurring role as ex-LAPD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on the gritty, award-winning television...
, Eric Stoltz
Eric Stoltz
Eric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...
, Anthony Edwards
Anthony Edwards
Anthony Charles Edwards is an American actor and director. He has appeared in various movies and television shows, including Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Top Gun, Zodiac, Revenge of the Nerds, Northern Exposure and ER.-Early life:Edwards was born in Santa Barbara, California, the son of Erika...
, Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates is an American film actress, model, and entrepreneur known for her roles in several teen films, most notably Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins.-Early life:...
and Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
. In 1983 Leigh had a small role in the Rodney Dangerfield movie Easy Money, playing the eldest of two daughters, who marries a man that Rodney disapproves of.
With the exception of Ridgemont High, Leigh's early film work consisted of playing fragile, damaged, or neurotic
Neurosis
Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving distress but neither delusions nor hallucinations, whereby behavior is not outside socially acceptable norms. It is also known as psychoneurosis or neurotic disorder, and thus those suffering from it are said to be neurotic...
characters in low-budget horror or thriller genre films. She played a virginal princess kidnapped and raped by mercenaries
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
in Flesh & Blood
Flesh & Blood (film)
Flesh & Blood is a 1985 film directed by Paul Verhoeven. It is set in the year 1501 in Italy, and follows a group of mercenaries as they loot, rape and kill....
(1985), an innocent waitress pursued by the psychotic title character in The Hitcher (1986) (both films pitting her opposite Rutger Hauer), and a young woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
in Heart of Midnight
Heart of Midnight (film)
Heart of Midnight is a 1988 American thriller film written and directed by Matthew Chapman and starring Jennifer Jason Leigh. The story follows a young woman with a troubled past who has a hard time dealing with the reality of her new surroundings...
(1989).
In 1990, Leigh made a significant career breakthrough when she was voted the year's Best Supporting Actress by both the New York Film Critics Circle and the Boston Society of Film Critics
Boston Society of Film Critics
The Boston Society of Film Critics is an organization of film reviewers from Boston, Massachusetts, United States, based publications.The BSFC was formed in 1981 to make "Boston's unique critical perspective heard on a national and international level by awarding commendations to the best of the...
for her portrayals of two very different prostitutes: the tough streetwalker Tralala who submits to a brutal gang rape in Last Exit to Brooklyn
Last Exit to Brooklyn (film)
Last Exit to Brooklyn is a 1989 English-language German drama film, directed by Uli Edel, and based on the eponymous novel by Hubert Selby Jr.- Plot :...
, and Susie, a teenage prostitute who falls in love with ex-con Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
in Miami Blues. Reviewers commented on Leigh's raw emotionality and apparent lack of vanity in her performances, especially in Last Exit which controversially featured prolonged scenes of sexual violence.
Leigh was then cast in her first mainstream Hollywood studio film, the firefighter drama Backdraft
Backdraft
A backdraft is an explosive event at a fire resulting from rapid re-introduction of oxygen to combustion in an oxygen-starved environment, for example, the breaking of a window or opening of a door to an enclosed space. Backdrafts present a serious threat to firefighters, even those with a high...
, in which she played a somewhat more conventional role as the girlfriend of lead actor William Baldwin
William Baldwin
William Joseph "Billy" Baldwin is an American actor, producer, and writer, known for his starring roles in such films as Flatliners , Backdraft , Sliver , Fair Game , Virus , Double Bang , as Johnny 13 in Danny Phantom , Art Heist , The Squid and the Whale , as himself...
. Leigh reportedly told director Ron Howard
Ron Howard
Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
that she wished that she could be the fire because it had the film's best role. In subsequent interviews, Leigh has stated that the role is her least favorite performance: "In mainstream movies, the woman's role is mostly just to prove that the leading man is heterosexual. I'm not good at that, and I'm not interested in that."
Leigh found more success in the gritty crime drama Rush
Rush (1991 film)
Rush is a 1991 American crime drama feature film, based on a novel written by Kim Wozencraft. A narcotics detective and his inexperienced partner go after an elusive drug dealer...
(1991), in which she portrayed an undercover narcotics policewoman who becomes a junkie in the line of duty in and falls in love with her partner Jason Patric
Jason Patric
Jason Patric is an American film, television and stage actor. He may be best-known for his roles in the films The Lost Boys, Sleepers, Your Friends & Neighbors, Narc, The Losers and Speed 2: Cruise Control. His father was actor/playwright Jason Miller...
. Her next film Single White Female
Single White Female
Single White Female is a 1992 American erotic thriller based on John Lutz's novel SWF Seeks Same. The film stars Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh and is directed by Barbet Schroeder.-Plot:...
(1992) was a surprise box office success, bringing Leigh to her largest yet mainstream audience. As Hedy, the psychotic "roommate from hell" who steals flatmate Bridget Fonda
Bridget Fonda
Bridget Jane Fonda is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in films such as The Godfather Part III, Single White Female, Point of No Return, It Could Happen to You, and Jackie Brown...
