Annette Bening Biography
The preternatural poise exuded by versatile, attractive performer Annette Bening is a byproduct of her years of successful stage work in regional theater that culminated with a 1987 Tony-nominated portrayal in Tina Howe’s “Coastal Disturbances”. Although her feature debut as the sexually frustrated wife of Dan Aykroyd in the lackluster comedy “The Great Outdoors” (1988) may have disappointed, audiences soon took note of her streamlined carriage and superb vocal instrument when she etched an aptly uneasy portrait of wickedness as the Marquise de Merteuil in Milos Forman’s “Valmont” (1989). The cool subtlety of her performance caught the attention of Stephen Frears, who ironically had directed his own version of the same tale, “Dangerous Liaisons”, six months earlier. (Bening had, in fact, auditioned for Michelle Pfeiffer’s role in that film).