Jennifer Jason Leigh Biography

Jennifer Jason Leigh (born Jennifer Leigh Morrow on February 5, 1962) is an American actress and producer. Leigh began her career as a teenager in the 1970s, guest-starring on several television shows. Her film breakthrough came in 1982 for her performance as Stacy Hamilton in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Leigh continued performing past her teen years, receiving critical praise for her roles in the 1990 films Miami Blues and Last Exit to Brooklyn. In 1991, she appeared in Ron Howard's Backdraft, and in 1992 she acted in the drama-thriller Single White Female.

In 1993, Leigh appeared in the ensemble film Short Cuts, directed by Robert Altman and, in 1994, she starred in the Coen brothers' The Hudsucker Proxy. Leigh was nominated for a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Dorothy Parker in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994). She starred in a 1995 film written by her mother, screenwriter Barbara Turner, titled Georgia. In 2001, she co-directed a film with Alan Cumming titled The Anniversary Party.

In 2002, Leigh appeared in the crime-drama Road to Perdition. In 2007, she starred in Margot at the Wedding, which was directed by her then-husband, Noah Baumbach. She had a recurring role on the Showtime television series Weeds as Jill Price-Gray. In 2015, she received critical acclaim for her voice-work as Lisa in Charlie Kaufman's Anomalisa, and for her role as Daisy Domergue in Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight, for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe, Critic's Choice, BAFTA and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

For her stage work, Leigh was nominated for a Drama Desk award for her Off-Broadway performance as Beverly Moss in Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party. Leigh's Broadway debut occurred in 1998 when she became the replacement for the role of Sally Bowles in Cabaret.

Early life

Leigh was born in Hollywood, California. Her father, Vic Morrow (born Victor Morozoff), was an actor, and her mother, Barbara Turner, was a screenwriter. Her parents divorced when she was two. Leigh's birth name was Jennifer Leigh Morrow. She changed her surname early in her acting career, taking the middle name "Jason" in honor of actor Jason Robards, a family friend. Leigh's parents were Jewish (their families were from Russia and Austria, respectively).

Leigh has an older sister, Carrie Ann Morrow, who was credited as a "technical advisor" on her 1995 film Georgia. Leigh also has a half-sister, actress Mina Badie (born 'Badiyi' - from her mother's second marriage). Badie acted alongside Leigh in The Anniversary Party. Director Reza Badiyi became Leigh's stepfather when he married Leigh's mother, Barbara.

Career

1976-1989

Leigh worked in her first film at the age of nine. It was a nonspeaking role for the film Death of a Stranger (The Execution) (1973). At 14, Leigh attended acting workshops, taught by the esteemed Lee Strasberg, at the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in Loch Sheldrake, New York. Afterwards, she landed a role in the movie The Young Runaways (1978). She also appeared in an episode of Baretta and an episode of The Waltons. Several TV movies followed, including a portrayal of an anorexic teenager in The Best Little Girl in the World, for which Leigh dropped to under medical supervision. She made her big screen debut playing a blind, deaf, and mute rape victim in the 1981 slasher film Eyes of a Stranger, which she quit school to star in. In 1982, she played a teenager who gets pregnant in the Cameron Crowe-scripted high school comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which served as a launching pad for several of its young stars. While decrying the writing as sexist and exploitative, Roger Ebert was enthusiastic about the acting, singling out Leigh and writing, "Don't they know they have a star on their hands?" With the exception of Ridgemont High and a supporting role in the Rodney Dangerfield comedy Easy Money, Leigh's early film work consisted of playing fragile, damaged or neurotic characters in low-budget horror or thriller genre films. She played a virginal princess kidnapped and raped by mercenaries in Flesh + Blood (1985), an innocent waitress pursued by the psychopathic title character in The Hitcher (1986) (both films pitting her opposite Rutger Hauer), and a young woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown in Heart of Midnight (1989).