's identity and boyfriend and commits murder with a stiletto
Stiletto
A stiletto is a knife or dagger with a long slender blade and needle-like point, intended primarily as a stabbing weapon. The stiletto blade's narrow cross-section and acuminated tip reduces friction upon entry, allowing the blade to penetrate deeply...
heel, Leigh created a memorably vulnerable and frightening character, and was awarded the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain
MTV Movie Award for Best Villain
This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Villain.-References:...
and nominated by the Chicago Film Critics Association
Chicago Film Critics Association
The Chicago Film Critics Association is an American film critic association.-Members:Current members include:*Sarah Knight Adamson*Zbigniew Banas*Shelley Cameron*Dave Canfield*Vittorio Carli*Erik Childress*Camerin Courtney*Bonnie DeShong...
for Best Actress.
In a change of pace from her "bad girl" roles, Leigh played the fast-talking reporter Amy Archer in the Coen Brothers
Coen Brothers
Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
’ comic homage to 1930s screwball comedy
Screwball Comedy
Screwball Comedy is an album by the Japanese band Soul Flower Union. The album found the band going into a simpler, harder-rocking direction, after several heavily world-music influenced albums.-Track listing:...
The Hudsucker Proxy
The Hudsucker Proxy
The Hudsucker Proxy is a 1994 screwball comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Sam Raimi co-wrote the script and served as second unit director....
(1994), modeling her performance and speaking style on the early work of Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
. Leigh took her first lead role as the writer and critic Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker was an American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist, best known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th century urban foibles....
in Alan Rudolph's film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle is a 1994 film scripted by writer/director Alan Rudolph and former Washington Star reporter Randy Sue Coburn...
(1994). Her performance was highly acclaimed, receiving a Golden Globe nomination and a Best Actress
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
TheNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress is an annual award given by the National Society of Film Critics to honour the best leading actress of the year.-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
award from the National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
, as well as Best Actress awards from the Chicago Film Critics Association
Chicago Film Critics Association
The Chicago Film Critics Association is an American film critic association.-Members:Current members include:*Sarah Knight Adamson*Zbigniew Banas*Shelley Cameron*Dave Canfield*Vittorio Carli*Erik Childress*Camerin Courtney*Bonnie DeShong...
and Fort Lauderdale Film Critics.
Arguably Leigh's finest performance was in the role of Sadie Flood, an angry, drug-addicted rock singer living in the shadow of her successful older sister (Mare Winningham
Mare Winningham
Mare Winningham , born Mary Megan Winningham, is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Drama Desk, 7 times for Emmy Awards , and has also won an Independent Spirit Award and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.She is...
) in Georgia
Georgia (1995 film)
Georgia is a 1995 American independent film starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Mare Winningham. In the film, Leigh played Sadie Flood, a punky barroom singer who has a complicated, jealous but loving relationship with her older sister, Georgia, played by Winningham. Georgia is a successful, talented...
(1995). The film was written by Leigh's mother Barbara Turner, and was co-produced by Turner and Leigh. The story of intense sibling rivalry and the problems of drug addiction within a family are reputedly based on Leigh's sister Carrie (who is credited as "technical adviser" on the film) and her relationship with Leigh as the more successful sister. Turner, Leigh and Morrow have made no public comment as to whether the film is biographical. For the role, Leigh dropped to 90 pounds (40.8 kg) and sang all her songs live, including a rambling 8½-minute version of Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
's "Take Me Back" performed as her character is under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Georgia was met with universal critical praise, with Leigh's performance hailed as one of the best of the year. Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Peter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
wrote that "[Leigh's] fierce, funny, exasperating and deeply affecting portrayal commands attention"; James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...
claimed, "There are times when it's uncomfortable to watch this performance because it's so powerful", while Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
said "Leigh’s exceptional performance tears you apart… we've never seen anything like it before." Leigh won a Best Actress
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-1930s:-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
award from the New York Film Critics Circle and another from the Montreal World Film Festival
Montreal World Film Festival
The Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF...
, as well as an Independent Spirit Award nomination. She was widely predicted to receive her first Academy Award nomination for the role, but controversially, was not nominated, although her co-star Winningham received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Throughout the 1990s, Leigh showcased her versatility working with a number of acclaimed independent film directors. In 1993, she joined the ensemble cast of Robert Altman's film Short Cuts
Short Cuts
Short Cuts is a 1993 American drama film directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver...
, playing a phone-sex operator who diapers her newborn baby while talking to clients. Leigh reportedly interviewed phone sex operators as part of her research for the role, and wrote most of her own dialogue for the phone sex scenes.
She co-starred with Kathy Bates
Kathy Bates
Kathleen Doyle "Kathy" Bates is an American actress and director.After several small roles in film and television, Bates rose to prominence with her performance in Misery , for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe...
as a tormented, pill-popping woman hiding a history of childhood sexual abuse in the adaptation of Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's novel Dolores Claiborne
Dolores Claiborne (film)
Dolores Claiborne is a 1995 film based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, starring Kathy Bates and Jennifer Jason Leigh. It was directed by Taylor Hackford.-Plot:...
