Turnover

email this story
read comments (50)
post a comment

It hit me yesterday that Gossip Girl Blake Lively is the same classy blonde lassy that Bridget Fonda was 17 or 18 years ago. Not in terms of acting chops, but appearance-wise. In her prime Fonda was the best. I wrote a Fonda profile for the N.Y. Times that appeared in late '92. It involved visiting her on the set of Bodies, Rest and Motion in Arizona a few weeks/months earlier. Now married to composer Danny Elfman, Fonda hasn't made a film since '02.

Blake Lively; Bridget Fonda

Forewarned<< previous | next >>Junkies

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on February 1, 2009 at 12:35 PM

comment #1

George Prager says ...

Good for her. Now you just watch, she'll show up on a UGLY BETTY next week.

Posted by George Prager at February 1, 2009 12:56 PM

comment #2

moviemaniac2002 says ...

Hollywood's like an acid pool for most young
actresses....they can swim like crazy, but
sooner or later they dissolve.
When they hit 'flavor-of-the-year' status, their careers go up like fireworks rockets and last
about as long. Anybody remember the incredible
two year run of Penelope Ann Miller? My own favorite of these short-lived wonders was
Monica Potter..it was as if she was already engineered for planned obsolesence....if you listened carefullly, you could actulally hear the clock ticking off the minutes left on her career.
But I truly miss Bridget Fonda...I always thought she had the chops for the long haul.
Come back to us Bridget.....if Mickey Roarke's
getting a second act...then anyone else is eligible.

Posted by moviemaniac2002 at February 1, 2009 1:40 PM

comment #3

NotImpressed1Yet says ...

Gretchen Mol is another whose 15 minutes were seemingly preordained, although she had the start of a comeback in that Betty Page movie (but nothing since that I've heard).

Posted by NotImpressed1Yet at February 1, 2009 1:44 PM

comment #4

btwnproductions says ...

Potter and Mol have TV gigs now. (Mol was in 3:10 TO YUMA.) I think Fonda just tired of the industry grind.

Posted by btwnproductions at February 1, 2009 1:53 PM

comment #5

lipranzer says ...

I haven't seen Blake Lively in anything, but I was always a fan of Fonda back in the day - she was wonderful in SINGLES, SCANDAL, IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU, and JACKIE BROWN, and I even liked her in GODFATHER III, POINT OF NO RETURN, and TOUCH..

Posted by lipranzer at February 1, 2009 2:18 PM

comment #6

Renfield says ...

Mol was very good in The Shape Of Things.

Posted by Renfield at February 1, 2009 2:19 PM

comment #7

D.Z. says ...

I blame Jackie Brown for her career demise. When you end up signing up for a misogynist fantasy, why would anyone take you seriously afterward?

Posted by D.Z. at February 1, 2009 3:19 PM

comment #8

D.Z. says ...

See Uma Thurman after Kill Bill as another good example.

Posted by D.Z. at February 1, 2009 3:20 PM

comment #9

Chicago48 says ...

Wasn't she in a Simple Plan?

Posted by Chicago48 at February 1, 2009 3:26 PM

comment #10

Chicago48 says ...

I loved Kill Bill. Tarantino was the best thing that happened to Uma.

Posted by Chicago48 at February 1, 2009 3:27 PM

comment #11

George Prager says ...

D.Z. if you think throwing around silly terms like "misogynist fantasy" is eventually going to land you a chick, you're wrong.

Posted by George Prager at February 1, 2009 3:35 PM

comment #12

Mr. Muckle says ...

My money, Bridget Fonda is the best looking girl ever. I wish she'd make a couple more films.

Posted by Mr. Muckle at February 1, 2009 3:47 PM

comment #13

Sabina E says ...

another typically overrated blonde white chick who can't act.

Hollywood is the land of blonde clones.

Posted by Sabina E at February 1, 2009 4:03 PM

comment #14

DarthCorleone says ...

Surprise, surprise. D.Z. brings it back to yet another Tarantino slam.

Posted by DarthCorleone at February 1, 2009 4:13 PM

comment #15

/3rtfu11 says ...

Lively looks like Kim Basingeron the Vogue cover.

DZ quit bashing QT in the non-QT related threads. Please.

Posted by /3rtfu11 at February 1, 2009 4:39 PM

comment #16

D.Z. says ...

George: Well, it certainly does a better job at snagging women than QT did after the movie...

Posted by D.Z. at February 1, 2009 4:42 PM

comment #17

D.Z. says ...

" What better way to pick up chicks after having one of the women get shot in my last picture than play a rapist in a Broadway show?!"

3rt: It's related, since her career went down after that part. She went from action-heroine to hooker in Kiss of the Dragon.

Posted by D.Z. at February 1, 2009 4:46 PM

comment #18

erniesouchak says ...

Fonda might have looked classy, but she had a thimbleful of talent.

Posted by erniesouchak at February 1, 2009 4:50 PM

comment #19

TM says ...

