"Is it a crime to look at Lange?"
Friday, February 28, 2014 at 9:16AM Jessica Lange is now the face of Marc Jacobs Beauty line at 64, photographed by David Sims below. (Take that previously daring Lancôme with Isabella Rossellini as their international spokesface until she was in her dotage at 44).
What a second act Jess's career! After a very long rough stretch (approximately 1996-2008 which saw the likes of Hush and Bonneville and a couple of barely released movies) she's really on top of it all again... except the movies. What can we trace the revival back to? Many of you would shout "Grey Gardens!" from 2009, but I think the secret might be her honorary place in David O. Russell's I ♥ Huckabees with its Jessica Lange photo fetish.
Is it a crime? Is it a crime to look at Lange?!
Question: If she made Titus (1999) or Big Fish (2003) now, and gave the exact same performance she gave then, post career resurgence, do you think she'd get a Supporting Actress nod? With Oscar, timing is often everything.
Reader Comments (14)
I can't be the only person who thinks, for all the bellyaching certain actresses endure, Jessica Lange catches a lot of breaks for how she's warped her appearance with obvious cosmetic procedures. I don't even think her face looks like it belongs to a real person anymore. Usually I don't engage in these debates but I do think she looks strange.
Maybe she gets a pass because her unnatural look heightens the grotesquerie of American Horror Story?
well, as i was saying in the nicole kidman thread it all comes down to whether or not the mainstream audiences love the person in question. If they do, they excuse everything but if they don't understand the person's work or don't appreciate or recognize their particular talents they complain the person looks wrong.
it's all very transparent if you ask me because most actresses have *something* done and nobody complains unless the person is in a bad career moment or is not well loved by the masses. (it's worth noting that people used to complain about Lange's surgery all the time. Now everyone loves her again so people say nothing)
but i'm happy she's having this moment in her career. Actresses should not be put out to pasture when they pass 45 (which seems to be when it's happening now... though even that's an improvement over what it used to be) and this year has been a relief in how good it's been for the over 60 set.
Also, she kind of looks like late-stage Whitney Houston in that photo (in a way that is neither good nor bad) http://tinyurl.com/nnwl6jg
Titus? Probably not. Titus is brutal, gory and...kinda stupid to take seriously. I think, for most, it's safer as South Park reference fodder than as something to honour on stage at the Academy Awards. Big Fish? Possibly, though the role's a bit small for the Academy's tastes.
Hayden W---
OMG you are sooo right. I thought Whitney Houston immediately when I saw this picture.
lol now there's a first I bet for Ms Lange.
American Horror Story introduced her to a new audience the same way Prada did for Meryl Streep. Made her cool.
Jessica Lange has "American Horror Story" only to thank for this career and popularity resurgance.
Ah, those fickle masses. Robin Wright is similarly on a tidal wave of popularity, until she actually marries her 14 year younger boyfriend, then folks will come out of the internet woodwork with character bashing (a la Moore/Kutcher). Forget about her acting abilities, let's talk about her "cougar-ness".
Good for Lange, regardless of the procedures...
Lano, it's actually the other way around. AHS has Jessica to thank for its popularity.
My Lange fandom aside, I can still be objective and say she looks wonderful. With or without surgery, she is 64, and this expectation that she has to look stunning is ridiculous. Jessica looks fantastic for her age. She's not supposed to look perfect--THAT would be inhuman and grotesque. That is why I think Jacobs' move is praise-worthy. Women should be allowed to age and still be considered beautiful. Brava!
I loved Titus, but agree that it was never going to win with the academy. Just too out there.
I also think AHS is the thanks for her career resurgence. I only watched a few of the first eps of the first season (not a fan), but from her entrance on, she was exciting to watch. Just that as the only thing I found worth watching in the series (and I like the other actors involved), I couldn't stay with it.
Tootsie is still the best thing she has done. Perfect performance.
It has lead also to small mother parts in big budget flicks the vow and the gambler to name 2,any lange is betteer than no lange!!
matbe it's weavers turn now!!
Jessica never had much luck with movies anyway. I mean, she did Frances -the most coveted role at that time- and got all these well-deserved nominations, but almost all her movies tanked at the box office.
Her renaissance is good news. I really enjoyed her work in the first season of AHS. The rest has been pure repetition and I'm glad she's leaving soon.
I always thought Lange was THE most beautiful actress ever. Even with the surgeries/procedures. As Sister Wendy reminds us all, 'God never burdened me with the gift of beauty.' It's tough growing old.
Jessica Lange is amazing. She is one of my all-time favorite actresses. I just hope she gets to make more movies. AHS isn't enough!