Theresa Russell's acting

She is one of those actresses who seems to utterly divide people—some claim she's great, others consider her one of the worst actresses of all time. I think there is evidence to support both positions. If anything, I think she was just inconsistent. She has a look about her that toes the line between elegance and pure, unfiltered white trash, which at least makes her interesting to watch. I do appreciate her performances in "Bad Timing" and "Black Widow", but she is laughably bad in "Whore", among other things. She worked with a number of esteemed directors (Elia Kazan, Nic Roeg, Ken Russell) to varying successes, but her career was more or less over by the '90s. What sayeth thee, DL?

Wasn't she the go to girl if Kathleen Turner wasn't available or wasn't interested?

She is by far a better actress than Helen Cunt.

My daughter.......does NOT get raped in Blue Bay!

JUST saw her in Wild Things. Such a hot piece of trash movie. Thoroughly enjoyed it and she was perfect in the role.

She's very good in Impulse. Underrated movie.

Whore is the best movie of the 80s.

I liked that "Piano in the Dark" song though.

"some claim she's great"

Get the fuck out of here!

Anyone who ever claimed she was great just wanted to fuck her. She is a heinous no-talent.

I agree with R4 and R5. After Black Widow, she was heavily touted and could do no wrong. Then her career just..... stalled. I always wondered how that happened.

[quote] Nicolas Roeg

He was her meal ticket.

When he fell out of fashion, she disappeared.

I agree she was great in Impulse. It is underrated and fuck Clint Eastwood for ruining Sondra Locke's directing career.

Also great in Black Widow, her best performance. She stole that movie from Debra Winger.

"Whore" is from 1991, R6. Anyway, I LOVE this movie. And Tanner loves Theresa Russell's acting. And I love Tanner's review at the link.

She reminds me of Chloe Sevigny in that clip.

I agree that Whore is a masterpiece!!

[quote] Chloe Sevigny

R15. Chloe is seen at her best in her recent videos

That's because it was released in the 90s, r6.

[quote]I agree that Whore is a masterpiece!!

[quote]Hear hear for Whore!

These quotes don’t even need context to be essential DL.

I never thought about her one way or another until I saw Wild Things at the movie theater and she was so fun in that campy movie in her supporting role as slutty Denise Richards' slutty mom. I hoped she'd have a comeback after that but unfortunately she locked herself into a Kevin Williamson series that flopped and that seemed to stall her movie career. Yeah, she was in Spider-Man 3 with Tobey Maguire but that was a nothing role.

She's a terrible, wooden actress but that in itself is completely fascinating to watch. She's definitely got charisma.

Whore was really bad. It’s been about 25 years since I’ve seen it, but when she talks to the camera it made me really lol. When she was married to Nicolas Roeg, she took an exile from being in films. She has said she couldn’t even get an audition when she came back in the early 80s for the longest time. She’s not good not bad but one of those actresses that is just there in the Hollywood food chain. I like some of her films, but if she stopped making films or tv again nobody would miss her.

R15 her voice sounds similar to Chloe's, and they also share similar mannerisms. You can see/hear it in this interview

You would have thought that Insignificance would have made an interesting film, where she played Marilyn, but it was just another Roeg/Russell stinker.

When Insignificance was first done onstage in London, the "Marilyn" role was played by the great Judy Davis, who won accolades for her performance.

From Davis to Russell...ugh.

Russell have decent-to-good performances in Black Widow, Impulse, and Empire Falls.

I find her very uneven in Bad Timing. Her acting in Wild Things is fun to watch, but it's not good acting - Traci Lords could do the same thing.

She's been terrible in everything else I've seen her in.

She was OK in small parts in "The Last Tycoon" and "Straight Time", her first movie credits. She admits that her focus shifted from acting to her family, and she wasn't particularly ambitious, career-wise.

Stop trying to make Drew Droege happen, Drew Droege.

I thought she was good in her supporting part in the remake of The Razor's Edge too. Certainly better than Bill Murray and Catherine Hicks.

What limits her is that Valley Girl voice which Pauline Kael nailed in her review of Black Widow saying it was like that of a sorority girl.

Kael did say she had a weird voice, but somehow it seemed to work for her in Black Widow. Never really understood the movie(is Winger character attracted to her, was she giving her the kiss of death in the wedding scene?) Still it's enjoyable and you really can't take your eyes off of Russell.

I was going to say that she reminded me of a classier Pia Zadora, but I googled to discover that she's aged really well (she is only 4 years younger than Pia Zadora) and has worked well into the 2000's. She actually looks like a healthier Tatum O'Neal.

According to Wikipedia, she grew up on food stamps in CA and started modeling at age 12 (which gives me a grim feeling about what her early experiences in the entertainment industry might have been like). I, for one, am surprised at the depth of her filmography, such as it has been.

She was smart to ally herself with an older, influential director. I bet it was a good line of defense.

She is fine in Black Widow changing clothes and wigs but when she has to express emotion its pure amateurism. I suppose that is the character having arrested development like a child and petulant when mad.

