Every once in a while I miss Kathleen Turner so much I could spit. I don't even care that my infrequent posts about her fall on mostly deaf ears. Her superstardom was shortlived but she remains one of my all time favorites.
I accidentally ended up watching that old Steve Martin silliness The Man With Two Brains (1983) the other day and I marvelled first at how funny it still was (I think I had assumed it was more sketch funny than movie-length funny but I was laughing throughout) and then how it accidentally foretold the entire Kathleen Turner Story when the Kathleen Turner Story had only barely begun. The Man With Two Brains was just her second feature, a comic twist if you will of her debut in Body Heat.In this comedy she is introduced as a murderous femme fatale (Body Heat. Check). She's barely been introduced when she's hospitalized (Kathleen's health troubles have plagued her career). She sells SEX with capital letters and laughs about it (Entire First Half of Career. Check). She gleefully commits acts of violence (Serial Mom. Check). She horrifies her lover by trying to feed him something he loves. (The War of the Roses. Check). She upsets her husband by exploiting her body (Crimes of Passion fallout. Check). She makes a weird reference to her balls (Friends cameo. Check) She gets wet and muddy when Steve Martin kicks her out of his house "Into the mud, scum queen!" (Romancing the Stone, Undercover Blues, VI Warshawski. Check!) She is maddeningly difficult (Entire Career. or so some people have said. Check).
And then she gets fat.
"I never told him I was a compulsive eater." I love her so much and I wish someone would give her a role worthy of her gifts again. I'm still pulling for the Mattie Fae Akin role in August: Osage County should they ever film it. From "Matty" (Body Heat) to "Mattie"... what a brilliant final plot twist that would be.
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Have you seen her glorious recent turn (albeit small screen) in Californication? Ribald. Tongue firmly in cheek. Sexy. Big.
Hot damn! Perfect for Mattie Fae.
Jesse -- i haven't. I guess i should find the dvds. I am semi allergic to david duchovny but i'll try to overlook for a Kathleen cameo.
Hate to burst your bubble, but read that Sandra Bullock recently met with producers to discuss a role, one in which she would play Streep's daughter. Could that be August: Osage County? May be another but sounds suspiciously probable.
First off, Nat, that was brillz.
But Turner as Mattie Fae?? She's not gotten THAT fat, has she?
And pleeeeeeeease don't even put that Bullock rumor in my head, Cluster. If anything, one of the 'lesser' daughters, and not Barbara. I can't in a million years envision Bullock taking on what the role requires.
I agree and hope it's just that -- a rumor. But you know Oscar stirs up delusions of grandeur in some. (Hello, Helen Hunt in Pay It Forward!)
If Meryl is really going to play Mattie Fae at least give actresses that deserve to be play her daughters, someone great, like Laura Linney or Kate Winslet. (Laura Linney would be PERFECT!!)
But this is Hollywood, so the daughters will probably be played by Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts and Reese Witherspoon.
The 80s belonged to her. Too bad her career ended pretty much at the same time as the decade. Seriously - her last film in the 80s was The War of the Roses, her first in the 90s the flop V.I. Warshawski. At least she gave one more great performance in Serial Mom.
And here's a comparison: pretty much the same thing happened to Winona Ryder. The 90s were hers. Last big film? Girl Interrupted... in 1999.
I won't be surprised when your final revelation happens. LOL. It just HAS to. A way to really round things out.
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victor -- well mattie fae is not the lead role. mattie fae is the sister/aunt.
but yeah... i think Bullock would be a terrible choice for Barbara (the daughter) because, even though she's the right age... that role really requires someone with the ability to juggle both acerbic comedy and real pain... so yeah. it screams LAURA LINNEY. Or at least someone of her acting caliber.
AUGUST:OSAGE CCOUNTY is not the kind of play/movie/whatever that can't coast on starpower. it needs acting giants... it'll play flat otherwise and be a failure.
I know this blog may suffer from Osage casting overload, but if we've spent so much time speculating, seeing it come down to something as feel-good predictable as a Meryl/Sandra Oscar re-match makes me feel-barf.