1990-1999

In 1990, Leigh made a significant career breakthrough when she was awarded New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayals of two very different prostitutes: the tough streetwalker Tralala who submits to a brutal gang rape in Last Exit to Brooklyn, and Susie, a teenage prostitute who falls in love with ex-con Alec Baldwin in Miami Blues. Roger Ebert included Last Exit in his list of Best Movies of 1990, calling Leigh's performance brave, though his review of Miami Blues was much less sympathetic, simultaneously criticizing Leigh's ability to play dumb roles and praising her ability to play smart roles. Entertainment Weekly, in a backhanded compliment, called her "the Meryl Streep of bimbos". Leigh was then cast in her first mainstream Hollywood studio film, the firefighter drama Backdraft, in which she played a more conventional role, the girlfriend of lead actor William Baldwin. Leigh found more success in the gritty crime drama Rush (1991), portraying an undercover cop who becomes a junkie and falls in love with her partner, played by Jason Patric. Her next film, Single White Female (1992), was a surprise box-office success, bringing Leigh to her largest mainstream audience yet, portraying a mentally ill woman who terrorizes roommate Bridget Fonda. Leigh was awarded the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain and nominated for Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress. Leigh co-starred with Kathy Bates as a tormented, pill-popping woman hiding a history of childhood sexual abuse in the adaptation of Stephen King's novel Dolores Claiborne (1995). Leigh achieved her greatest acclaim in the role of Sadie Flood, an angry, drug-addicted rock singer living in the shadow of her successful older sister (Mare Winningham), in Georgia (1995). For the role, Leigh dropped to and sang all her songs live, including a rambling 8-minute version of Van Morrison's "Take Me Back". Georgia was met with critical praise. James Berardinelli wrote, "There are times when it's uncomfortable to watch this performance because it's so powerful", and Janet Maslin of the New York Times described Leigh's "fierce, risk-taking performance and flashes of overwhelming honesty". Leigh won New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress and Best Actress from the Montreal World Film Festival, as well as an Independent Spirit Award nomination. Some expressed surprise that she was not nominated for an Academy Award, while Winningham was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Throughout the 1990s, Leigh worked with many independent film directors. She worked with Robert Altman in Short Cuts (1993), playing a phone-sex operator, and Kansas City (1996), as a streetwise kidnapper. Leigh has expressed admiration for Altman and called him her mentor. In a change of pace from her "bad girl" roles, Leigh played the fast-talking reporter Amy Archer in the Coen Brothers' comic homage to 1950s comedy, The Hudsucker Proxy (1994). Leigh took her first lead role as the writer and critic Dorothy Parker in Alan Rudolph's film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994). She received a Golden Globe Award nomination and a National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress, as well as Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress and Fort Lauderdale Film Critics Best Actress Award. In another change of pace, she starred in Agnieszka Holland's version of the Henry James novel Washington Square (1997), as a mousy 19th-century heiress courted by a gold digger. In 1998, she appeared alongside Campbell Scott in the Hallmark Hall of Fame TV film The Love Letter. In David Cronenberg's eXistenZ (1999), she played a virtual reality game designer who becomes lost in her own creation.

2000-present

Leigh had a brief role as a doomed gangster's wife in Sam Mendes's Road to Perdition (2002) and costarred as Meg Ryan's brutally murdered sister in Jane Campion's erotic thriller In the Cut (2003). After a long period of avoiding prostitute roles, she played alongside Christian Bale as his prostitute girlfriend in the thriller The Machinist (2004). Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle commented that "As the downtrodden, sexy, trusting and quietly funny prostitute, Leigh is, of course, in her element". Her performance as a manipulative stage mother in Don McKellar's film Childstar won her a Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in 2005. After many years of wanting to be in a Todd Solondz movie, she appeared in Palindromes (2004). She also appeared in the psychological thriller The Jacket (2005), alongside Adrien Brody. In recent years, Leigh appeared in the 2008 ensemble film Synecdoche, New York and has acted in two films written and directed by her then partner Noah Baumbach: Margot at the Wedding, costarring Nicole Kidman, and Greenberg. Leigh has said that the roles were not specifically written for her, as Baumbach does not write roles with actors in mind. In 2009, Leigh was cast in the Showtime TV series Weeds, becoming a regular guest in the eighth season. She also joined Revenge on ABC, in 2012. Leigh has received three separate career tributes: at the Telluride Film Festival in 1993, a special award for her contribution to independent cinema from the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 2002, and a week-long retrospective of her film work held by the American Cinematheque at Los Angeles's Egyptian Theatre in 2001.

In 2015, Leigh starred in Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight (2015). The film, a Western set in Wyoming after the Civil War, was released on December 25. Leigh, along with the rest of the cast, appeared at Comic-Con to promote the film in July 2015. Leigh's performance has received multiple award nominations at various award ceremonies, including her third Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, her first BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Stage roles

In 1998, Leigh took on the lead role of Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes's Broadway revival of the musical Cabaret, succeeding Natasha Richardson who originated the role in Mendes's production. She succeeded Mary-Louise Parker in the lead role in Proof on Broadway in 2001. Her other theatrical appearances include The Glass Menagerie, Man of Destiny, The Shadow Box, Picnic, Sunshine, and Abigail's Party. In 2011, she played Bunny in the Broadway revival of House of Blue Leaves in New York City alongside Ben Stiller and Edie Falco.