(1995). Working again with Altman, a family friend, she played a streetwise kidnapper alongside Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
in Altman's Jazz Era drama Kansas City
Kansas City (1996 film)
Kansas City is a 1996 film, directed by Robert Altman, and featuring numerous jazz tracks. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Miranda Richardson, Harry Belafonte, and Steve Buscemi starred. The film was entered into the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:...
(1996). Taking another radical change of pace, she starred in Agnieszka Holland
Agnieszka Holland
Agnieszka Holland is a Polish film and TV director and screenwriter. Best recognized for her highly political contributions to Polish cinema, Holland is one of Poland's most prominent filmmakers.-Personal life:...
's version of the Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
novel Washington Square
Washington Square (film)
Washington Square is a 1997 American drama film directed by Agnieszka Holland. The screenplay by Carol Doyle is based on the 1880 novel of the same name by Henry James, which was filmed as The Heiress in 1949.-Plot summary:...
(1997), as a mousy 19th-century heiress courted by a gold-digger. In David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
's eXistenZ
EXistenZ
eXistenZ is a 1999 body horror/science fiction film by Canadian director David Cronenberg. It stars Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law....
(1999), she played a virtual reality game designer who becomes lost in her own creation. She had a brief role as a doomed gangster's wife in Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
's Road to Perdition
Road to Perdition
Road to Perdition is a 2002 American crime film directed by Sam Mendes. The screenplay was adapted by David Self, from the graphic novel of the same name by Max Allan Collins. The film stars Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, and Daniel Craig...
(2002), and co-starred as Meg Ryan
Meg Ryan
Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra , professionally known as Meg Ryan, is an American actress and producer. Raised in Bethel, Connecticut, Ryan began her acting career in 1981 in minor roles, before joining the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns in 1982...
's brutally murdered sister in Jane Campion
Jane Campion
Jane Campion is a filmmaker and screenwriter. She is one of the most internationally successful New Zealand directors, although most of her work has been made in or financed by other countries, principally Australia – where she now lives – and the United States...
's erotic thriller In the Cut
In the Cut
In the Cut is a 2003 American erotic thriller and mystery film, written and directed by Jane Campion and starring Meg Ryan, Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Campion's screenplay is an adaption of the novel of the same name by Susanna Moore...
(2003). After a long period of avoiding prostitute roles, she played alongside Christian Bale
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale is an English actor. Best known for his roles in American films, Bale has starred in both big budget Hollywood films and the smaller projects from independent producers and art houses....
as his prostitute girlfriend in the thriller The Machinist
The Machinist
The Machinist is a 2004 English-language Spanish psychological thriller film directed by Brad Anderson and written by Scott Kosar....
(2004). Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle is an American Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] [[film reviewer] and the author of two books on pre-[[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Code]] Hollywood...
of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
commented that "As the downtrodden, sexy, trusting and quietly funny prostitute, Leigh is, of course, in her element". Her performance as a manipulative stage mother in Don McKellar
Don McKellar
-Personal life:McKellar was born in Toronto, Ontario to a lawyer father and teacher mother. He attended Glenview Senior Public School, Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute and later studied English at the University of Toronto's Victoria College...
's film Childstar
Childstar
Childstar is a 2004 comedy film directed and written by Don McKellar. It was screened at several film festivals between September 2004 and July 2005.-Plot:...
won her a Genie Award
Genie Award
Genie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...
in 2005.
In recent years, Leigh appeared in the 2008 ensemble film Synecdoche, New York
Synecdoche, New York
Synecdoche, New York is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. It was Kaufman's directorial debut.The film premiered in competition at the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 23, 2008...
and has acted in two films written and directed by her then-partner Noah Baumbach
Noah Baumbach
Noah Baumbach is an American writer, director and independent filmmaker.-Background and education:Baumbach was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of novelist/film critic Jonathan Baumbach and Village Voice critic Georgia Brown. He graduated from Brooklyn's Midwood High School in 1987 and ...
- Margot at the Wedding
Margot at the Wedding
Margot at the Wedding is a 2007 tragicomedy written and directed by Noah Baumbach.The film premiered August 31, 2007 at the 34th Telluride Film Festival.-Plot:...
, co-starring Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
, and Greenberg
Greenberg (film)
Greenberg is a 2010 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach. The film stars Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans and Jennifer Jason Leigh...
as Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
's love interest.
Leigh has received three separate career tributes - at the Telluride Film Festival
Telluride Film Festival
The Telluride Film Festival was started in 1974 by Bill and Stella Pence, Tom Luddy and Jim Card in the town of Telluride, Colorado, United States. It is operated by the National Film Preserve....
in 1993, a special award for her contribution to independent cinema from the Film Society of Lincoln Center
Film Society of Lincoln Center
The Film Society of Lincoln Center based in New York City, United States, is one of the world's most prominent film presentation organizations. Founded in 1969 by three Lincoln Center executives - William F. May, Martin E. Segal and Schuyler G...
in 2002, and a week-long retrospective showing of her film work held by the American Cinematheque
American Cinematheque
The American Cinematheque is an independent, non-profit cultural organization in Los Angeles dedicated exclusively to the public presentation of the Moving Image in all its forms. It is considered among the premier organizations of its kind in America....
at Los Angeles' Egyptian Theatre in 2001.