She played Elizabeth Taylor's mother in Liz and Dick.

She was good in the only 3 films I saw her in: The Last Tycoon, Black Widow and Straight Time which has what is probably the finest performance Hoffman ever gave and exemplary support from Gary Busey, Harry Dean Stanton, M. Emmet Walsh, Kathy Bates and Russell. In all 3 films she played very different roles and was effective in all of them.

She has Tonya Harding energy in "Whore"

This is a nice, short interview about her experience making "Straight Time". It wa posted on YouTube in 2010, and I'm assuming it originates from around that date. She looks great and gives intelligent, down-to-earth answers. She seems grounded.

I'd totally forgotten she was in Straight Time. One of Hoffman's better films. He was still listening to his directors, at least to a certain extent.

Wow, an interesting interview with Roger Ebert from 1988.

Both Ebert and Russell exposing #metoo moments almost 30 years prior.

She apparently considers "Bad Timing" her best film, and I'd probably agree. She gets choked up talking about it here.

Didn't she "date" or have an affair with Pete Townsend?

R44 I've never heard that. Maybe though? She was married to Nicolas Roeg for years, and was something of a muse for him.

Her son Max Roeg played gay in the film Dream Boy (2008).

I met Theresa Russell at an autograph show in Chicago about ten years ago (don’t judge, DL!) She was a delight. I’d long been a huge Nic Roeg fan and loved “Bad Timing”, and she told me it was her favorite of her films. (FYI, Russell got the role after Sissy Spacek had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Spacek mentions this in her autobiography.)

As mentioned above, her work in Sondra Locke’s “Impulse” is terrific, and I told her so and that it was unfortunate that the film wasn’t more recognized. She told me that it was buried by Warner Bros. because of their ties to Clint Eastwood.

We talked for a long time, and she even invited me as her guest to a jazz show she was performing that night (I hadn’t known she sang). I couldn’t go because I had to work, but my meeting with her is a memory I cherish.

R47 good to hear she's so kind--she does seem pretty down to earth. I've never seen Impulse, but Bad Timing is great (and disturbing), and she's very good in it. It's one of the best (if not the best) filmic representation of malignant romance pushed to its absolute sickest.

I loved watching her movies. She had a way of projecting slutty upperclass sorority girl attitude which I found endearing and sexy, and the camera loved her.

I found Bad Timing so lurid, and not in the fun way like Wild Things.

Casting Theresa Russell and Denise Richards as mother and daughter in “Wild Things” was inspired.

R50 lurid, yes, but it's wonderfully crafted. I think it captures perfectly that kind of sick, perverse romance that most people experience at least once in their lives—the type that is both exhilarating and ruinous. I am somewhat surprised that contemporary feminists/#METOO!!!-ers haven't cited it as an artistic example of "toxic masculinity" given Garfunkel's twisted character, but then again, that crowd doesn't exactly have good taste. Instead, we have garbage like "Bombshell" getting all the "YASSS QUEEN!!!!!" accolades.

Utter garbage as an actress! She slept her way on to the silver screen. It's the reason she disappeared as quickly as she did. She didn't have the chops to make it as an actress... and she didn't have the oral skills to keep the gravy train rollin' down the tracks.

Good riddance!!!

Her son, Max, is cute. He looks quite a bit like his mom.

Wasn't she in on of those TV cop shows playing a woman who had sex with her own son?

Oh Yes Law & Order: Criminal in a Tent.

This is an unpopular opinion, but I actually like her performance as Marilyn Monroe in "Insignificance". It's far from perfect, but it is playful and evokes Marilyn in ways you don't necessarily expect. I find her very fun to watch in that film. The main drawback is that she doesn't look like Marilyn at all—Russell has thick eyebrows and sharp cheekbones, and doesn't possess that sleepy look Marilyn always had.

Russell aside, that film is wonderfully weird and Roeg captured it in a way that veers between hallucination and quasi-Socratic dialogue. The final sequence with the atomic explosion and Marilyn being engulfed in flames is haunting. You also get a bloated Gary Busey playing Joe DiMaggio, and Tony Curtis doing a Joseph McCarthy impression.

I think she might would have made a good Gloria Grahame in a biopic.

Slightly off-topic, but has anyone seen "Cold Heaven"? It's one of Nicolas Roeg's later films starring Russell, along with a young, hot Mark Harmon, Julie Carmen, and Talia Shire. It looks trashy and bizarre. It's odd how the quality of his films took a nosedive in the later part of his career (though I don't think it has anything to do with Russell).

I just got done watching Straight Time, and she is very good in it. She resembles Michelle Phillips in it quite a bit.

Dustin Hoffman looks HOT there, and a bit like Christian Borle.

They should remake the scene OP posted with Brie Larson and Jesse Eisenberg.

R61 I've always found Dustin Hoffman attractive. There is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot of his cock in "Straight Time" during a jail shower scene.

R62 The towels and that stand with the tray completely ruin that shot.

R59 Yeah. I've seen it. Strictly for Roeg die hards.

