Martha Plimpton

She played the starring role in the film Samantha.

The success of Samantha garnered Plimpton a variety of roles in 1993. She appeared with Cuba Gooding, Jr., in the television film Daybreak and was a part of the mostly improvised television film Chantilly Lace. She had a featured role in the big-budget films Josh and S.A.M. and played the lead in the critically blasted film adaptation of the Carolyn Chute novel The Beans of Egypt, Maine. Plimpton also appeared that year as herself in the independent film My Life's in Turnaround, a movie about filmmakers trying to make a movie. Plimpton continued to make appearances in featured roles in both independent films and mainstream movies from 1994 through 1997, most notably as a close friend of radical feminist Valerie Solanas in the film I Shot Andy Warhol.

In 1997, the Showtime Network cast Plimpton as the female lead in a television film called The Defenders: Payback. The show was a retooling of the classic television show by the same name, and the characters were descendants of character Lawrence Preston, a role reprised by actor E.G. Marshall. The intent was to spin the program off into a series akin to Law & Order, but Marshall died in 1998. Two additional episodes (The Defenders: Choice of Evils and The Defenders: Taking the First) were aired as specials that year. The decision was made to not continue production (despite high ratings and critical praise) due to Marshall's death. Read Less