Fonda is not unlike her aunt Jane, who had a spotty beginning as well and was hit or miss in several movies. It wasn't until the late 60s that she really showed what she could do as an actress ("They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"). So perhaps there's hope for Bridget if she chooses. Of course, she took time out to have a kid and raise him.

Mol used to live near me in NYC. I know she had one miscarriage before she gave birth to her son with her husband. She's co-starring with Harvey Keitel, Michael Imperioli and Jason O'Mara in "Life on Mars".

Monica Potter was being groomed to be Julia Roberts' successor as the rom com gal but she just simply has even less talent than Miss Roberts. Potter's a very nice woman and fun to interview but not a very strong performer on the big screen. She's fared a bit better on TV, although she was let go from "Boston Legal" in one of that show's many cast purges. She, too, had a third child with her second husband, so I guess she's concentrating on being a mom rather than a star.

Posted by TM at February 1, 2009 5:42 PM

comment #20

dangovich says ...

Laura Dern was a better actress.

Posted by dangovich at February 1, 2009 6:17 PM

comment #21

Arran says ...

Laura Dern also married a better musician.

Posted by Arran at February 1, 2009 6:19 PM

comment #22

frankbooth says ...

Potter plays the mother in the Last House on the Left remake, for what it's worth. Probably not the best sign, career-wise.

Posted by frankbooth at February 1, 2009 6:52 PM

comment #23

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

Jackie Brown a misogynist fantasy? It must be opposite day 'round here.

Oh, nevermind, it's just another dumbfuck D.Z. post. Carry on.

Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum at February 1, 2009 7:24 PM

comment #24

lipranzer says ...

Forgot about A SIMPLE PLAN. She was very good playing a Lady Macbeth-type character.

Posted by lipranzer at February 1, 2009 7:34 PM

comment #25

Quincyspeak says ...

way to stay creepy wells!

Posted by Quincyspeak at February 1, 2009 8:08 PM

comment #26

arturobandini2 says ...

I always like Bridget -- one of the few times nepotism hasn't annoyed me. I loved her Mandy Rice-Davies in Scandal, and she managed to survive the godawful Point of No Return with her dignity intact. Last thing I saw her in was a Jet Li chop-socky. Apparently she had a severe auto accident several years ago, and the lengthy recovery contributed to her early retirement. I would love to see a comeback.

And now for some firsthand secondhand gossip...

Little over ten years, I was entering Dave's Laser Place (RIP) in Studio City and held the door for a guy carrying a crate of laser discs. As soon as he passed me, I realized it was Eric Stoltz. (He didn't thank me; I suppose he thought I was a fan.) Later, the kids who worked there told me he'd traded in his and Bridget's laser disc collection, as they'd just broken up. Bridget came in the following day and bought them all back -- they were easy to identify because her name was on all of them. She also came to the store every holiday, alone, and rented a stack of movies. I think they said her favorite movie was Suspiria.

Posted by arturobandini2 at February 1, 2009 8:13 PM

comment #27

Josh Massey says ...

I've never seen "Gossip Girl," but I remember Lively as the best thing about Accepted (a better movie than it should have been) - a very natural screen presence. As the credits rolled, I remember thinking she could be a big star if the cards fell right.

Posted by Josh Massey at February 1, 2009 8:58 PM

comment #28

Ray says ...

Um, how did Elfman manage to score with Bridget Fonda?????? He is one weird lookin dude.

Posted by Ray at February 1, 2009 9:00 PM

comment #29

D.Z. says ...

Kane: And yet a guy I talked to said he only liked JB because of a girl he broke up with, so...

Posted by D.Z. at February 1, 2009 9:21 PM

comment #30

BurmaShave says ...

D.Z., Quentin Tarantino has fucked Marisa Tomei and Mira Sorvino. You have fucked your pillow and your mom.

Posted by BurmaShave at February 1, 2009 9:23 PM

comment #31

D.Z. says ...

Burma: That can't be true, because QT would probably wank it to some stupid gore flick every time Tomei and Sorvino wore something provocative in bed. And the only mom I've encountered is your own. But I understand how you'd be so confused, since you're so overprotective of her in "that" way, and are afraid of me encroaching on your basement, and all...I don't think it's nice to refer to her as a pillow, though.

Posted by D.Z. at February 1, 2009 11:46 PM

comment #32

Al-Aurens says ...

BurmaShave

D.Z., Quentin Tarantino has fucked Marisa Tomei and Mira Sorvino. You have fucked your pillow and your mom.

Bravo, sir, bravo.

D.Z.: STFU!

Posted by Al-Aurens at February 2, 2009 6:08 AM

comment #33

Al-Aurens says ...

Hmm. That last doesn't look quite right. My comments start with Bravo, as if anyone cares!

Posted by Al-Aurens at February 2, 2009 6:08 AM

comment #34

NotImpressed1Yet says ...