Stage roles
In 1998, Leigh took on the lead role of Sally BowlesSally Bowles
Sally Bowles is a fictional character created by Christopher Isherwood. She originally appeared in Isherwood's 1937 novella Sally Bowles published by Hogarth Press. The story was later republished in the novel Goodbye to Berlin...
in Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
' Broadway revival of musical Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, succeeding Natasha Richardson
Natasha Richardson
Natasha Jane Richardson was an English actress of stage and screen. A member of the Redgrave family, she was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director/producer Tony Richardson and the granddaughter of Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson...
who originated the role in Mendes' production. She succeeded Mary-Louise Parker
Mary-Louise Parker
Mary-Louise Parker is an American actress, known for her current lead role on Showtime's television series Weeds portraying Nancy Botwin, for which she has received several nominations and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 2006...
in the lead role in Proof
Proof (play)
Proof is a play by David Auburn originally produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club on 23 May 2000. It then went to Broadway on 24 October 2000 at the Walter Kerr Theatre, and was directed by Daniel J. Sullivan, with Mary-Louise Parker as Catherine, Larry Bryggman as Robert, Ben Shenkman as Hal, and...
on Broadway in 2001. Her theatrical appearances include The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
, Man of Destiny, The Shadow Box, Picnic, Sunshine
Sunshine
Sunshine is sunlight, the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the Sun, especially in the visible wavelengths.Sunshine may also refer to:-Film and television:*Sunshine , a historical film directed by István Szabó...
, and Abigail's Party
Abigail's Party
Abigail's Party is a play for stage and television written and directed in 1977 by Mike Leigh. It is a suburban situation comedy of manners, and a satire on the aspirations and tastes of the new middle class that emerged in Britain in the 1970s...
. She is currently playing Bunny in the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
revival of House of Blue Leaves in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
alongside Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
and Edie Falco
Edie Falco
Edith "Edie" Falco is an American television, film and stage actress, known for her roles in Oz as Diane Wittlesey, as Carmela Soprano on the HBO series The Sopranos, and as the titular character on the Showtime series Nurse Jackie...
.
Co-writing and -directing
In 2001, she co-wrote and co-directed The Anniversary PartyThe Anniversary Party
The Anniversary Party is a 2001 American comedy-drama film written, directed, produced by, and starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming.-Plot:...
, an independently produced feature film about a recently reconciled married couple who assemble their friends at their Hollywood Hills
Hollywood Hills
The Hollywood Hills is an affluent and exclusive neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, in the southeastern Santa Monica Mountains. It is bound by Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west, Vermont Avenue to the east, Mulholland Drive to the north, and Sunset Boulevard to the south.-Hollywood Hills...
house, ostensibly to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary. As the evening progresses, however, the party disintegrages into emotional confrontations and bitter arguments as the facade of their happy marriage crumbles. Leigh was reportedly inspired by her recent experience filming low-budget Dogme film The King Is Alive
The King is Alive
The King Is Alive is the fourth film to be done according to the Dogme 95 rules. It is directed by Kristian Levring. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.- Synopsis :...
. Leigh and Cumming reputedly drew freely from their personal experiences in the writing of the film. Leigh plays an aging actress who makes jokes about her lack of Academy Award nominations, and who is fearful of losing her bisexual husband (Cumming). The film was shot in 19 days on digital video, and co-starred the pair's real-life Hollywood friends including Kevin Kline
Kevin Kline
Kevin Delaney Kline is an American theatre, voice, film actor and comedian. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and an Emmy Award.- Early life :...
, Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates is an American film actress, model, and entrepreneur known for her roles in several teen films, most notably Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins.-Early life:...
, Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...
, Jennifer Beals
Jennifer Beals
Jennifer Beals is an American actress and a former teen model. She is known for her roles as Alexandra "Alex" Owens in the 1983 film Flashdance, and as Bette Porter on the Showtime drama series The L Word. She earned an NAACP Image Award and a Golden Globe Award nomination for the former...
, John C. Reilly
John C. Reilly
John Christopher Reilly, Jr. is an American film and theater actor, singer, and comedian. Debuting in Casualties of War in 1989, he is one of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma. To date, he has appeared in more than fifty films, including three separate films in 2002...
and Parker Posey
Parker Posey
Parker Christian Posey is an American actress. She became known during the 1990s after a series of roles in several well-received independent films. As a result, she has often been referred to as the "Queen of the Indies"....
and also featured Leigh's sister Mina Badie. The film was well received and reviewed. Leigh and Cumming jointly received a citation for Excellence in Filmmaking from the National Board of Review, and were nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards
Independent Spirit Awards
The Independent Spirit Awards , founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit...
for Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay.
