Jennifer Jason Leigh in Anniversary Party, The (2001)
JENNIFER JASON LEIGH is an actress, writer, director and producer. She has been acknowledged as one of the most daring actresses of her generation. With an amazing range of roles, she has proved herself a master of the most disparate kinds of characters. Immersing herself both physically and psychologically in the roles she takes on, she continues to affirm her status as an actress of exceptional intensity and ability. This year marks her directorial debut with The Anniversary Party, co-written and co-directed with Alan Cumming.
This year, Leigh will also be seen in the Dogme film, The King Is Alive directed by Kristian Levring and for which she won Best Actress Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Shot in the desert in Namibia, The King Is Alive tells the story of a group of passengers crossing the desert by bus who become stranded. The film explores their descent into lunacy as their chance of rescue slowly diminishes. The King is Alive will be released in April 2001.
Leigh is currently shooting Sam Mendes' The Road to Perdition starring opposite Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, and Jude Law. The drama is based on the graphic DG Comics novel of the same name. Set in depression-era Chicago, the story revolves around a hit man bent on avenging the murder of his wife and son. The film is schedule for release in 2002.
Leigh first came to prominence in 1990, winning both the New York Film Critics Circle and the Boston Society of Film Critics Awards for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Last Exit to Brooklyn and Miami Blues.
In 1993 Leigh began working with Robert Altman, first in, Short Cuts as the phone sex worker, working from home to help supplement the family's income; and later in Kansas City, as a lovesick misguided woman trying to save her husband's life by kidnapping a politician's wife. In 1994, Leigh played Dorothy Parker in Alan Rudolph's Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, which Robert Altman also produced. She was named Best Actress by The National Society of Film Critics and The Chicago Film Critics and was nominated for both Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Best Actress Awards.
Leigh went on to produce Georgia, written by Barbara Turner and directed by Ulu Grosbard. Georgia tells the story of a complex relationship between two sisters, both singers, Georgia (Mare Winningham) "has a voice from God" and the younger Sadie (Leigh) a desperately ambitious third rate singer who's always running to Georgia for rescue. Leigh won the New York Film Critics Circle Best Actress Award and the Montreal Film Festival Award for Best Actress. She was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress.
Other films include: David Cronenberg's eXistenZ opposite Jude Law; Washington Square directed by Agnieszka Holland opposite Albert Finney; Joel and Ethan Coen's tribute to the screwball comedies of the 1930's, The Hudsucker Proxy, opposite Tim Robbins; Dolores Claiborne, directed by Taylor Hackford opposite Kathy Bates; Single WhiteFemale directed by Barbet Schroeder; Rush directed by Lili Fini Zanuck opposite Jason Patric; A Thousand Acres with Jessica Lange and Michelle Pfeiffer; FastTimes at Ridgemont High;Sister Sister; Backdraft; Crooked Hearts; Eyes of a Stranger, Wrong is Right,Easy Money; Grandview USA; Flesh and Blood; Men's Club; The Hitcher, Undercover, Heart of Midnight; and Christopher Guest's The Big Picture.
She has been honored with four retrospectives, including the prestigious Telluride Film Festival and the American Museum of the Moving Image in New York.
On stage, Leigh has starred in William Inges' 'Picnic' at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles, and 'Sunshine' at the Circle Repertory Theater in New York, both directed by Marshall Mason. Most recently, she starred in the Broadway production of 'Cabaret' as 'Sally Bowles' opposite Alan Gumming and directed by Sam Mendes.
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