Jennifer Jason Leigh

At 62 years old, Jennifer Jason Leigh has this physical status:

Career

Leigh appeared in her debut Death of a Stranger (The Execution) (1973), but she did not appear on television at the age of nine. She attended acting workshops, taught by Lee Strasberg, and the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in Loch Sheldrake, New York, at the age of 14. She then went on to appear in the film The Young Runaways (1978). She appeared in an episode of Baretta and an episode of The Waltons as well as an episode of The Waltons. Several television films followed, including a portrayal of an anorexic teen in The Best Little Girl in the World, in which Leigh's weight was reduced to 86 pounds (39 kg) under medical supervision. In 1981 slasher film Eyes of a Stranger, she made her big-screen debut as a blind, deaf, and mute rape survivor.

In 1982, Leigh appeared in the Cameron Crowe-scripted high-school comedy film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which served as a launching pad for several of the company's young stars. "Don't they know they have a star on their hands?" film critic Roger Ebert was enthusiastic about the writing as sexist and exploitive, singling out Leigh and writing, "Don't they know they have a celebrity on their hands?" while debating the writing as sexist and exploitative." Leigh's early film projects consisted of playing fragile, tarnished, or neurotic characters in low-budget horror or thriller genre films, with the exception of Ridgemont High and a supporting role in Rodney Dangerfield's 1983 comedy film Easy Money. In Flesh and Blood (1985), an innocent waitress pursued by the psychopathic title character, a mentally impaired young woman on the brink of sexual awakening in the Southern Gothic film Sister, Sister (1987), and a young woman on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

Leigh, a professional prostitute who is brutally gang-raped in Last Exit to Brooklyn, and Susie, a teenage prostitute who falls in love with ex-con Alec Baldwin in Miami Blues, made a major career breakthrough in 1990. Last Exit was included in Roger Ebert's list of Top Movies of 1990, bringing Leigh's performance as sympathetic, while simultaneously praising her ability to play smart roles and lauding her ability to play wise roles. "Meryl Sterb of bimbos," Entertainment Weekly called her "the Meryl Stenep of bimbos."

Danny Peary referred to Leigh as "an exciting, always watchable, and very talented young actress," summarizing her appeal "For those who believe that the preacher's angelic-looking daughter is as interested in sex as the farmer's daughter." This pretty, sweet-looking blonde has performed many shy and innocent-looking women who are curious about sex; once they learn, they have wild imaginations." "Leigh seems too delicate and innocent to be able to play the parts she has played." Her females are either starving for sex or have been psychologically affected by recent sexual incidents... Her characters are both vulnerable and almost always victimized, but they did a good job and continued to grow stronger."

Leigh appeared in her first mainstream Hollywood studio film, the firefighter drama Backdraft (1991), in which she appeared in a more conventional role as the girlfriend of lead actor William Baldwin. She had more success in Rush (1991), portraying an undercover cop who becomes a junkie and falls in love with her partner, played by Jason Patric. "Leigh of course is a veteran by now of grubby characters in sleazy films; she has made a name for herself in scenes that some of her contemporaries may not even consider" after her dramatic appearance in Last Exit to Brooklyn, descending into a world of people who have forgotten their true selves, according to Roger Ebert. Single White Female (1992), Leigh Leigh's next film, brought Leigh to her largest mainstream audience to date, portraying a mentally ill woman who terrorizes roommate Bridget Fonda.

At the 1993 MTV Movie Awards for Best Villain, Leigh was nominated for Best Actress and Best Actress, as well as the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress. In the 1994 adaptation of Stephen King's novel Dolores Claiborne, Leigh co-starred with Kathy Bates as a terrified, pill-popping woman concealing a history of childhood sexual abuse. Sadie Flood, an outraged, heroin-addicted rock singer who lived in the shadow of her younger sister (Mare Winningham), in Georgia (1995), Leigh earned her greatest fame in the role. Leigh weighed in at 90 pounds (41 kilograms) and performed all of her songs live, including a rambling 8+12-minute version of Van Morrison's "Take Me Back." Georgia had been lauded with critical esteem. "It's uncomfortable to watch this performance because it's so spectacular," James Berardinelli said of Leigh's "fierce, risk-taking appearance, and flashes of overwhelming honesty" during his appearance.

Leigh received the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress and Best Actress from the Montreal World Film Festival, as well as an Independent Spirit Award nomination and Sensual Knife's nomination.

