Jennifer connelly

Jennifer Lynn Connelly (Cairo, New York, December 12, 1970) is an American actress and model. She began her career as a child model before making her acting debut in Sergio Leone's film Once Upon a Time in America (1984). A year later, he played his first leading role in Dario Argento's horror film Phenomena, and in 1986 he gained recognition in his country by participating together with David Bowie in the fantasy film Labyrinth, by Jim Henson. After starring in the romantic comedy Career Opportunities (1991) and the adventure film The Rocketeer (1991), he received critical acclaim for his performance in the science fiction film Dark City (1998) and for playing a drug addict in the drama Requiem for a Dream (2000).

In 2002, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of the physicist Alicia Nash in the Ron Howard biopic A Beautiful Mind (2001). In that same decade, he recorded leading roles in films such as Hulk (2003), Dark Water (2005), Little Children (2006), >Blood Diamond (2006), The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), He's Just Not That Into You (2009) and Creation (2009). In the decades since, he has taken supporting roles in such productions as the epic Noah (2014) and the action films Alita: Battle Angel (2019) and Top Gun.: Maverick (2022). Her work as an actress has been recognized, in addition to the Oscars, at events such as the BAFTA, Golden Globe, Saturn, Satellite, Empire, Independent Spirit and Actors Guild awards, among others.

Active mainly in the world of cinema, she has also played important roles in television series such as The $treet (2000) and Snowpiercer (2020-present). As a model, she has participated in advertising campaigns for brands such as Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton, Revlon and Shiseido, and media such as Vanity Fair, People and Los Angeles Times have included her in their lists of the most beautiful women in the world Parallel to her artistic work, Connelly has collaborated with humanitarian non-profit organizations such as Charity: Water, Union of Concerned Scientists and Save the Children. In 2005 she was appointed Amnesty International ambassador for human rights education.

In 1997, their first child, Kai, was born from their relationship with photographer David Dugan. In 2003 she married British actor and filmmaker Paul Bettany, with whom she has worked on various film projects and with whom she has two children, Stelan (born 2003) and Agnes (born 2011). She currently lives with her family in a residence in the Brooklyn Heights, New York area.

Early years and studies

Connelly was born on December 12, 1970 in Cairo, New York, a town located in the Catskill Mountains. His mother Ilene Shcuman was an antiques dealer, and his father Gerard Karl Connelly worked in a garment factory His father was a Catholic of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his mother was Jewish and received her yeshiva education. Connelly's maternal great-grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia. He spent his early life primarily in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood, near the Brooklyn Bridge, where he attended Saint Ann's, a private educational institution specializing in the arts. His father suffered from asthma, so the family he had to move to Woodstock, New York in 1976 to escape the city's smog. Four years later they returned to Brooklyn Heights and Connelly had the opportunity to resume his classes at Saint Ann's. >Marie Claire who in her early years enjoyed activities common to male children, such as playing with Matchbox vehicles or climbing trees.

Conelly studied dramatic art at Stanford University. In the image, an air view of the campus of the institution.

After graduating from high school, she enrolled in the English literature program at Yale University in 1988. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph newspaper, she described herself as someone who in her college stage "didn't really care about having a social life or getting a lot of sleep or eating." She also stated that she frequented the law school library, which was open 24 hours a day, most of the time when she was not taking classes. She stated that studying helped her stay focused in the early stages of her acting career.: «Everyone finds security in a different place: in the family, in faith or in drugs. In my case, my youth refuge was the studies. They were my counterpoint."

After spending two years at Yale, she entered Stanford University to study drama, where she received lessons from teachers such as Roy London, Howard Fine, and Harold Guskin. In 1990, she decided to drop out of college to pursue an acting career.