Writing and directing

In 2001, Leigh co-wrote and co-directed The Anniversary Party, an independently produced feature film about a recently reconciled married couple who assemble their friends at their Hollywood Hills house, ostensibly to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary. As the evening progresses, the party disintegrates into emotional confrontations and bitter arguments as the facade of their happy marriage crumbles. Leigh was inspired by her recent experience filming the low-budget Dogme 95 film The King Is Alive. Leigh and co-writer Alan Cumming drew freely from their personal experiences in the writing of the film. Leigh plays an aging actress who makes jokes about her lack of Academy Award nominations and is fearful of losing her bisexual husband (Cumming). The film was shot in 19 days on digital video, and costarred the pair's real-life Hollywood friends, including Kevin Kline, Phoebe Cates, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Beals, John C. Reilly, Parker Posey and Leigh's sister Mina Badie. Leigh and Cumming jointly received a citation for Excellence in Filmmaking from the National Board of Review, and were nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature and Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. The movie received generally positive reviews.

Other work

Leigh filmed a role in Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut (1999) as a grieving patient of Dr. Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) who declares her love for him after her father's death. Kubrick wanted to reshoot the scenes, but Leigh was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts with eXistenZ; instead her scenes were cut. Leigh was originally cast as Vincent Gallo's girlfriend in his self-directed film The Brown Bunny, and was apparently prepared to perform oral sex on Gallo as the script required. Leigh subsequently commented that "it just didn't work out" and the role was eventually played by Chlo Sevigny. In 1997, she was featured in Faith No More's music video for "Last Cup of Sorrow". She was selected as one of "America's 10 Most Beautiful Women" by Harper's Bazaar magazine in 1989 and served as a jury member at the 57th Venice International Film Festival in 2000.

Personal life

In 1982, Leigh's father, Vic Morrow, was accidentally killed along with two child actors when a helicopter stunt went wrong during the filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie. Leigh and her sister filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Warner Bros., John Landis and Steven Spielberg. They settled out of court a year later and the terms of the settlement have never been made public.

Leigh has described herself as shy, introverted, and averse to Hollywood publicity and scandal. Speaking about her roles in smaller, independent films, she said, "I'd much rather be in a movie that people have really strong feelings about than one that makes a hundred million dollars but you can't remember because it's just like all the others."