Other work
Leigh is known for doing extensive method actingMethod acting
Method acting is a phrase that loosely refers to a family of techniques used by actors to create in themselves the thoughts and emotions of their characters, so as to develop lifelike performances...
research in every role, including keeping diaries written in the character’s voice, and in the past has interviewed psychiatrists, mental patients, drug addicts, sexual abuse
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
survivors, prostitutes and phone sex workers to prepare for her roles.
Leigh filmed a role in Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's final film Eyes Wide Shut
Eyes Wide Shut
Eyes Wide Shut is a 1999 drama film based upon Arthur Schnitzler's 1926 novella Traumnovelle . The film was directed, produced and co-written by Stanley Kubrick, and was his last film. The story, set in and around New York City, follows the sexually-charged adventures of Dr...
(1999) as a grieving patient of Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
, who declares her love for him after the death of her father. Kubrick wanted to re-shoot the scenes, but Leigh was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts with eXistenZ
EXistenZ
eXistenZ is a 1999 body horror/science fiction film by Canadian director David Cronenberg. It stars Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law....
. Kubrick took the somewhat controversial step of cutting Leigh's scenes, and recasting and reshooting the role with Swedish actress Marie Richardson
Marie Richardson
Marie Richardson is a Swedish stage and film actress. She studied at the Teaterhögskolan i Stockholm from 1982 to 1985...
. Leigh has never commented publicly on the experience of working with Kubrick nor of being cut from the film.
Leigh has also spoken openly about a number of roles she unsuccessfully campaigned for, including the Linda Hamilton
Linda Hamilton
Linda Carroll Hamilton is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Sarah Connor in The Terminator and its sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Catherine Chandler in the television series Beauty and the Beast, for which she was nominated for two Golden Globes and an Emmy...
role in Sarah Connor
Sarah Connor
Sarah Connor may refer to:*Sarah Connor , German pop/R&B/soul singer-songwriter and dancer**Sarah Connor , 2004 album by the singer above*Sarah Connor , fictional character in the Terminator franchise...
in The Terminator
The Terminator
The Terminator is a 1984 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, co-written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr., and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. The film was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures, and filmed in Los...
, the Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter is an American actress. Hunter starred in The Piano for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She has also been nominated for Oscars for her roles in Broadcast News, The Firm, and Thirteen...
role in The Piano
The Piano
The Piano is a 1993 New Zealand drama film about a mute pianist and her daughter, set during the mid-19th century in a rainy, muddy frontier backwater on the west coast of New Zealand. The film was written and directed by Jane Campion, and stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin...
, and the role of Catwoman
Catwoman
Catwoman is a fictional character associated with DC Comics' Batman franchise. Historically a supervillain, the character was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, partially inspired by Kane's cousin, Ruth Steel...
in Batman Returns
Batman Returns
Batman Returns is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to Burton's Batman , and features Michael Keaton reprising the title role, with Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.Burton originally did not...
. Leigh was originally cast as Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo is an Italian-American film director and actor. Though he has had minor roles in mainstream films such as Goodfellas, he is most associated with independent movies, including Buffalo '66, which he wrote, directed, did the music for and starred in; The Brown Bunny, which he also...
's girlfriend in his self-directed film The Brown Bunny
The Brown Bunny
The Brown Bunny is a 2003 independent American art house film written, produced and directed by actor Vincent Gallo about a motorcycle racer on a cross-country drive who is haunted by memories of his former lover. The film had its world premiere at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival to boos and catcalls...
, and was apparently prepared to perform oral sex
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
on Gallo as the script required. Leigh subsequently commented that "it just didn't work out" and the role was eventually played by Chloë Sevigny
Chloë Sevigny
Chloë Stevens Sevigny is an American film actress, fashion designer and former model. Sevigny gained reputation for her eclectic fashion sense and developed a broad career in the fashion industry in the mid 1990s, both for modeling and for her work at New York's Sassy magazine, which labeled her...
.
In 1997, she was featured in Faith No More
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...
's music video for "Last Cup of Sorrow
Last Cup of Sorrow
"Last Cup of Sorrow" is the third track from Faith No More's sixth and final studio album Album of the Year. It was released as a single on August 5, 1997. It placed No. 14 on Mainstream Rock Tracks, No.62 on Australia Top 50, and No...
".
She was selected as one of "America's 10 Most Beautiful Women" by Harper's Bazaar
Harper's Bazaar
Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
magazine in 1989.
Leigh served as a jury member at the 2000 Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
.
Personal life
In 1982, Leigh's father was accidentally killed when a helicopter stunt went wrong while shooting Twilight Zone: The MovieTwilight Zone: The Movie
Twilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 science fiction horror film produced by Steven Spielberg and John Landis as a theatrical version of The Twilight Zone, a 1959 and '60s TV series created by Rod Serling. Those starring in the film are: Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Vic Morrow, Scatman Crothers,...
. Leigh and her sister filed a lawsuit for wrongful death against Warner Brothers, John Landis
John Landis
John David Landis is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.-Early life and career:...
