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Movie critic Rex Reed accurately described the characters in Jennifer Jason Leigh’s gallery as a collection of “sluts and nuts,” but the soft-spoken actress affectionately refers to the hookers, drug addicts and head cases she has played as a group of vulnerable, injured women she is thrilled to get to know on-screen, but grateful she doesn’t encounter in real life. A versatile young actress, Leigh possesses intelligence and candor, which have made her one of the leading talents of her generation.

She first garnered critical attention as Casey Powell, the anorexic teenager in the TV-movie “The Best Little Girl in the World” (ABC, 1981), and made her feature film mark as a young teen who gets an abortion in Amy Heckerling’s finely observed teen comedy “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” (1982). Despite critical acclaim for “Fast Times”, it was eight years before Leigh’s next notable role, as the prostitute Tralala in Ulrich Edel’s grim adaptation of Hubert Selby Jr.’s novel, “Last Exit to Brooklyn” (1990). Her uncompromising performance was followed by two more gritty films in which Leigh portrayed ostensibly fragile women with unsuspected reserves of strength: “Miami Blues” (1990), as another woman of ill repute; and “Rush” (1991), as a narcotics cop-turned-addict.

Leigh portrayed yet another unhinged character in Barbet Schroeder’s “Single White Female” (1992). As Heddie, Leigh transformed herself from a frowsy seemingly supportive woman into the sleek “roommate from hell” who attempts to overtake Bridget Fonda’s identity. She followed with the small role of a woman who works as a phone sex operator from her home in Robert Altman’s episodic “Short Cuts” (1993). In the Coen brothers’ “The Hudsucker Proxy” (1994), Leigh essayed an award-winning journalist who goes undercover and romances the new president of an industrial company. Some critics faulted Leigh’s use of Katharine Hepburn-inspired accent while others compared her work with that of such 1940s stars as Rosalind Russell and Barbara Stanwyck. Her eccentric yet powerful portrayal of writer Dorothy Parker in Alan Rudolph’s “Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle” (1994) won her citations as the year’s best actress from the National Society of Film Critics and the Chicago Film Critics Association but not the expected attention from the Academy. Her performance was not without controversy; some found her accent indecipherable, yet Leigh claimed to have studied recordings of Parker and patterned her speech on them.

In 1995, Leigh again displayed her versatility, first in “Dolores Claiborne” as the title character’s haunted careerist daughter and then as a drug-addicted singer wannabe in “Georgia”. In the latter, her character was scripted by her mother, Barbara Turner, and was reportedly based in part on Leigh’s older sister Carrie. Again, critics were divided over her emotionally vivid depiction of a character constantly living on the edge. Leigh ventured into lighter territory in 1997 playing a plain-Jane heroine who falls in love with a handsome gold digger in the film version of Henry James’ “Washington Square”. Leigh’s take on the role differed greatly from Olivia de Havilland’s interpretation in the 1949 film “The Heiress”, which was also based on James’ book, in that her performance is much quieter and her bashful, innocent character takes a spiritual journey to independence that is a far cry from the one de Havilland takes to revenge and bitterness. Leigh followed that film up with another bittersweet romance, this time re-teaming with her “Mrs. Parker” co-star Campbell Scott for the TV-movie “The Love Letter” (CBS, 1998). Here, she played a lonely, young Civil War-era woman who develops a passionate correspondence with a man who lives in the 20th Century via a magical roll-top desk. Unlike most of Leigh’s movies, this one had a happy ending.

The actress returned to playing tortured souls in 1999, replacing Natasha Richardson as miserable nightclub performer Sally Bowles in the Broadway revival of “Cabaret” opposite Alan Cumming. The part not only proved she was a compelling presence on stage, but also showed she was an adequate singer and dancer as well. The following year saw the actress star as an isolated computer game designer who is more comfortable playing a character in a game than she is dealing with people in real life in “eXistenZ”, David Cronenberg’s bizarre sci-fi flick. It was a role she acknowledged was one to which she could relate as in her mind acting offered a similar escape.

Leigh continued to add to her gallery of misfits throughout 2000, acting in the fourth Dogme 95 film, “The King Is Alive” (screened at Cannes), which focused on a group of passengers on a broken down bus who pass the time by staging “King Lear”. She went on to essay an unhappily married woman whose affair with a Native American raises eyebrows in “Skipped Parts”. Leigh then took on a very ambitious project with Alan Cumming, her “Cabaret” co-star and real-life friend. The pair agreed to write, direct, produce and star in the comedy-drama “The Anniversary Party” which examines what happens when a newly reconciled couple throws an anniversary bash that quickly deteriorates into a drug-fuelled rehashing of the couple’s problems. The film was shot entirely on digital video and was lauded not only for its rich appearance but its clever writing direction and often improvised acting. It was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in 2001. Leigh next went back to her acting full time, appearing briefly in “Road to Perdition” (2002) as Tom Hanks’ wife, and director Jane Campion’s “In the Cut” (2003), in which she played Meg Ryan’s sister (at Campion’s behest, the two actresses spent much time prior to filming interacting as if they were real siblings).