She met independent film writer-director Noah Baumbach in 2001 while starring on Broadway in Proof. The couple married on September 2, 2005. Their son, Rohmer Emmanuel, was born on March 17, 2010. Leigh filed for divorce on November 15, 2010, in Los Angeles, citing irreconcilable differences. She sought spousal support as well as primary custody of the couple's son, with visitation for Baumbach. The divorce was finalized in September 2013.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Eyes of a Stranger	Tracy Harris
1981	The Best Little Girl in the World	Casey Powell
1982	Wrong Is Right	Young Girl
1982	Fast Times at Ridgemont High	Stacy Hamilton
1983	Easy Money	Allison Capuletti
1984	Grandview, U.S.A.	Candy Webster
1985	Flesh + Blood	Agnes
1986	The Hitcher	Nash
1986	The Men's Club	Teensy
1987	Sister, Sister	Lucy Bonnard
1987	Under Cover	Tanille Lareoux
1988	Heart of Midnight	Carol Rivers
1989	The Big Picture	Lydia Johnson
1989	Last Exit to Brooklyn	Tralala	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
1990	Miami Blues	Susie Waggoner	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
1991	Backdraft	Jennifer Vaitkus
1991	Crooked Hearts	Marriet Hoffman
1991	Rush	Kristen Cates
1992	Single White Female	Hedra 'Hedy' Carlson/Ellen Besch	MTV Movie Award for Best Villain Nominated"?Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
1993	Short Cuts	Lois Kaiser	Golden Globe Special Award for Best Ensemble Cast Volpi Cup for Best Acting Ensemble Nominated"?National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress (3rd place) Nominated"?New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress (3rd place)
1994	The Hudsucker Proxy	Amy Archer
1994	Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle	Dorothy Parker	Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama Nominated"?Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead Nominated"?New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress (2nd place)
1995	Dolores Claiborne	Selena St. George	Nominated"?Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
1995	Georgia	Sadie Flood	Also producer Montreal World Film Festival Award for Best Actress New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress Nominated"?Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead Nominated"?Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress Nominated"?National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress (2nd place)
1996	Kansas City	Blondie O'Hara
1996	Bastard Out of Carolina	Anney Boatwright
1997	Washington Square	Catherine Sloper
1997	A Thousand Acres	Caroline Cook	Verona Love Screens Film Festival: Best Actress (shared with Michelle Pfeiffer and Jessica Lange)
1999	eXistenZ	Allegra Geller
2000	The King Is Alive	Gina	Tokyo International Film Festival Award for Best Actress
2001	Skipped Parts	Lydia Callahan	Also co-producer
2001	The Man Who Wasn't There	Female Inmate	Uncredited
2001	The Anniversary Party	Sally Therrian	Also writer, producer and director Nominated"?Cannes Festival's Un Certain Regard Award Nominated"?Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature (shared with Alan Cumming) Nominated"?Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay (shared with Alan Cumming)
2001	The Quickie	Lisa
2002	Hey Arnold!: The Movie	Bridget (voice)
2002	Road to Perdition	Annie Sullivan
2002	Crossed Over	Karla Faye Tucker
2003	In the Cut	Pauline
2004	The Machinist	Stevie	Nominated"?Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actress (3rd place)
2004	Palindromes	Mark Aviva
2004	Childstar	Suzanne	Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated"?Vancouver Film Critics Circle for Best Actress in a Canadian Film
2005	The Jacket	Dr. Beth Lorenson
2005	Rag Tale	Mary Josephine Morton
2007	Margot at the Wedding	Pauline	Pescola Comedy Film Festival Award for Best Actress Nominated"?Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast Nominated"?Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female
2008	Synecdoche, New York	Maria	Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast Independent Spirit Awards: Robert Altman Award (shared with cast and crew)
2010	Greenberg	Beth	Also writer and producer
2013	The Spectacular Now	Sara
2013	Kill Your Darlings	Naomi Ginsberg
2013	Hateship, Loveship	Chloe
2013	Jake Squared	Sheryl
2013	The Moment	Lee
2014	Welcome to Me	Deb Moseley
2015	Anomalisa	Lisa (voice)	Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Depiction of Nudity, Sexuality or Seduction (shared with David Thewlis, tied with Carol) Nominated"?Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production Nominated"?Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female Nominated"?Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
2015	The Hateful Eight	Daisy Domergue	Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress (runner up) Hollywood Film Award for Ensemble of the Year National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated"?Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Nominated"?Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?Phoenix Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
2016	Morgan	Dr. Kathy Grieff
2016	LBJ	Lady Bird Johnson
2017	Amityville: The Awakening	Joan	Post-production
2017	Annihilation	The Psychologist	Post-production
2018	White Boy Rick		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Baretta	Marcie	Episode: "Open Season"
1978	Family	Jenny Blair	Episode: "And Baby Makes Three"
1978	Disneyland	Heather	Episode: "The Young Runaways"
1980	Angel City	Kristy Teeter	Television film
1981	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Laurie Mcintyre	Episode: "I Think I'm Having a Baby"
1981	The Waltons	Kathy Seals	Episode: "The Pursuit"
1982	St. Elsewhere	Diane, young woman at bar	Episode: "Samuels and the Kid"
1982	Trapper John, M.D.	Karen McCall	Episode: "The One and Only"
1983	ABC Afterschool Special	Andrea Fairchild	Episode: "Have You Ever Been Ashamed of Your Parents?"
1983	Girls of the White Orchid	Carol Heath	Television film
1990	Buried Alive	Joanna Goodman	Television film
1998	The Love Letter	Elizabeth Whitcomb	Television film
1998	King of the Hill	Amy (voice)	Episode: "I Remember Mono"
1998	Tracey Takes On...	Paige Garland	Episode: "Sports"
1998	Adventures from the Book of Virtues	Alexandra (voice)	Episode: "Gratitude"
1998	Thanks of a Grateful Nation	Teri Small	Television film Nominated"?Satellite Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film
1998	Hercules	Tempest (voice)	4 episodes
1999	Superman: The Animated Series	Cetea (voice)	Episode: "Absolute Power"
1999	Todd McFarlane's Spawn	Lily (voice)	2 episodes
2000	Twitch City	Faith	Episode: "The Life of Reilly"
2001	Frasier	Estelle (voice)	Episode: "The Two Hundredth"
2002	Mission Hill	Eunice Eulmeyer (voice)	Episode: "Kevin Loves Weirdie"
2009-2012	Weeds	Jill Price-Gray	16 episodes
2012	Revenge	Kara Clarke-Murphy	7 episodes
2014	Open	Holly	Pilot
2017	Twin Peaks	TBA
TBA	Atypical	Elsa	Also producer

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Theater	Notes
1986	Picnic	Madge Owens	Ahmanson Theatre	April 8, 1986 - May 24, 1986
1989	Sunshine	Sunshine	Circle Repertory Theatre	December 9, 1989 - January 14, 1990
1998	Cabaret	Sally Bowles	Stephen Sondheim Theatre Studio 54	August 4, 1998 - February 28, 1999
2001	Proof	Catherine	Walter Kerr Theatre	September 13, 2001 - June 30, 2002
2005	Theater of the New Ear: Anomalisa	Lisa	Royce Hall	September 14, 2005 - September 16, 2005
2005	Abigail's Party	Beverly	Acorn Theater	December 1, 2005 - March 11, 2006 Nominated"?Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play Nominated"?Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress
2011	The House of Blue Leaves	Bunny Flingus	Walter Kerr Theatre	April 25, 2011 - June 25, 2011