Robin Wright Penn
A fiercely independent actress known for never trading on her blonde good looks, Robin Wright Penn strayed even further from the mainstream when she married iconoclast actor-director Sean Penn in 1996. Though she's appeared in such audience favorites as The Princess Bride (1987) and Forrest Gump (1994), the list of blockbusters she's turned down is far longer. Her professional essence remains linked with the daring, blue-collar cinema of her husband and frequent collaborator. Wright Penn has also followed his lead by vehemently shunning the spotlight, at least in matters unrelated to her craft.
Born on April 8, 1966, in Dallas and raised in San Diego by her divorced mother, Robin Wright Penn got her first glimpses of show business as a model in Paris and Japan, having pursued that line of work only to raise money for a trip to Europe. Ditching her thoughts of ministering to the poor, Wright Penn heeded the advice of her modeling agent and made her acting debut in the soap opera Santa Barbara, where she played Kelly, the youngest daughter of rich socialites C.C. and Sophia Capwell. Thrice nominated for daytime Emmys, Wright Penn caught the eye of Rob Reiner, who cast her as Princess Buttercup in his beloved fairytale The Princess Bride. Proud and unrelenting, Buttercup nonetheless had a passive role in the events of that comic romantic fantasy, and Wright Penn determined to play neither the princess nor the victim in future projects. This resolve prompted her to reject scripts for Jurassic Park (1993), Batman Forever (1995), and Sabrina (1995), among others.
To an audience expecting a big follow-up, Wright Penn slipped into obscurity for a number of years after Bride made her famous. She appeared with her future husband for the first time in State of Grace in 1990, becoming pregnant with their first child, then followed that up with the small Irish film The Playboys (1992). The famously picky actress finally relented to Robert Zemeckis, agreeing to play Jenny, the title character's decade-spanning love interest in Forrest Gump, the 1994 Best Picture winner. Wright Penn was again well received, flummoxing countless producers who wanted her in their movies.
Soon after Forrest Gump, Wright Penn began to be identified almost exclusively with Sean Penn's endeavors. After working together on his second directorial effort, The Crossing Guard (1995), Robin Wright and Sean Penn decided to marry, and she would continue appearing opposite him and in front of his camera over the next half-dozen years. Given their against-the-grain tendencies, the pair were perfectly suited to play the impoverished, unbalanced, star-crossed lovers of She's So Lovely (1997), Nick Cassavetes' homage to his father John's body of work. Wright Penn also appeared with her husband in the talky ensemble Hurlyburly (1998). In 2001, she was cast as Jack Nicholson's love interest in Penn's third film, The Pledge, which earned critical but not popular acclaim. Her willingness to eschew vanity has never been more evident, as Wright Penn donned a pair of crooked fake teeth to emphasize her character's lower-class upbringing.
As she has retreated into a family life that's as private and intense as anything about her, focusing more on her husband and children than in forging a traditional career, Wright Penn has also made some curious choices that have defied her typical abhorrence for the mainstream. One such example was starring in the four-hanky Kevin Costner romance Message in a Bottle (1999) -- in turn reinforcing the sense of unpredictability she holds so dear. Wright Penn also appeared in M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable (2000), and was set to act opposite Robert Downey Jr. in The Singing Detective (2003). After essaying the role of a mother whose daughter appears to have been blessed by immaculate conception in the 2003 drama Virgin, Penn would make a powerful impression with her role as a questionable cab fare in the post-9/11 racism drama Sorry, Haters. In 2006 Penn would join an impressive cast that included Jude Law, Ray Winstone, and Juliette Binoche to tell the tale of intersecting lives in modern day London in director Anthony Minghella's Breaking & Entering. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Born on April 8, 1966, in Dallas and raised in San Diego by her divorced mother, Robin Wright Penn got her first glimpses of show business as a model in Paris and Japan, having pursued that line of work only to raise money for a trip to Europe. Ditching her thoughts of ministering to the poor, Wright Penn heeded the advice of her modeling agent and made her acting debut in the soap opera Santa Barbara, where she played Kelly, the youngest daughter of rich socialites C.C. and Sophia Capwell. Thrice nominated for daytime Emmys, Wright Penn caught the eye of Rob Reiner, who cast her as Princess Buttercup in his beloved fairytale The Princess Bride. Proud and unrelenting, Buttercup nonetheless had a passive role in the events of that comic romantic fantasy, and Wright Penn determined to play neither the princess nor the victim in future projects. This resolve prompted her to reject scripts for Jurassic Park (1993), Batman Forever (1995), and Sabrina (1995), among others.
