Friday, September 21, 2007

Anna Faris: Dramatic Actress?

There are times when you hear about a certain performer taking a role based on the life of a real person, you can't imagine them being able to pull it off. I mean, I certainly scoffed at the idea that Willa Ford was going to play Anna Nicole Smith, because both halves of that sentence are just ridiculous.

And let's face it, a lot of actors take on such roles when they don't have the talent or experience to carry them. I'm looking at you Jennifer Love Hewitt for trying to play Audrey Hepburn (who thought that would be a good idea).

But today I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Anna Faris has signed up to star in a biopic about the life of Linda Lovelace/Boreman, a role which is drastically different than the comedic fare she has made a career out of, but I think she is fully capable of pulling it off.



She plays a lot of "dumb blonde" type characters in her comedic work, and her part in Lost in Translation was in essence a caricature of a lot of her peers, but when you read her more serious interviews, she is a woman who is surprisingly full of substance, wit and intelligence, and I would like to see her really stretch her legs playing a heavy, dramatic role. I think it is time for her to truly spread her wings as an actress and show the world that yes, she is capable of anchoring a movie that has a little more meat to it (no pun intended).

I think this is the right move for her. Scary Movie shouldn't be the pinnacle of her career. After all, there was a time when Tom Hanks pretty much only did screwball comedies, and then he did Philadelphia and the rest if Oscar history.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Alright, thats a pretty solid recommendation -- that's on my list. Plus she's pretty hot to boot.

Anonymous said...

OMG! I luv'd her in Lost in Translation!

MC said...

Schad: I saw her in this weird little horror film called May, where she played a friendly, lesbianic coworker of the title character. I knew then that she had a bit more range than her comic work was revealing.

Dutchy: I am looking forward to catching her work in that movie they were talking about in the Washington Post article Smiley Face and there is this weird sounding movie called "Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel" that sounds interesting as well.

Anonymous said...

the difference between tom hanks and anna faris was that tom hanks didn't do the same dumb type comedic roles. Hope it works out for her -- the more she takes stupid roles, it'll kind of stick on her and she'll find it hard to shed that label. i do like her though.

funny you mentioned Anna Nicole... if she was a little more top heavy and a little heavier, i think Anna would play a good Anna Nicole Smith.

MC said...

He played some pretty dopey people.