, and Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
. They settled out of court a year later. The terms of the settlement have never been made public.
Leigh was involved in long term relationships with actor Eric Stoltz
Eric Stoltz
Eric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...
and film director Steven Shainberg
Steven Shainberg
Steven Shainberg is an American film director and producer.He is the nephew of author Lawrence Shainberg. Both are part of the Shainberg family of Memphis, Tennessee, founder of the Shainberg's chain of stores, which is now part of Dollar General.Shainberg received his BA from Yale University in...
. She has also been romantically linked to actors Robert Downey, Jr. and Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
.
Leigh met independent film writer-director Noah Baumbach
Noah Baumbach
Noah Baumbach is an American writer, director and independent filmmaker.-Background and education:Baumbach was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of novelist/film critic Jonathan Baumbach and Village Voice critic Georgia Brown. He graduated from Brooklyn's Midwood High School in 1987 and ...
in 2001, while she was starring on Broadway in Proof. The couple married on September 2, 2005. Their son, Rohmer Emmanuel, was born on March 17, 2010. Leigh filed for divorce from Baumbach on November 15, 2010 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, citing irreconcilable differences. Leigh is seeking spousal support as well as primary custody of the couple's son, with visitation for Baumbach.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Tod eines Fremden | Girl playing with a rubber ball | Uncredited |
| 1980 | Angel City | Kristy Teeter | Made-for-TV Movie |
| 1981 | Eyes of a Stranger Eyes of a Stranger (1981 film) Eyes of a Stranger is a 1981 slasher film directed by Ken Wiederhorn. It features makeup effects by Tom Savini and stars Jennifer Jason Leigh in one of her earliest roles.-Plot:... |
Tracy Harris | |
| The Best Little Girl in the World The Best Little Girl in the World The Best Little Girl in the World is a 1981 television film directed by Sam O'Steen and executive produced by Aaron Spelling. The film is based upon the 1978 novel of the same name written by Steven Levenkron.-Plot:... |
Casey Powell | ||
| 1982 | Wrong Is Right Wrong Is Right Wrong Is Right is a black comedy thriller about the theft of two suitcase nukes, featuring the plot conventions of media bias, reality television, government conspiracy, and Islamic terrorism... |
Young Girl on Reality Program | |
| Fast Times at Ridgemont High Fast Times at Ridgemont High Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written by Cameron Crowe and adapted from his 1981 book of the same name... |
Stacy Hamilton | ||
| The First Time | Bonnie Dillon | ||
| 1983 | Girls of the White Orchid | Carol Heath | TV |
| Easy Money | Allison Capuletti | ||
| 1984 | Grandview, U.S.A. Grandview, U.S.A. Grandview, U.S.A. is a 1984 American comedy-drama film directed by Randal Kleiser. It stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Carole Cook, Ramon Bieri, John Cusack, Joan Cusack, M. Emmet Walsh, Michael Winslow, Troy Donahue, and Steve Dahl. The original music... |
Candy Webster | |
| 1985 | Flesh + Blood Flesh & Blood (film) Flesh & Blood is a 1985 film directed by Paul Verhoeven. It is set in the year 1501 in Italy, and follows a group of mercenaries as they loot, rape and kill.... |
Agnes | |
| 1986 | The Hitcher | Nash | |
| The Men's Club The Men's Club The Men's Club is a 1986 drama film directed by Peter Medak, based on the novel of the same name by Leonard Michaels. It stars Roy Scheider, Harvey Keitel, Frank Langella, Treat Williams, David Dukes and Richard Jordan... |
Teensy | ||
| 1987 | Under Cover Under Cover -Personnel:*Ozzy Osbourne – vocals*Jerry Cantrell – guitars*Chris Wyse – bass*Mike Bordin – drumsGuest musicians*Ian Hunter – vocals on "All the Young Dudes"*Leslie West – guitar solo on "Mississippi Queen"... |
Tanille Lareoux | |
| Sister, Sister Sister, Sister (1987 film) Sister, Sister is a 1987 Southern Gothic thriller directed and co-written by Bill Condon. The film stars Eric Stoltz, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Judith Ivey.-Plot summary:Matt Rutledge goes on vacation to the Louisiana bayou country... |
Lucy Bonnard | ||
| 1988 | Heart of Midnight Heart of Midnight (film) Heart of Midnight is a 1988 American thriller film written and directed by Matthew Chapman and starring Jennifer Jason Leigh. The story follows a young woman with a troubled past who has a hard time dealing with the reality of her new surroundings... |
Carol Rivers | |
| 1989 | The Big Picture The Big Picture (film) The Big Picture is a 1989 comedy film starring Kevin Bacon and directed by Christopher Guest.-Plot:In a fictionalized version of Tinseltown itself, Nick Chapman is an up and coming film director hot off the win of a student academy award for his short film. No sooner does the award bring him into... |
Lydia Johnson | |
| 1990 | Last Exit to Brooklyn Last Exit to Brooklyn (film) Last Exit to Brooklyn is a 1989 English-language German drama film, directed by Uli Edel, and based on the eponymous novel by Hubert Selby Jr.- Plot :... |
Tralala | Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress -1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award given by the New York Film Critics Circle, honoring the finest achievements in filmmaking.... |
| Miami Blues Miami Blues (film) Miami Blues is a 1990 action-crime-thriller-film based on the novel of the same name by Charles Willeford. It stars Alec Baldwin, Fred Ward, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. It was directed by George Armitage.- Plot :... |
Susie Waggoner | Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress -1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award given by the New York Film Critics Circle, honoring the finest achievements in filmmaking.... |
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| Buried Alive | Joanna Goodman | Made-for-TV Movie | |