D.Z. there is not a single person here who likes you or thinks anything your say has any value. Many here think you are retarded.

To be fair, I don't think you fucked your mom because I think you are probably a virgin.

Posted by NotImpressed1Yet at February 2, 2009 6:09 AM

comment #35

AtticusRex says ...

Back in the day I had a crush on Ms Fonda. I do miss her. I even like Point of No Return just because of her... well Bryne isn't bad either. Sure Point isn't Nikita but Fonda... she was just the perfect girl next door.

I liked her in Jackie Brown as well... but then I seem to be one of the only real fans of that flick.

I saw her 'Black Magic' film... weird but still watchable. Didn't know she married Elfman. Knowing that, she of course doesn't need to work... but still she had a fetching quality about her.

Is she a good actress? Compared to Laura Dern, no. But she's also not a blonde of the month either. SHe can act just fine.

Monica Potter is now on the TNT show Trust Me. She also has talent and is cute but not that tomboy coolness that Fonda exudes.

On another note... why all this hate'n on D.Z.? Don't know the fellow, see him here from time to time... but wow that's some serious flaming toward him.

Posted by AtticusRex at February 2, 2009 7:06 AM

comment #36

ScottMendelson says ...

I loved Jackie Brown, and I feel that the poor fan reception did fatal damage to Tarantino's career. He made an honest effort to make something a little more low-key, a little more mature, a little less flashy. It was a natural progression from Pulp Fiction, but the fans had none of it. As a result (theoretically), Tarantino gave up on making normal movies and swore to only make geek homages for the rest of his career.

Posted by ScottMendelson at February 2, 2009 8:16 AM

comment #37

actionman says ...

Jackie Brown is a wonderful film and Fonda is sexy and funny in that flick. Just thinking of her smoking bowls and taking it from behind by De Niro makes me smile.

Posted by actionman at February 2, 2009 10:00 AM

comment #38

/3rtfu11 says ...

JckNapier2 : Agreed. I think "Inglourious Basterds" is what "Kill Bill" was meant to be as a single film.

Posted by /3rtfu11 at February 2, 2009 10:17 AM

comment #39

Ryansi51 says ...

Blake Lively just had her tits done. worth every penny.

Posted by Ryansi51 at February 2, 2009 10:35 AM

comment #40

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

Yeah, I'll second that, /3rtfu11. Nice post, JckNapier.

Agreed about Jackie Brown, its reception, and the purely "geeky" films he has made subsequently. That seems to have been a real turning point in his career. He's still a very fine director, but hopefully he gets back to mixing some highbrow stuff back in with his lowbrow influences (like he did throughout the 90s). That dichotomy is uniquely cinematic, and what made me such a huge fan of his in the first place.

Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum at February 2, 2009 10:35 AM

comment #41

Edward Havens says ...

I like having DZ around. Every group has to have that one person whom everyone else can point to and say "At least I'm not that person," and I'd rather have it be DZ than me.

Posted by Edward Havens at February 2, 2009 11:34 AM

comment #42

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

I have to admit I do relish the opportunity to turn my rampant self-loathing on someone much more deserving of it.

And that will mark both the first and last time I will ever use the phrase "more deserving" in relation to D.Z.

Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum at February 2, 2009 11:50 AM

comment #43

/3rtfu11 says ...

The reason I love DZ is because of his Left-wing politics. The reason I dislike DZ is he defended Jennifer Aniston (the bitch is boring and bland) - while dissing Tarantino and Pitt.

Posted by /3rtfu11 at February 2, 2009 1:19 PM

comment #44

D.Z. says ...

Al: Man, you must really be obsessed with incest to bring it up so often.

Jck: Why the hell would anyone care about a career built on plagiarism? And JB's so mature that it plays the race and gender card in a "tribute" to blaxploitation and Pam Grier, thus missing the point entirely.

3rt: If I have to choose one vapid celebrity over another, I'm gonna pick the one who at least wasn't a cheater.

Posted by D.Z. at February 2, 2009 2:10 PM

comment #45

/3rtfu11 says ...

DZ: Like I said she's boring and bland. btw I supported Clinton's cheating ass I can embrace Brad Pitt.

Posted by /3rtfu11 at February 2, 2009 2:48 PM

comment #46

D.Z. says ...

I *didn't* support Clinton's cheating ass. I just didn't like the repressed homosexual McCarthyists who had it in for him more. Pitt's not someone I'm gonna defend, though, since he had it all, and he traded it in to appease his ego.

Posted by D.Z. at February 2, 2009 3:40 PM

comment #47

Jonah says ...

"I *didn't* support Clinton's cheating ass. I just didn't like the repressed homosexual McCarthyists who had it in for him more. Pitt's not someone I'm gonna defend, though, since he had it all, and he traded it in to appease his ego. "

So you let TMZ tell you who to like. Fair enough.

Posted by Jonah at February 3, 2009 1:43 AM

comment #48