I remember as a kid being mesmerized by her evil witch in "A Simple Wish" on the Disney Channel. Now since I've seen "Body Heat" and her WONDERFUL performance in "The Virgin Suicides", she is forever cemented in my brain as another incredible actor who is frequently overlooked. Thank you Nat for calling my attention back to her! :)
How funny that you should talk about her now... We just watched "VI Warshawski" for class (Detective Fiction)and, as cheesy as that movie is, it reminded me of how much I've missed Kathleen Turner! Great post.
And...Mattie Fae all the way!! If not Rondi Reed, then Turner is a very worthy replacement.
I hadn't thought of my favorite actress for August: Osage County but what an interesting idea. Mattie Fae is a woman with a past and God knows Turner knows how to play that. She invented it. That would be a great comeback vehicle for her and she's so overdue for a comeback.
Of course, Estelle Parsons as Violet. Laura Linney would be perfect as Barbara. Maybe Anne Hathaway as Ivy? Juliette Lewis as Karen? Off the top of my head.
and by "not can't" --double negative EWWWWW -- I meant. the movie cannot coast on starpower. It needs incredible depth of acting.
Cluster--
The rumor of Bullock meeting with Streep was just that, a rumor. It didn't really happen.
Oh yes I love K. Turner. Should I repeat for the umpteenth time how much I wish they had cast her in Dangerous Liaisons instead of Glenn Close. I'm telling you Turner would have been beyond marvelous! Sensual, brilliant, beautiful and very, very dangerous. I think this is my greatest regret in any movie casting I can think of. Truly perfect casting missed!!
Well, I miss her beyond words too... At least she's having a solid stage career.
Now she's playing Molly Ivins in Philadelphia and in may she'll be shooting an independent film called "The Perfect Family" about a housewife chosen "Catholic Woman of the Year".
Next november she'll be starring in Matthew Lombardo's "High" as an alcoholic nun who takes care of a teenager with a drug addiction. Expected to open on Broadway early 2011.
I remember going into town specifically to rent Body Heat at your recommendation, Nathaniel. You posted about her a few years ago, I commented saying I'd never seen anything of hers and you said that was a good place to start (you were totally right, btw!). So, I checked the dvd out from the rental place, planning to investigate Ms Turner's career. On my way home I decided, for no particular reason, to call into the nearest book shop. Literally the first thing I saw when I entered the store was a huge cardboard cutout of Kathleen Turner and a sign telling me that she had been reading from her book that very morning. What!
are Tilda Swinton, Michelle Pfeiffer or Julianne Moore too old for Barbara in A:OC?
August: Osage Country (film adaptation) – I so want there to be a part for Cynthia Nixon. She has a Grammy, Tony, and two Emmys – she needs Oscar.
Catherine -- i love that story!
Edna -- i can't remember how old Barbara is exactly in the play but she has a teenage daughter -- i think late 40s? if i recall. All three daughters are in their 40s i think... it's really such an ideal property to give underused great actresses another shot at Oscar. Not that it should be transferred for that reason. ;)
but i can't help but be obsessed by it because there are so many good roles in it for actresses from anywhere from 40 to 80.
Saw her on stage in London playing Martha in Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf? and she was fierce, fabulous and freakin' fantastic. Born to play that role and is hideously under-appreciated today.
can't we have meryl sit this one out for a change...i'm a bit overloaded on her. let's give some older broads like ann-margret, jill clayburgh, marsha mason, jane fonda, sally field, kathy bates, angelica houston, even patty duke a chance at a great role.
OMG, you guys have not been insulting V.I.? That was my first Turner movie! (I was born in the 80s) I loved her sass, voice, and legs. War of the Roses was my second Turner movie and it made me appreciate her even more. I miss her and regret that her most well-known role from the past decade is Chandler's dad. She deserves better.
S--- i saw her do WOOLF as well (if you click on the Kathleen Turner label and scroll away you'll find my review) and i also found her gobsmackingly awesome. I forgot about Liz Taylor for the entire 3 hours which is just... well, that's quite a feat.
Nate: Take a benadryl and go there with Californication. Most of the goods are with Evan Handler anyway.
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