To an audience expecting a big follow-up, Wright Penn slipped into obscurity for a number of years after Bride made her famous. She appeared with her future husband for the first time in State of Grace in 1990, becoming pregnant with their first child, then followed that up with the small Irish film The Playboys (1992). The famously picky actress finally relented to Robert Zemeckis, agreeing to play Jenny, the title character's decade-spanning love interest in Forrest Gump, the 1994 Best Picture winner. Wright Penn was again well received, flummoxing countless producers who wanted her in their movies.
Soon after Forrest Gump, Wright Penn began to be identified almost exclusively with Sean Penn's endeavors. After working together on his second directorial effort, The Crossing Guard (1995), Robin Wright and Sean Penn decided to marry, and she would continue appearing opposite him and in front of his camera over the next half-dozen years. Given their against-the-grain tendencies, the pair were perfectly suited to play the impoverished, unbalanced, star-crossed lovers of She's So Lovely (1997), Nick Cassavetes' homage to his father John's body of work. Wright Penn also appeared with her husband in the talky ensemble Hurlyburly (1998). In 2001, she was cast as Jack Nicholson's love interest in Penn's third film, The Pledge, which earned critical but not popular acclaim. Her willingness to eschew vanity has never been more evident, as Wright Penn donned a pair of crooked fake teeth to emphasize her character's lower-class upbringing.
As she has retreated into a family life that's as private and intense as anything about her, focusing more on her husband and children than in forging a traditional career, Wright Penn has also made some curious choices that have defied her typical abhorrence for the mainstream. One such example was starring in the four-hanky Kevin Costner romance Message in a Bottle (1999) -- in turn reinforcing the sense of unpredictability she holds so dear. Wright Penn also appeared in M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable (2000), and was set to act opposite Robert Downey Jr. in The Singing Detective (2003). After essaying the role of a mother whose daughter appears to have been blessed by immaculate conception in the 2003 drama Virgin, Penn would make a powerful impression with her role as a questionable cab fare in the post-9/11 racism drama Sorry, Haters. In 2006 Penn would join an impressive cast that included Jude Law, Ray Winstone, and Juliette Binoche to tell the tale of intersecting lives in modern day London in director Anthony Minghella's Breaking & Entering. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Filmography
Writer/director Robert Zemeckis adapts Charles Dickens' classic holiday tale A Christmas Carol as a star vehicle for Jim Carrey in this performance capture/Disney Digital 3-D animated film for all ages. Carrey will not only take on the role of Ebenezer Scrooge, but all of the three ghosts who come to haunt him as well. The filmmaking process will be in tune with the director's other animated outings, The Polar Express as well as the adult-themed Beowulf adaptation. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Directed by Michael Mayer and based on The Hours author Michael Cunningham's novel of the same name, A Home at the End of the World chronicles the 1980s reunion of childhood best friends Bobby (Colin Farrell) and Jonathan (Dallas Roberts). Where they were once best pals -- and teenage lovers -- in the suburbs of Cleveland, Bobby has become a charismatic but go-nowhere heterosexual slacker, and Jonathan is now living as an openly gay man in New York City, hoping to serve as father to his eccentric roommate Clare's (Robin Wright Penn) child. When Bobby impulsively moves to the city to be closer to his former friend, their bonds are tested sooner than anyone would have thought. Bobby falls for Clare, and in doing so, effectively eliminates what would have been Jonathan's position in the baby's life. Jonathan temporarily takes off; when his father dies, and he attends the Arizona funeral, Bobby and Clare unexpectedly turn up with the news that she's expecting. Despite the still-existent tensions, the trio becomes a family unit among themselves, ultimately buying a house in Woodstock, Upstate New York, where they all move together, challenging traditional notions of family, commitment, love, and devotion. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
