Sixty one year old Jennifer Jason Leigh is an American actress, screenwriter, and producer. Her career started back in the 1970s before she achieved immense success and popularity as Stacy Hamilton in the 1982 blockbuster hit Fast Times at Ridgemont High. She later received critical praise for her performances in Last Exit to Brooklyn 1989, Miami Blues 1990, Backdraft 1991, Single White Female 1992, and Shortcuts 1993. In 1994, Leigh was nominated for a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Dorothy Parker in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. She also starred in a 1995 film written by her mother, who was also a screenwriter Barbara Turner, titled Georgia.
Acting Career
Apart from that, she co-wrote and co-directed a film with Alan Cumming titled The Anniversary Party in 2001. In 2002, Leigh starred in the crime drama film Road to Perdition. She starred in the family drama film Margot at the Wedding in 2007. She had a recurring role on the Showtime comedy-drama series Weeds as Jill Price-Gray. for her role as Daisy Domergue in The Hateful Eight, she was nominated for the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her recent work includes starring in the Netflix comedy-drama series Atypical that aired from 2017 to 2021. Moreover, Leigh has also starred in the science-fiction horror films, Annihilation 2018 and the 2020 film Possessor. For her stage work, Leigh was nominated for a Drama Desk award for her off-Broadway performance as Beverly Moss in Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party.
Leigh's Sister Carrie Ann Morrow Struggled Before Her Tragic Death
Even though Leigh has been quite open about her divorce to Noah Baumbach and their marriage was an inspiration for his hit movie Marriage Story, Leigh has never really publicly talked about her sister’s death. This devastating tragedy that struck her family is going to live forever with her. When Leigh's sister Carrie Ann Morrow died, her divorce drama was out in the world, even though Leigh refused to talk about Carrie she did mention in a few interviews that her sister was an addict and that she went to multiple different rehabs over the course of her lifetime. Morrow died at the age of 58 in 2016. She explained, A lot of my pull towards acting was trying to understand my sister.
Leigh Had A Tough Relationship With Her Father Vic Morrow Before He Died
Jennifer Jason Leigh's parents were famous in the Hollywood industry too. Her mother Barbara Turner, was an actress and also a writer. Her father Vic Morrow, was also an actor famous for his role as Sergeant Chip Saunders on the TV series Combat. Unfortunately, her dad passed away in 1982 on his film set when a helicopter crashed into the cast members. Leigh was only twenty years old at that time. According to a source her parents had a bitter divorce when she and her sister were just toddlers, and that she hardly ever met her dad and practically had no relationship with that man. The actress however did share a little bit about her father during a conversation with Interview Magazine. She said, My dad was a great actor, and people loved him very much, so this is something I’ve never spoken about. After Vick Morrow’s death Leigh found out that her parents had an abusive marriage. It was horrific but true. She never wanted me to know she didn’t want to poison me against him. I was 2 when it happened. He told me he put her in the hospital, and he told me this on my 14th birthday. Perhaps it was his attempt to have a closer relationship with me, but obviously it backfired.
Jennifer Jason Leigh's Hollywood Experience
Since she was a child, she dreamt of becoming an actress. It’s the genes or the passion, we don't know. Here’s what Leigh had to say about it: Because acting is such an odd world, I also grew up as a child of actors and writers. My mom's a screenwriter and before that she was an actress, and my father was an actor, my step-father was a director so I was on sets a lot as a kid. I loved the magic of the set. You walk in and it's a living room and you walk outside and it's just a piece of wood held up by another piece of wood. There's a lot of magic involved in movies that as a child I really appreciated.