Ooooh thanks for posting R62! I haven't seen that film, but he looks great in it. Cock looks nice too!

Looking at Theresa's career overall, it seems that her acting ability weirdly declined as her career progressed. Her performances in her first three films—"The Last Tycoon", "Straight Time", and "Bad Timing"—are very solid. Truly formidable acting. There are moments in "Bad Timing" and "Straight Time" where she is downright fantastic. After that, though, her filmography becomes a mixed bag with more bad than good. She seemed to get more affected and self-conscious as she went on, which ruined her screen presence. Those first three entries in her filmography show her raw talent, but I think the industry spoiled her in the sense that, once she'd gotten a few films under her belt and had her bearings, she became too self-aware for her own good. There are some actors who are just unconsciously good at it and can play in the moment, but the magic gets obliterated if they are overthinking or psychologizing. I think Theresa is one of these people, and she got stuck in a mode of over-psychologizing the work, thus sabotaging the natural ability she had.

This thread is the epitome of privilege. The consensus is that she's not a good actress, yet people kind of make excuses for her or justify her mediocre career. By comparison the Black Panther thread was filled with negative vitriol. Even comments about Viola Davis' crying scenes where apparently her nose was dripping was somehow an example of her "over-acting". SMH

PRIVILEGE

R67 She’s a cult figure, sometimes bad and sometimes genius. No one is saying she’s just shit like Jessica Alba or Biel (though Biel improved).

Huh r68 ? How can one be sometimes genius then sometimes bad? I don't get it. If one is sometimes genius at his or her craft wouldn't the alternative be sometimes just good? "Bad" would be an option maybe the first couple times when he or she was just starting out, not throughout his or her career. Can you say Picasso was sometimes bad with his art? Or Mozart was sometimes bad? Really?

R67 are we really going here now?

they say it twernt her 'acting' that got her as far as she went....

max is in kool gay movie DREAM BOY

R69 Sit down. Theresa is genius because she’s bad.

Just watched "Impulse" for the first time--she was pretty good in it. Definitely one of her better performances.

She not a great actress, but occasionally (if the material's right or she gets inspired) she can be very impressive. Also, she is interesting, more so than many better actresses. There's thought behind her eyes.

Black Widow turns 35 this year. Need to watch it again. Russell is fabulous in it.

There is something very charismatic about her, that's for sure. I'll watch something just because she's in it. I will long remember many of her wild campy line readings in Whore long after I do half of the boring things Streep has done in the past 20 years

Theresa Russell is a terrific actress.

I have never been able to look at Garfunkel the same after seeing Bad Timing.

She’s cold and earthy at the same time.

Impulse is such a great performance and film. A star making turn. Such an interesting actress. I wish she got more roles with fabulous directors

I thought she was genuinely good in The Razor's Edge.

I only remember her from BLack Widow and Whore.

I think Kim Catrall happened. After showing off her bush in Porky's, Mannequin brought her fame...and just like that.

There is something unique about her in that she registers as both common trailer trash and cosmopolitan sophisticate. She embodies both archetypes, often simultaneously, and I think it's reflected in the projects she's chosen over the years. Intelligent people from humble beginnings who managed to climb the social ladder often have this aura about them. If you look at her background, it makes sense. This sensibility comes through onscreen and makes her an interesting performer to watch.

I love Black Widow but I agree the movie falls apart near the end. I think it tried to have it both ways, but would have made more sense to have Winger be full on lesbian

She also steals the show in the bonkers "Eureka" with Gene Hackman, Rutger Hauer, and Mickey Rourke. She always fit well in period pieces because her features have a glamorous, old school movie star look. Same goes for "The Razor's Edge" and "The Last Tycoon."

I didn't realize there are so many Roeg movies I've never even heard of. I should look at his IMDb page I guess, I'd like to see some of these. Are they hard to see?

R88 a lot of his films aside from the big swingers like "Don't Look Now" and "The Man Who Fell to Earth" largely went under the radar and were international co-productions that didn't always get great distribution. His filmography got more inconsistent as he got older, and his films in general are extremely divisive, with some deeming him a genius and others, a hack. I think that's usually a sign of a good artist. Not all of his films are great, but all of them are interesting, unique, and sometimes utterly weird. He took risks and went out on limbs for better or worse.

I do think his stylistic and visual storytelling choices in "Don't Look Now" were truly groundbreaking. Same goes with "Bad Timing", which I think is his best film after "Don't Look Now". Russell is fantastic in the latter. I also think "Insignificance" is a lot of fun (such a strange concept, but some great, odd metaphysical/existential elements there), and Russell's take on Marilyn Monroe was fascinating to watch. "Track 29" is weird as hell, but underrated. Russell co-stars in it with Gary Oldman, Christopher Lloyd, and Sandra Bernhard. It's a real trip. "Cold Heaven" is not that good, but it's watchable in an early-'90s Lifetime TV way.

The only thing I know about Impulse is “How can you possibly make Theresa Russell ugly?”

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