Leigh next appeared in the psychological thriller “The Machinist” (2004) opposite a gaunt Christian Bale, playing a hooker and sometime girlfriend of a machinist (Bale) whose severe insomnia causes the serious injury of a co-worker. He falls into a fit of madness, fearing everyone around him and imagining unseen enemies—including Leigh. In “Palindromes” (2005), director Todd Solondz’s screed against abortion activists, fundamentalist Christians and pedophiles, Leigh was one of eight actors to portray a 13 year-old girl who longs for a baby, gets pregnant, has an abortion forced upon her, runs away from home, finds a Christian commune full of disabled children and joins a plot to murder an abortion doctor. Critics generally panned the film as being cruel, mocking and misanthropic—typical refrains for the director’s work.

Leigh clearly relishes difficult, unglamorous roles and inhabits them with conviction. She dieted down to 86 pounds for both “The Best Little Girl in the World” and “Georgia” and is famous for the research she does before filming. Her work is intimate and richly detailed and often painful to watch, but there is no denying the talent that drives it.

• Also Credited As:
  Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jennifer Leigh Morrow
• Born:
  on 02/05/1962 in Los Angeles, California
• Job Titles:
  Actor

Family

• Father: Vic Morrow. died in controversial helicopter accident on the set of “Twilight Zone: The Movie” (1982)
• Half-sister: Mina Badie. born on November 28, 1970; appeared in “Mrs. Parker and Vicious Circle” (1994),”Georgia” (1995) and “The Anniversary Party”(2001)
• Mother: Barbara Turner. divorced Morrow c. 1964; later married and divorced director Reza Badiyi
• Sister: Carrie Morrow. born in 1958; reportedly was a heroin addict
• Step-father: Reza Badiyi. divorced Barbara Turner c. 1979

Significant Others

• Companion: Eric Stoltz. no longer together
• Husband: Noah Baumbach.
• Companion: Bruno Kirby. no longer together
• Companion: Eric Stoltz. no longer together

Education

• Palisades High School, Los Angeles, California
• Teenage Drama Workshop of the California State University, Northridge, Northridge, California

Milestones

• 1972 Stage acting debut in “Man of Destiny”
• 1978 First TV appearance, “The Young Runaways” on “World of Disney” (NBC)
• 1980 Film debut in the low-budget horror flick “Eyes of a Stranger”
• 1980 TV-movie debut in “Angel City” on CBS
• 1982 Breakthrough performance in poignant teen comedy “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”
• 1989 NY stage debut, “Sunshine” off-Broadway at Circle Repertory Theatre
• 1990 Turned in searing performance as a gang-raped hooker in the gritty drama “Last Exit to Brooklyn”
• 1991 Played a drug-addicted undercover cop in “Rush”
• 1991 Was blasted by critics for her rare appearance as “the girlfriend” in Ron Howard’s blockbuster “Backdraft”
• 1992 Had memorable role as Bridget Fonda’s psychotic roommate in “Single White Female”
• 1993 Featured as harried young mother/phone-sex operator in Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts”
• 1994 Played title character in the period drama “Mrs Parker and the Vicious Circle”; first film with Campbell Scott
• 1995 Starred as Kathy Bates’ disturbed writer daughter in “Dolores Claiborne”, the film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel
• 1995 Wrote, co-produced, starred and sang in “Georgia”, a drama written by her mother and loosely based on her sister’s battle’s with heroin addiction and self-image problems
• 1996 Re-teamed with Altman for the jazz era “Kansas City”
• 1996 Was praised for her performance in Anjelica Huston’s directorial debut “Bastard Out of Carolina” (Showtime)
• 1997 Featured as the favorite daughter of a molesting father (played by family friend Jason Robards) in “A Thousand Acres”, which was loosely based on Shakespeare’s “King Lear”
• 1997 Lent voice to a character on the animated sci-fi series “Spawn”
• 1997 Played the plain-jane heroine in the film adaptation of Henry James’ “Washington Square”; “The Heiress” (1949), starring Olivia de Havilland, was also based on the novel
• 1998 Co-starred with Campbell Scott in the Hallmark TV period romance “The Love Letter” (CBS)
• 1998 Replaced Natasha Richardson as Sally Bowles in “Cabaret” on Broadway; first collaboration with Alan Cumming
• 1998 Vocal talents featured in episode of Disney’s animated TV series “Hercules: The Wonder Boy Years”
• 1999 Played a computer game designer in David Cronenberg’s bizarre sci-fi drama “eXistenZ” opposite Jude Law
• 2000 Featured in “The King Is Alive” (Dogma 4) about a group of passengers who decide to stage “King Lear” when their bus breaks down in the desert; premiered at Cannes Film Festival
• 2000 Starred in the romantic drama “Skipped Parts” with Brad Renfro
• 2001 Co-starred in “The Quickie”
• 2001 Co-wrote, co-directed and co-starred in “The Anniversary Party” with her “Cabaret” co-star and friend Alan Cumming
• 2001 Returned to Broadway succeeding Mary-Louise Parker as the lead in “Proof”
• 2002 Appeared in “Road to Perdition” direceted by Sam Mendes
• 2002 Cast with Meg Ryan in “In the Cut,” directed by Jane Campion
• 2002 Played convicted murderer Karla Faye Tucked in CBS TV Movie “Crossed Over”
• 2004 Starred opposite Christian Bale in “The Machinist”
• 2005 Cast in the thriller “The Jacket” with Adrien Brody and Kris Kristofferson
• Cast in pivotal role in Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut”; because of scheduling conflicts was unavailable for re-shoots and was replaced by actress Marie Richardson