Inspired by the epic Old English poem of the same name, director Robert Zemeckis's digitally rendered film follows the Scandinavian hero Beowulf (Ray Winstone) as he fights to protect the Danes from a ferocious beast named Grendel (Crispin Glover). Though at first Grendel seems invincible, Beowulf eventually manages to defeat him in a desperate battle to the death. Devastated by her son's violent demise at the hands of Beowulf, Grendel's mother (Angelina Jolie) sets out in search of revenge. Later, Beowulf faces the biggest challenge of his life when he attempts to slay a powerful dragon. Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, Alison Lohman, John Malkovich, and Brendan Gleeson co-star in an epic fantasy adventure penned by Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
A petty thief is the link between a well-to-do businessman and a single mother struggling to get by in his edgy, emotional drama. Will Francis (Jude Law) is a successful landscape architect who runs an upscale business with his friend Sandy (Martin Freeman) in the King's Cross section of London, a neighborhood that has long been plagued by crime and poverty but has lately become the target of a major gentrification program. Will's longtime girlfriend is Liv (Robin Wright Penn), a lovely woman troubled by a lack of communication between herself and her husband and emotional problems with their teenage daughter, Bea (Poppy Rogers), who can't sleep and is obsessed with gymnastics. A thief has broken into Will and Sandy's office not once but twice, taking Will's laptop and the company's computer equipment, and Will begins spending his evenings at the shop in hopes of catching the culprit in action. The burglar strikes a third time, and while giving chase, Will sees him make his way into a shabby apartment building. Will learns the criminal is Miro (Rafi Gavron), a 15-year-old refugee from Bosnia. Without revealing what he knows, Will makes the acquaintance of Amira (Juliette Binoche), Miro's widowed mother -- a Bosnian refugee who makes a living as a seamstress. As Will starts bringing Amira business on a regular basis, the two begin an affair which continues even as Will maintains his relationship with Liv. Breaking and Entering was written and directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Anthony Minghella; it was his first project made from his own original script since Truly, Madly, Deeply in 1991. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
This two-part HBO miniseries is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Richard Russo. Having long since sacrificed youthful ideals and values to remain in his New England hometown for the sake of his family, middle-aged Miles Roby (Ed Harris) finds his "secure" little world disintegrating when his wife, Janine (Helen Hunt), divorces him. Equally vexing is the emotional and financial pressure exerted by domineering town matriarch Francine Whiting (Joanne Woodward), who owns (among other things) the Empire Grill, the little diner that Ed has run for several years. As he reflects on what he considers to be a wasted life, Ed flashes back to memories of his curmudgeonly father, Max (Paul Newman, who also executive-produced the miniseries); his long-dead mother, Grace (Robin Wright Penn); his scapegrace brother, David (Aidan Quinn); his blossoming daughter "Tick" (Danielle Panabaker); and Francine's late husband, C.B. Whiting (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Also tied in with Miles' reminiscences is the spectacular saga of the rise and fall of Empire Falls, a once-prosperous mill town that has fallen into disrepair -- as have the town's once-rigid and inviolate social barriers. Despite the initial bleakness of Miles' plight, and the revelation of innumerable family skeletons as the plot progresses, the story is ultimately both heartwarming and life-affirming. Filmed on location in Maine, Empire Falls originally aired on May 28 and 29, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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