I imagine that in some deep, dark basement in the Hollywood area, there is the Starlet Wall™ - a hideous mechanism, whereby studios physically *throw aspiring It Girls against a wall *to see who sticks. I can only imagine what is at the bottom of that wall, or how “Starlets Who Don’t Stick” get processed - but we can ask Julia Ormond, Gretchen Mol, Sossamyn, Marisa Tomei, Geena Davis, yada, yada, yada…
I liked Liv Tyler as Corey in “Empire Records.” Though I enjoyed the movie as a whole more than any one particular performance, to be honest.
Hell, yeah. The other day I was watching a video mocking the Godzilla remake from 2000 and I thought "What happened to the blonde chick with curly hair? (Pitillo? Something like that.) I remember her getting a couple of magazine covers back then…
Wargames had “the Girl” (Ally Sheedy?)
Manhatten Project had “The Girl”(Cynthia Nixon)
IMHO they did not add to either film.
I love that movie, but it occurs to me that I can’t remember what her character’s name was.
Of course, I can’t remember what any of the characters were called, except for twin brothers Omaha and Utah.
Yeah, but see most of those you listed really aren’t in the category. Tomei & Davis have both won Oscars. Ormond & Mol work regularly in more prestige pictures, sometimes as the lead. They hardly qualify as actresses who played ‘the girlfriend’ in one or two movies and then vanished.
Perhaps - but they were all hyped hard in their day…and eventually it was clear they didn’t stick to the Wall.
“The Girl” in one of my favorite movies, Breaker Morant, has no dialogue or even a first name, being credited just as “Hunt’s sister,” and appears only in a brief flashback as the object of the hero’s desire. Bridget Cornish is the actress’s name. I checked her on IMDB once and found that she’s been in no other movies since, and had only a single earlier TV appearance. Knockout brunette, though.
I’m going to step back, because I just don’t think we’re talking about the same thing at all.
I hear you and am sorry about that - clearly I am enlarging the pool to NOT just include random It Girl non-roles where they play “the love interest” with little/nothing to actually do in the movie. I am including starlets - even those considered to be solid actors and appearing in decent movies - who are foisted upon the public in the hopes that they might blow up to be the next Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Keira Knightly or Natalie Portman. I think of it as the Jewel syndrome - I am not a fan, but she could’ve built a solid core of fans and a longer-term career if her label hadn’t forced her into the Hype Machine and over-sold Save Your Soul and other stuff on that okay first album…no way she could’ve lived up to the hype…
Sorry for somewhat hijacking the thread…or at least modifying the OP’s definition.
Jewel’s released six albums since Piece of You (on which “Who Will Save You Soul” appears), and has another coming out this year. Certainly she’s not as successful as Britney Spears, but she’s hardly had a failed career.
YMMV, but from a music biz perspective, not really. She had the big debut, her second sold a fraction of that, and either then or soon after she went into re-boot mode, trying a folkie, a sexed-up pop and then a country approach - all trying to find traction but not finding great sales - which led to a hosting stint on Nashville Star. Yes, she is still in the biz and doing okay, but she’s no what’s-her-name Idol girl Carrie-Before-He-Cheats or Taylor Swift, or in a poppier vein, no Sheryl Crow, etc…
Oh, and her poetry sucks. But that has nothing to do with her music career - I just think it needs to be stated. Step away from the fancy pen, Ms. Kilcher…
No, what you are doing is indeed a complete hijack – my OP was about the ROLES the actresses play, yours is about the actresses themselves. Completely different, and worthy of a thread of its own, if you ask me.
Erika Eleniak in Under Siege. Her sole purpose is to show her lovely tits and be “The Girl” following Seagal around for the whole movie.
Oh and since she was mentioned, I’ll make a recommendation: Gretchen Mol is currently playing a regular supporting character on the new show “Life On Mars.” It’s a good show and Mol is good in it. She has a very warm, likeable quality.
I can tell who they are! They are the “stars” that the staff of TMZ show potentially embarrassing video of and both Harvey Levin and I say, “Who the hell is that?”
Sorry, sister, but it’s only embarrassing if people recognize you.
In all the Batman movies, Lois Lane is basically The Girl.
In all the Spiderman movies, there’s Whatshername.
Actually, in all the Superhero movies (the most recent I’ve seen is Iron Man), there’s The Girl.
Superman.
Yet, to listen to my daughter, it’s unrequited because Superman and Brainiac 5/5.1/6, in the animated series, are BFFs with benefits.
Action adventure flicks have to be the most productive source of egregioius “The Girl” roles. I’m thinking Halle Berry in “Swordfish” whose sole purpose was to flash her breasts, and Vanessa Williams in “The Eraser.” Science fiction is very productive too. Altaira in “Forbidden Planet” literally was THE girl in the movie.
Mol was great in “The Notorious Betty Page” as well.
Jersey Girl