Jennifer Connelly

The movie was a box office failure. Stephen Schaefer wrote for USA Today, "Anyone looking for proof that little girls do grow up fast in the movies should take a gander at curvaceous Jennifer Connelly in The Hot Spot. Not yet 20, Connelly has neatly managed the transition from child actress to ingenue". During an interview with Shaeffer, Connelly commented on her first nude scene: "The nudity was hard for me and something I thought about but it's not in a sleazy context". The same year, director Garry Marshall considered her for the role of Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman, but ultimately felt that she was too young for the part. Read Less

Connelly played Marion Silver, Harry's (Jared Leto) girlfriend in a movie that also starred Marlon Wayans and Ellen Burstyn. Her character is a middle-class girl from Manhattan Beach who pursues the dream of establishing a dress shop, but whose addiction ultimately leads to a degrading life of prostitution. Connelly prepared for the role by renting a separate apartment in the building where she lived. During her time in the apartment, Connelly isolated herself, painted, listened to music that she considered that her character would, designed clothes, and used the time to reflect about addictions and their origin. Connelly also talked to addicts and attended Narcotics Anonymous meetings with one of her friends, who was being treated. Critics acclaimed the individual performances due to the courage needed to demonstrate their characters' constant physical and mental degradation. Connelly stated that she was interested in the script for its depiction of the addictions and their impact on the lives and affections of the characters' relatives. Critic Elvis Mitchell wrote in The New York Times, "Ms. Connelly, too, whittled herself down to a new weight class, and it's her performance that gives the movie weight, since her fall is the most precipitous. By the end, when she curls into a happy fetal ball with a furtive smile on her face, she has come to love her debasement. Her dank realization is more disturbing than anything in the novel, and Ms. Connelly has never before done anything to prepare us for how good she is here." Read Less

After her son dies in a hit-and-run, Grace gradually tries to overcome her grief, while her husband Ethan (Joaquin Phoenix) becomes obsessed with discovering who killed him. By her own account, the character she played in the movie proved tougher than any of her previous roles. USA Today's Susan Wloszczyna commented, "The strong performances of Jennifer Connelly and Mark Ruffalo... raise the film above overheated melodrama". Read Less

Set during the writing of On the Origin of Species, the movie depicts Darwin's struggle with the subject of the book as well as with his wife, who opposed his theories, and their mourning for their daughter Annie. The San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Darwin's wife, a religious woman who disapproved of her husband's theories, is played by Jennifer Connelly, Bettany's real-life wife, in the kind of casting that doesn't always work, but it does here. We believe in the Darwins' history together, their familiarity and affection. Connelly's English accent is also as good as Renée Zellweger's and Gwyneth Paltrow's. She doesn't get just the sounds right, but also the music and the attitude". She then voiced the character named "7", an adventurous warrior in the animated film 9. Dustin Lance Black's Virginia premiered on September 15, 2010, at the Toronto International Film Festival. Two years later, it was announced that the movie would receive a limited theatrical release in May 2012. Connelly portrayed the title role of Virginia, a mentally unstable woman who has a 20-year affair with the local sheriff, whose daughter then starts a relationship with Virginia's son. Connelly prepared for the role by watching documentaries on schizophrenia. She also spent time at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and the New York University's Cancer Center to understand the afflections and obstacles of her character. While she was preparing for the role, director Dustin Lance Black requested Connelly's advice to design the set of Virginia's house, as well as the selection of the apparel to create the character's style. Read Less

Connelly was named Amnesty International Ambassador for Human Rights Education in 2005. She has been the face of Balenciaga fashion advertisements, as well as for Revlon cosmetics. Read Less