| 1991 | Backdraft Backdraft (film) Backdraft is a 1991 action thriller film directed by Ron Howard and written by Gregory Widen. The film stars Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rebecca De Mornay, Donald Sutherland, and Robert De Niro. Jason Gedrick and J. T. Walsh co-star in the film... |
Jennifer Vaitkus | |
| Crooked Hearts | Marriet Hoffman | ||
| Rush Rush (1991 film) Rush is a 1991 American crime drama feature film, based on a novel written by Kim Wozencraft. A narcotics detective and his inexperienced partner go after an elusive drug dealer... |
Kristen Cates | ||
| 1992 | The Prom The Prom The Prom is a piano-driven indie band. Chris Walla has done mixing for The Prom and they are on the Barsuk label which Death Cab For Cutie was with until 2005... |
Lana | |
| Single White Female Single White Female Single White Female is a 1992 American erotic thriller based on John Lutz's novel SWF Seeks Same. The film stars Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh and is directed by Barbet Schroeder.-Plot:... |
Hedra 'Hedy' Carlson/Ellen Besch | MTV Movie Award for Best Villain MTV Movie Award for Best Villain This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Villain.-References:... Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress The Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress is an annual award given by the Chicago Film Critics Association.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:... |
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| 1993 | Short Cuts Short Cuts Short Cuts is a 1993 American drama film directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver... |
Lois Kaiser | Golden Globe Special Award for Best Ensemble Cast Volpi Cup for Best Acting Ensemble Volpi Cup The Volpi Cups are the principal awards given to actors at the Venice Film Festival. Formal acting awards were introduced in the second festival . Initially they were called Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment. The name Volpi Cup was introduced the following year... |
| 1994 | The Hudsucker Proxy The Hudsucker Proxy The Hudsucker Proxy is a 1994 screwball comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Sam Raimi co-wrote the script and served as second unit director.... |
Amy Archer | |
| Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle is a 1994 film scripted by writer/director Alan Rudolph and former Washington Star reporter Randy Sue Coburn... |
Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker was an American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist, best known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th century urban foibles.... |
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress The Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress is an annual award given by the Chicago Film Critics Association.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:... National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress TheNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress is an annual award given by the National Society of Film Critics to honour the best leading actress of the year.-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female |
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| 1995 | Georgia Georgia (1995 film) Georgia is a 1995 American independent film starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Mare Winningham. In the film, Leigh played Sadie Flood, a punky barroom singer who has a complicated, jealous but loving relationship with her older sister, Georgia, played by Winningham. Georgia is a successful, talented... |
Sadie Flood | Also Producer Montreal World Film Festival Award for Best Actress Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF... New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-1930s:-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female |
| Dolores Claiborne Dolores Claiborne (film) Dolores Claiborne is a 1995 film based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, starring Kathy Bates and Jennifer Jason Leigh. It was directed by Taylor Hackford.-Plot:... |
Selena St. George | Nominated—Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress The Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award given by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film to the actress or actresses whose winning performance is voted by participating members... Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress |
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| 1996 | Kansas City Kansas City (1996 film) Kansas City is a 1996 film, directed by Robert Altman, and featuring numerous jazz tracks. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Miranda Richardson, Harry Belafonte, and Steve Buscemi starred. The film was entered into the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:... |
Blondie O'Hara | |
| Bastard Out of Carolina | Anney Boatwright | ||
| 1997 | Washington Square Washington Square (film) Washington Square is a 1997 American drama film directed by Agnieszka Holland. The screenplay by Carol Doyle is based on the 1880 novel of the same name by Henry James, which was filmed as The Heiress in 1949.-Plot summary:... |
Catherine Sloper | |
| A Thousand Acres A Thousand Acres A Thousand Acres is a 1991 novel by American author Jane Smiley. It won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1991 and was adapted to a 1997 film of the same name.... |
Caroline Cook | ||
| 1998 | The Love Letter The Love Letter (1998 film) The Love Letter is a 1998 Hallmark Hall of Fame television film starring Campbell Scott and Jennifer Jason Leigh. It is based on Jack Finney's short story of the same name, which was first published in The Saturday Evening Post on August 1, 1959, and reprinted in the same magazine in... |
Elizabeth Whitcomb | Hallmark television film |
| 1999 | eXistenZ EXistenZ eXistenZ is a 1999 body horror/science fiction film by Canadian director David Cronenberg. It stars Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law.... |
Allegra Geller | |
| 2000 | Beautiful View Beautiful View Beautiful View is the seventh studio album released by Australian singer Wendy Matthews released by BMG in Australia on 7 May 2001. It yielded three singles "Free", "Beautiful View" and "Like the Sun".... |
