Your thoughts on Jessica Lange

Love her - and while she's not Streep, her whole thing is she was never anyone but herself and no one could replicate her (or her life) at all.

She's a great actress because she simply started to carry herself like she was one whether anyone agreed or not (which happens a lot in music btw but almost never in the movies) - she did this at every stage of her life too. She was a genuine wild child, she wasn't going to acting first- she was interested in dance, was a model and really liked photography and she learned how to act from those angles - she has some some acting training but not that much (and odd training like mime) and that separates her - so everything she does is sort of off her looks (gorgeous) and intuitive and expressive - like dance.

That is why she can go really, really over the the top - her "control" as an actress is never really set like it is for others - it makes her thrilling and unpredictable and technically messy (she doesn't care, she hates accents more than pacinoyes does!), and any controls she places on herself is helpful....... but also like throwing a glass of water on the raging fire of her talent.

Later in her career she really shocked people - me at least - she completely reinvented herself, gave a "where did THAT come from?" technical performance and won a Tony for a very hard (and long) part she was completely wrong for on paper (I saw it, she was aces). She won a bunch of Emmy's on TV and acted like she was the Queen of Acting as her movie roles evaporated - that takes a lot of balls to keep doing over and over.

.........here's something people might argue with me on but I would say her performance in Frances is literally the best film performance within the worst movie I've ever seen. I recently re-watched it - she's flat out amazing and the film works but without her would be shaky at best - worse than shaky.

She also has great friends irl - she's the sexy af woman in the picture below with another Triple Crown winner - I do not know who the other woman is that they let crash the photo but she clearly is not a Triple Crown winner
Happy Birthday Jessica

Happy birthday!! I really like her, I think she's one the best of her generation.

Favorite performances:

Tootsie
A Streetcar Named Desire (TV)
Blue Sky
Sweet Dreams
The Postman Always Rings Twice

Oh honey, I forget the pic.

Definitely a fan. She has such raw talent & classic movie star looks to match.

Oh honeys, what a shame Grey Gardens wasn't a theatrical release instead of a TV movie because her performance as Big Edie would have easily won her an Oscar (she did pick up an Emmy).

I also love the work she did in Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story. Her Marlene Dietrich wannabe in Freaks was bizarre and brilliant.

Horrible, terrible actress (right up there with Jane Fonda)

I've always adored this photo from the set of Big Fish - 

Is there such thing as too many photos of 70s Lange? 

Jessica Lange may be the most influential or "copied" actress of recent years - Anne Hathaway in Eileen is practically doing an impression of her look and mannerisms and Maika Monroe in last years Watcher too.............I see at least a greatish performance a year - or more -   the last few years where I'm like "That's very Jessica Lange-ish" 

Well t's like I tell those 2 Zelstans -  it's the same argument for Jessica Lange that it is for anybody else:  

* First btw - to THAT dickhead  don't tell ME to fnck off and call me - or anybody a "loser" - in a thread about you defending Jonathan Majors    - you're the one whose favorite actor has 2  fewer Triple Crown wins than mine, your favorite current English language actress is less acclaimed than mine, your favorite tennnis player will never be the GOAT : 24 and counting > 22 dumbass.....

I mean you have made being a fan of losers an Art form - You're King of the Losers .........get out of here before I give you a slap you half a sissy ..........oh...........Merry Christmas!

* Now:

I think filmography does matter - and hers, like Glenn Closes's and Gerladine Page's matters and hurts them  too like it hurts the men  - Washington, O'Toole after the 60s, Cage, Penn etc. I covered this in the link below - Jessica Lange with a better filmography would be higher rated ......so would those men .......

This is a fact - it's not my opinion............it is obvious.........pffffft:

The greatest actors, are often in the greatest scenes opposite the greatest co-stars - often for the greatest directors - in the greatest films

movie-awards-redux.freeforums.net/post/426196

I think they have some things in common - particularly in getting lots of nods for iffy films, and both won Tony's relatively late in their careers for revivals etc........... Lange gets more of a pass for me among her female counterparts  - because filmography matters far less for females and the success of a movie less often depends on an actress........or did for a long time anyway

now I do rank her a little lower on the all time female list because of her filmography - like I do him for the males  - that still applies imo - and I said that in response to Nikon's post ^ ............but it's not exactly an apples to apples comparison  ........thee's not A LOT of females with filmographies that stand with males anyway - it applies to Close / Page ..........Burstyn somewhat also ..........and doesn't have anything to do with the dudes anyway .........

Lange's award haul is mindboggling - particularly in that several of those Emmy and the Tony win were specifically outside what she had done earlier......things that could only be done by "the  older Jessica Lange" which is amazing ...........because she was pretty good before  ........