Jennifer Jason Leigh Net Worth

Jennifer Jason Leigh's Quotes

• I could never play the ingenue, the girl next door or the very successful young doctor. That would be a bore.
• [on her best friend, Phoebe Cates] Your best friend is the only one who would tell you the person you are in love with is a sexually ambivalent man-child.
• I just don't plan things. I live a month at a time.
• I'm a typical middle child. I'm the mediator. The one that makes everything OK, puts their own needs aside to make sure everybody's happy. It's hard to change your nature, even with years and years of therapy.
• I like a movie that the audience actively has to participate in, and not just casually observe. Whatever my part in it, just as an audience member, I find that exciting.

Interesting Facts about Jennifer Jason Leigh

1. The daughter of actor Vic Morrow and actress-screenwriter Barbara Turner, Morrow (nee Morozoff) died during the filming of the movie Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) when he was killed in a helicopter accident. Leigh and her father were estranged at the time of his death and he left her $100 in his will. Leigh is of entirely Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Her paternal grandparents, Harry Morozoff and Jean Kress, were emigrants from Russia. Her maternal grandfather, Alexander Turner, was an emigrant from Austria, and her maternal grandmother, Pearl Pauline Zises, was born in New York, to Austrian-born parents.
2. Won two 1990 Critic Society awards for her portrayal of Tralala in Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989), and as Susan Waggoner in Miami Blues (1990).
3. Selected as one of "America's 10 Most Beautiful Women" by Harper's Bazaar Magazine, 1989.
4. Has an older sister, Carrie Ann Morrow, and a younger half-sister, actress Mina Badie. Her ex-stepfather is director Reza Badiyi.
5. Well-known in Hollywood for the exhausting research she does for each of her portrayals and for her affinity of playing lurid roles.
6. Had a small part as Marion in Eyes Wide Shut (1999). However, when its director Stanley Kubrick asked Jennifer to do some re-shoots, she was not available to do that. Her entire part was reshot by Marie Richardson.
7. Born at 12:33pm-PST.
8. Jennifer lost weight down to 86 pounds for her role as an anorexic teenager in the TV-movie The Best Little Girl in the World (1981).
9. In 1997, Jennifer appeared in Faith No More's music video "Last Cup of Sorrow". Its plot was derived from Alfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo (1958).
10. After reading the script for the movie Backdraft (1991), Jennifer reportedly told its director, Ron Howard, that she wished that she could be the fire because it has the best part.
11. Jennifer attended the strict Stagedoor Manor summer camp in upstate New York which trains teenagers in acting, singing, and dancing. Her classmates include actor Zach Braff from NBC's Scrubs (2001), writer-director Todd Graff, and actress-singer Mandy Moore.
12. Frequently worked with maverick director Robert Altman who, before his maverick days, worked with her father, Vic Morrow, on the sixties television series Combat (1962).
13. Jennifer lived with Eric Stoltz for five years during the '80s.
14. Jennifer chose her second middle name "Jason" from that of her and her father's friend, the actor Jason Robards.
15. Jennifer has acted with three of the four acting Baldwin brother in five different movies: Miami Blues (1990) and Lymelife (2005) with Alec Baldwin; Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989) and Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994) with Stephen Baldwin; and Backdraft (1991) with William Baldwin.
16. Member of the jury at the "Venice Film Festival" in the year 2000.
17. Allegedly auditioned for the role of Sarah Connor in The Terminator (1984) but director James Cameron considered her too young for the part. Linda Hamilton ended up playing the part. In Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) she played a character with a last name of Hamilton.
18. The song "Jennifer Jason Leigh" by the punk band J Church has lyrics made up from interview quotes.
19. Has become somewhat famous for having turned down many roles in some popular movies. She also turned down a recurring role on the TV show Lost (2004), which was eventually played by Cynthia Watros and the role of Bree on the TV series Desperate Housewives (2004), which was eventually played by Marcia Cross.
20. She signed on for the film Spread (2009) but later backed out, and was replaced by Anne Heche.