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| The King is Alive The King is Alive The King Is Alive is the fourth film to be done according to the Dogme 95 rules. It is directed by Kristian Levring. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.- Synopsis :... |
Gina | Tokyo International Film Festival Award for Best Actress Tokyo International Film Festival Tokyo International Film Festival is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biannually from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter... |
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| Skipped Parts Skipped Parts Skipped Parts , is a movie based on Tim Sandlin's book of the same name. Skipped Parts is the first in a series of novels based on the lives of Maury and Sam, the second and final being Sorrow Floats and Social Blunders. The film is about a group of characters living in a small Wyoming town... |
Lydia Callahan | Also Co-Producer | |
| 2001 | The Man Who Wasn't There The Man Who Wasn't There The Man Who Wasn't There is a 2001 neo-noir film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Billy Bob Thornton stars in the title role. Also featured are James Gandolfini, Tony Shalhoub, Scarlett Johansson, Adam Alexi-Malle and Coen regulars Frances McDormand, Michael Badalucco, and Jon... |
Female inmate | Uncredited |
| The Anniversary Party The Anniversary Party The Anniversary Party is a 2001 American comedy-drama film written, directed, produced by, and starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming.-Plot:... |
Sally Therrian | Also Writer/Producer/Director Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature The Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards. It is usually given to the director and producer . The "first feature" designation is applied to the director not the producer... shared with Alan Cumming Alan Cumming Alan Cumming, OBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actor, singer, writer, director, producer and author. His roles have included the Emcee in Cabaret, Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United, Mr. Elton in Emma, and Fegan Floop in the Spy Kids trilogy... Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay The Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay is one of the annual awards given by Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers.-1990s:1994*David O... shared with Alan Cumming Alan Cumming Alan Cumming, OBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actor, singer, writer, director, producer and author. His roles have included the Emcee in Cabaret, Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United, Mr. Elton in Emma, and Fegan Floop in the Spy Kids trilogy... |
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| The Quickie | Lisa | ||
| 2002 | Hey Arnold: The Movie | Bridget | Voice |
| Road to Perdition Road to Perdition Road to Perdition is a 2002 American crime film directed by Sam Mendes. The screenplay was adapted by David Self, from the graphic novel of the same name by Max Allan Collins. The film stars Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, and Daniel Craig... |
Annie Sullivan | ||
| 2003 | In the Cut In the Cut In the Cut is a 2003 American erotic thriller and mystery film, written and directed by Jane Campion and starring Meg Ryan, Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Campion's screenplay is an adaption of the novel of the same name by Susanna Moore... |
Pauline | |
| 2004 | Childstar Childstar Childstar is a 2004 comedy film directed and written by Don McKellar. It was screened at several film festivals between September 2004 and July 2005.-Plot:... |
Suzanne | Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role The Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best supporting Canadian actress.-1st Genie Awards:* Geneviève Bujold, Murder by Decree... |
| Palindromes Palindromes (film) Palindromes is a 2004 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Todd Solondz and a sequel to Solondz's 1995 film, Welcome to the Dollhouse... |
"Mark" Aviva | ||
| The Machinist The Machinist The Machinist is a 2004 English-language Spanish psychological thriller film directed by Brad Anderson and written by Scott Kosar.... |
Stevie | ||
| 2005 | Easter Sunday | Mother | |
| Rag Tale | Mary Josephine 'MJ' Morton | ||
| The Jacket The Jacket The Jacket is a 2005 psychological thriller film directed by John Maybury that is partly based on the Jack London novel of the same name, released in the US as The Star Rover. Massy Tadjedin wrote the screenplay based on a story by Tom Bleecker and Marc Rocco... |
Dr. Beth Lorenson | ||
| 2007 | Margot at the Wedding Margot at the Wedding Margot at the Wedding is a 2007 tragicomedy written and directed by Noah Baumbach.The film premiered August 31, 2007 at the 34th Telluride Film Festival.-Plot:... |
Pauline | Peñíscola Comedy Film Festival Award for Best Actress Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress The Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress is an annual award given by the Chicago Film Critics Association.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:... Nominated—Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female |
| 2008 | Synecdoche, New York Synecdoche, New York Synecdoche, New York is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. It was Kaufman's directorial debut.The film premiered in competition at the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 23, 2008... |
Maria | Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast |
| 2009 | Weeds Weeds (TV series) Weeds is an American television comedy created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television. The central character is Nancy Botwin , a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family after her husband dies suddenly of a... |
Jill Price-Gray | TV 6 episodes |
| 2010 | Greenberg | Beth | Also writer/producer |
External links
- Jennifer Jason Leigh at Internet Off-Broadway Database
- In-depth interview at Museum of Moving Image in 1994
- The Onion A.V. Club interview