Best actress Oscar favorite Michelle Yeoh embodies this “failed” American cinema, like Brendan Fraser or Jennifer Coolidge. They are living proof that triumphant comebacks are possible in Hollywood, as in France.
Success stories and extraordinary destinies have always fueled Hollywood stories. On screen and behind the scenes, through the journeys of actors who, despite obstacles, have been given a second chance or a new space to express themselves. When she picked up her Golden Globe for White Lotus in January, the irresistible Jennifer Coolidge thus brought to life twenty years of small roles that were enough to sustain but too thin to top the stage. But Mike White’s social satire shuffled the cards, making him Hollywood’s new darling at 60.
Age is critical for actresses, however, as evoked by the ghostly Michelle Yeoh, who was crowned at this same ceremony, unclassifiable everything, everywhere, at once. “All present women understand this. as the days, months, years go by, the possibilities tend to diminish. »
In the video, the incredible Jennifer Coolidge White lotus season 2 on OCS
Rare roles
According to Filipino Leroy-Beaulieu, who also made a remarkable comeback by portraying the role of irreverent women in Paris in the TV series “Emilie”, France is no exception. The character – the coquette, the strict Catholic, the arrogant and humorless bourgeois… It’s more difficult to fall in love with roles than when you’re 45 or 50, you’re just the hero’s or heroine’s mother. Interesting points are won by actresses who work hard, while others rarely have proactive characters. The idea of stopping the cinema hit me right on time, but I am persistent and passionate. I was just waiting for someone to believe it. »
In her Golden Globe acceptance speech, Michelle Yeoh, who was also nominated for an Oscar for best actress, emphasized that she accepted her fate before Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert offered her their superhero movie, as did everyone else. He plays a laundromat manager who travels through parallel universes. Historically, it is the side of American auteur cinema, and not blockbusters, that the resurrection plays out.
Quentin Tarantino enlisted John Travolta Pulp Fiction:romantic comedy beauty Matthew McConaughey has established himself as a performance actor thanks to feature films (Lincoln Defense, Dallas Buyers Club…), former black sheep Robert Downey Jr. has been resurrected kiss kiss bang bang… What about Ke Hui Quan, the Crescent Moon and the Child Star?Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doomthis year he won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor before being nominated for an Oscar as well. Everything everywhere at once.
“All present women understand this. as the days, months, years go by, the possibilities tend to diminish. »
Michelle Yoh
The resurrected ones
“Telling the story of those rejected by the system is part of the DNA of independent cinema,” analyzes Antoine Cyr, author of: Hollywood, the city of women (Ed. Actes Sud). To accentuate the effect, these films employ actors who truly embody this abandonment and find a form of luxury through their resilience. With physical injuries and trauma (he claims he was sexually assaulted by a Hollywood expert), Brendan Fraser, in the limelight after his divorce, made an Oscar-winning comeback to lose weight. the point by Darren Aronofsky, a film that breaks the image of the handsome adventurer that has stuck with him ever since Mummy. Underscored by the industry’s awareness of the need to diversify stories and profiles, this phenomenon of resurgence is not new, however.
In the video, Brendan Fraser cries during the 6-minute standing ovation in Venice.
Box office success and the Oscar are at stake.
Antoinette Sear is thus reminiscent of Joan Crawford, a star “made” by MGM in the 1930s who was let go by the studio while her star was fading. Warner, a rival studio betting on more realistic incarnations, somewhat like today’s independents, then offered him: Mildred Pierce, a film noir about a victimized, divorced, penniless woman who takes her destiny into her own hands to climb the social ladder. The result: box office success, an Oscar, and a return to the limelight.
In Hollywood, as in France, money is the backbone of war. stacking bids can have a big impact on a career. After a series of bad choices, Kevin Costner, a former star of the 1990s, has largely lost his luster. His salvation? Series: Yellowstone, which not only won him a Golden Globe, but also allowed him to direct the big screen Horizon, an ambitious Western saga in four parts that he had been dreaming of for seven years. Others invented fate before him. “Katharine Hepburn, a rising actress of the early 1930s, was considered box office poison by the end of the decade and could no longer find roles,” recalls Antoine Sear. He applied to the theater where he played indifferences, a huge success, for which he had the foresight to acquire the film rights. MGM followed and made her, later, an in-house actress. »
“When you’re no longer part of the movie people’s field of vision, they think you’re gone. »
Anuk Greenberg
Second Chance: French actresses too
Due to the lack of good offers on the big screen, Anouk Greenberg also found fulfillment elsewhere: in the theater, writing novels and painting. “When you’re no longer part of the movie people’s field of vision, they think you’re gone. When it sometimes happened that I fantasized about a possible return to cinema, I told myself that it would be ideal to work with someone who would not care who I was, to see who I had become. I was very marked by my roles as a woman-child in Bertrand Blier; it took me years to get over it. But the beautiful thing is that some directors and I were ready at the same time. »
after fraud, By Arno Desplechin and on the night of the 12th By Dominique Moll, Greenberg enchanted innocent Louis Garrel as the loving, free-spirited and capricious mother. The key: César nomination for Best Supporting Actor and New Projects, including actress Letitia Dosch’s first feature film. “When you’re an actor, there’s a risk of boring the public,” Antoine Sear concludes. But there’s also the possibility of return with immediate empathy, with great memories of the room. Why wouldn’t we want to see those we loved so much again? »
Source: Le Figaro