Leigh worked with numerous independent film producers in the 1990s. She appeared in Short Cuts (1993), as a phone operator, and in Kansas City (1996) as a streetwise kidnapper. Leigh has expressed admiration for Altman and dubbed him her mentor. In a change from her "poor girl" roles, Leigh appeared in the Coen Brothers' comedic tribute to 1950s comedy, The Hudsucker Proxy (1994). In Alan Rudolph's film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994), Leigh played the author and critic Dorothy Parker in her first lead role. She was nominated for Best Actress and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress, as well as the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress and Best Actress for Fort Lauderdale.

In another change of pace, she appeared in Agnieszka Holland's adaptation of Henry James' Henry James' Henry James novel Washington Square (1997) as a mousy 19th-century heiress courted by a gold digger. She appeared alongside Campbell Scott in the Hallmark Hall of Fame television film The Love Letter in 1998. She appeared in David Cronenberg's eXistenZ (1999), a virtual-reality game designer whose identity is lost in her own creation.

Leigh appeared in Sam Mendes's Road to Perdition (2002) and co-starred Meg Ryan's brutally murdered sister in Jane Campion's erotic drama In the Cut (2003). She went on to play Stevie, Christian Bale's prostitute girlfriend in the dark comedy The Machinist (2004). "Leigh is, of course, in her element," the San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle wrote. In 2005, She received the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Support Role.

She appeared in Palindromes (2004) after many years of wanting to be in a Todd Solondz film. Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley appeared in the psychological thriller The Jacket (2005). Leigh appeared in the 2008 ensemble film Synecdoche, New York, and she has appeared in two films written and directed by her then-partner Noah Baumbach, including Nicole Kidman and Greenberg. Leigh Leigh has claimed that the roles were not written specifically for her because Baumbach does not write scripts with actors in mind. Leigh appeared in the Showtime comedy-drama series Weeds in 2009 and became a regular guest in the eighth season.

Leigh has received three separate honors over her career: 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, as well as a week-long retrospective of her film debuts at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles.

In 2012, Leigh joined ABC's drama series Revenge. Leigh appeared in Quentin Tarantino's western film The Hateful Eight in 2015. It was established in Wyoming after the Civil War and was announced on December 25. In July 2015, Leigh and the remainder of the cast appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con to promote the film. Multiple award nominations have been given to Leigh's work at various award ceremonies, including her third Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, her first BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In six episodes of Showtime's revival of David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks, Leigh was reunited with her Hateful Eight co-star Tim Roth as the two played a husband-and-wife team of contract killers. In 2019, Leigh appeared in two episodes of Showtime's last season of The Affair.

In 1998, Leigh took on the leading role of Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes' Broadway revival of the musical Cabaret, replacing Natasha Richardson, who originated the role in Mendes' production. In 2001, she succeeded Mary-Louise Parker in the lead role in Proof on Broadway. The Glass Menagerie, Man of Destiny, The Shadow Box, Picnic, Sunshine, and Abigail's Party are among her other theatrical appearances. She appeared in Bunny in the Broadway revival of House of Blue Leaves in New York City with Ben Stiller and Edie Falco in 2011.

Leigh co-wrote and co-directed The Anniversary Party, an independently produced feature film about a newly reconciled married couple who gather their friends at their Hollywood Hills home on their sixth wedding anniversary. As the evening progresses, the party delves into emotional clashes and bitter arguments as the facade of their happy marriage crumbles. Leigh was inspired by her latest filming experience with Dogme 95's Low Budget King Is Alive. Leigh Leigh and co-writer Alan Cumming drew freely from their personal experiences in the production. Leigh plays an elderly actress who makes quips about her inability to win Academy Award nominations and is afraid of losing her bisexual husband (Cumming). Kevin Kline, Phoebe Cates, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Beals, John C. Reilly, Parker Posey, and Leigh's sister Mina Badie were all shot in 19 days on digital video and costarred the pair's real-life Hollywood colleagues, including Kevin Kline, Kevin Kline, Kevin Kline, Phoebe Cates, Jennifer Beals, Parker Posey, and Leigh's sister Mina Badie. The National Board of Review awarded Leigh and Cumming the Best First Screenplay Award for Best First Feature and Independent Spirit, and Independent Spirit was named for Best First Screenplay. The film received mostly favorable feedback.

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