Lea Thompson Net Worth

Lea Thompson's Quotes

• [2012, on J. Edgar (2011)] That was just really great. Y'know, when Clint Eastwood asks you to come and play, even if it's one scene, you go. He says, "Jump", you say, "How high?" And I was so curious to see how he works. I thought she was a really interesting character. After kind of researching her, I really wanted to see a whole movie on her. She was a real strange cat. She was a witness for the House Un-American Activities Committee, and she decided what line in what movie was a communist plot. I mean, imagine! Kind of kooky. So she and her politics were, like, really whacked. She was one of J. Edgar's beards. She kind of ended up being his girlfriend. It's not really in the movie, but she and another actress were kind of his girlfriends. So, she was also an actress, a stage mom, a writer... I really wanted to know more about her after doing my research. But it was super fun to work with Leonardo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer, really fun to do a scene with them, and working in that environment with Clint Eastwood. He runs a set like nobody else I've ever been around. It's very quiet, it's very respectful, but it's very tense in a way, because you only get one take or maybe two. It's very church-like, which puts more pressure on the actors, because it's so quiet and focused. As a director and as an actor, I just really appreciated having that experience in my career, where I got to see how he works. I thought the perspective of the movie was so interesting, and it was brave of Clint Eastwood to make that movie, so I was happy to be part of it.
• [2012, on Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)] I never would've done it if it hadn't been for Howard the Duck (1986). I'd actually turned it down. And, then, when "Howard The Duck" was such a bomb that weekend, Eric Stoltz came and said, "Howard Deutch wants to offer you this movie again". I'd already turned it down, and I was like, "I'd better take it". I just kept hearing this voice going, "Get back on the horse!" I was so devastated. So I said, "Yes", and, of course, that affected my life a lot, because I met my husband, who I'm still married to, and we have two incredible daughters. People love love love that movie. I think probably once or twice a day someone comes up to me... You know, if I'm not just sitting in my house. If I'm actually out among other people, someone comes up to me and tells me how much that movie affected them, how much they loved that movie, or that it's their favorite movie, which is really quite extraordinary, because the movie was not a hit. But it's had this incredible life. The opening of "Some Kind of Wonderful" is just so exquisite. The way my husband put together that whole montage that sets up the whole story, it's just so beautifully done. The music, the costumes, the story, they're all still really powerful, which is odd for a movie that's 25 years old. They don't make those movies anymore. I'm amazed at how many people love it. I'm also amazed at how many men really like it.
• [2012] 'Howard the Duck' (1986)_! That's a really interesting movie. I appreciate my career, because I've had a lot of very interesting ups and downs, and most people... That movie is such a famous flop. In a land of a lot of flops, it's kind of awesome to be in a really famous flop. I mean, it's kind of a poster child for flops. A lot of iconoclasts really love that movie. They love to love something that everyone hates. And those are my kind of folks. I'm happy to be part of that club of people who don't want to be told what's horrible and just want to enjoy it anyway. "Howard the Duck" has a lot of fans, and usually when they come up to me, I just think they're the coolest. Because it takes a lot of strength, a lot of perseverance to love "Howard the Duck". That was a really long shoot - it took six months to shoot - and it was a really, really hard part to get. It was a gigantic movie. George Lucas was producing, it had a very big budget, and everybody wanted that part. And everybody wanted the part of the duck! Everybody wanted to voice the duck. The people that they had coming were like, Robin Williams, Jay Leno... all these people wanted to be the voice of the duck, and they were turned down. So it was a really big deal. And it was really fun for me, because, y'know, I got to be a rock star. Everybody wants to be a rock star, right? So, I got to sing and wear really crazy hair. It's unfortunate that it was such a bomb. But, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
• [2012) Caroline in the City (1995)] was such an interesting thing, because I'd never been on the set of a sitcom or even auditioned for a sitcom when they gave me that part. And I'd just had my second daughter. In fact, she was actually breast-feeding during network notes, which in a lot of eras probably would've been a cause for firing. But anyway, it really was a terrifying experience. I remember I went to see another show taping, because I was like, "I have to at least see what it's like before I have to do it", but after I did that, I said, "I can't do this! This is too scary!" The whole experience of doing a sitcom is... Telling jokes with such precision is really exciting, but it's also terrifying. It was a great job, though. I wish it would have gone on for a few more years. The character of Caroline... I kept saying to the writers, "She's got everything. She's young, she's got a great job, she's got this giant apartment in New York. How are you supposed to care about her?" So it made it interesting to try and make people want to be involved in her life. And to like her, because she kind of had everything except for a man, and I was like, "C'mon, guys, can't you come up with something else besides that?" But it still had a lot of fans, we got good ratings, and I'm really proud of it when I watch it now. I'm always amazed at how funny it was. And I'm still really good friends with all of the actors, which is not all that usual. Usually, you don't really end up lifelong buddies with your co-stars.
• [2012, on Jaws 3-D (1983)] Well, that was my very first part, the very first movie I ever got, but I lied and said I had done a couple of other movies, so when I showed up, I really knew absolutely nothing. Also, I had said that I knew how to water-ski. And I did not. So I had, like, five days to learn really, really complicated water-skiing things, because I had to fit into the Sea World water-skiing show. I don't even know how to swim! So that was an interesting event. I wiped out a lot. But I pulled it off, I think, because I was a ballet dancer. The acting... was not so good. But I looked pretty good in my bikini, so I think that made up for it.

Interesting Facts about Lea Thompson

1. Was engaged to Dennis Quaid for about 3 years before marrying Howard Deutch. She met Quaid on the set of her first movie Jaws 3-D (1983).
2. Has two daughters, Madelyn Deutch (born March 23, 1991) and Zoey Deutch (born December 1, 1994) with her husband Howard Deutch.
3. Attended Marshall-University High School (Minneapolis).
4. Met husband Howard Deutch when he directed her in Some Kind of Wonderful (1987).
5. Has appeared in Friends (1994) as her character from Caroline in the City (1995). "Friends" star Matthew Perry has appeared in "Caroline in the City" as his character Chandler Bing.
6. Claims she was one of the few ballerinas at the American Ballet Theatre that didn't have an eating disorder.
7. Wanted nothing more when she was at the American Ballet Theatre than to dance with the star dancer, Mikhail Baryshnikov. She was heartbroken when he remarked that she was "a beautiful dancer, but too stocky." Shortly after, she left the company.
8. Won scholarships to the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre.
9. Danced in more than 45 ballets with the ABT.
10. Her brother, Andrew Thompson, was also a modern ballet dancer with the Colorado Ballet. They both took ballet classes throughout their youth, and he helped her pay for her classes later on in life.
11. It took approximately four hours to apply the makeup that would make her and co-stars Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson appear to be middle-aged adults in Terug naar de toekomst (1985).
12. Her character's name in Terug naar de toekomst (1985) underwent numerous changes when the script was being written. In an early draft, her character was called Mary Ellen, and in later drafts, she was called Eileen before it finally became Lorraine.
13. Younger sister of Coleen Goodrich, Andrew Thompson and Shannon Thompson Katona.
14. Sister-in-law of Phillip Goodrich.
15. Aunt of Elizabeth Goodrich.
16. Her husband's uncle is actor Robert Walden.
17. Daughter-in-law of Murray Deutch.
18. Has a brother named Barry Eldon Thompson.
19. Did her own singing in Howard the Duck (1986).
20. She was in series of Burger King commercials in the early 1980's, the series also starred Sarah Michelle Gellar and Elisabeth Shue.