Career

1980-1985: modeling and early roles

When Connelly was ten years old, an advertising executive friend of her father's suggested that she try out as a model. Her parents sent a photo of her to the Ford Models agency, and she was selected shortly thereafter. She began modeling for print ads, before doing television ad campaigns. Although her first on-screen performance occurred in the video clip for the song "Union of the Snake" by British pop group Duran Duran In 1983, in an interview with The Guardian she revealed that during her modeling experience she had no plans to become an actress, and that she even aspired to be a veterinary doctor. She appeared on the cover of magazine >Seventeen in 1986, 1987 and 1988, and in December 1986 he recorded two pop songs for the Japanese market: "Ai No Monologue" and "Ai No Message", sung in phonetic Japanese, since he was not fluent in the language. The same year, both songs were included in a 7-inch single titled "Ai No Monologue".

When she was twelve, her mother began taking her to acting auditions, and she was selected to play a supporting role as aspiring dancer and actress Deborah Gelly in Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone's film, Once Upon a Time in America, shot between 1982 and 1983 and released in 1984. The similarity of her nose to that of Elizabeth McGovern —who played the character Gelly in her adult version— and her effort to imitate a ballerina ballet during the audition despite having no training in this type of dance, they convinced the director to give him the role. In an interview with Rolling Stone in 1991, Connelly described his participation in the film as " an incredibly idyllic introduction to film". According to J. Rentilly of The Guardian , with her dance scene she "offered the most seductive turn by an underage actress since Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver ".

She landed her first leading role in 1985 in the horror film Phenomena, by Italian director Dario Argento, in which she played a young woman who psychically communicates with insects to hunt down the killer of insects. the students of a Swiss school. Initially her parents rejected the offer due to the violent content of the script, but the actress herself convinced them to let her participate. Although Phenomena was well received by the specialized press, Jon Pareles of The New York Times criticized the performance of the overall cast, stating that Connelly "was cast as the teen hero ostensibly because she can hold a fly on her hand without flinching". Rob Hunter of Film School Rejects referred to her as "one of the strongest and most interesting heroines" in all of Argento's filmography.

The same year she starred in Slips of Youth, a coming of age film directed by Linda Feferman in which she played Natalie, a young woman who must face the usual challenges of adolescence. Connelly shared the leading role with Maddie Corman and Byron Thames, and according to critic Adrian Martin of the FilmCritic site, she was the only one of the three who could live up to the expectations she displayed during the early stages of her career. In a retrospective interview, the actress stated, "Before I knew it, [acting] became what I did. It was a very peculiar way of growing up, combined with my personality", saying that he felt like "sort of a walking puppet" during his teenage years, not having time alone to deal with the attention his career was generating at the time.

1986-1999: Labyrinth, Career Opportunities and Popularity in the United States

The original costumes Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie used in the movie Labyrinthexhibited at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.

In 1986, he shared the leading role with British musician and actor David Bowie in Jim Henson's fantasy film Labyrinth. She played the role of Sarah Williams, a teenager who seeks to rescue her little brother from a strange world inhabited by magical beings. Although it did not have good box office numbers, the film later became a cult classic. Connelly's role was important, Nina Darnton of The New York Times called her performance underwhelming: "His looks are on point, but he lacks conviction and seems to be reading rehearsed lines without believing in his aim or in the real need to achieve it". For Vogue magazine, his participation in Labyrinth represented his definitive consecration in the American film industry. A year later, he appeared in the video clip for the song "Always With Me, Always With You" by guitarist Joe Satriani.

In 1988, she appeared again in an Italian production, this time in Peter Del Monte's Étoile, in the role of an American ballet student who enrolls in a prestigious dance school in Budapest that keeps dark secrets. For the critic of the DVD Talk portal Francis Rizzo, the actress "is totally credible in terms of all the elements that she has to bring to her character", and for Loron Hays of Reel.Reviews, Connelly achieves "keeping up" throughout the film. The same year, she played Gabriella, a college student who is romantically involved with the lead character Patrick Dempsey in Michael Hoffman's Some Girls. In her review, Rita Kempley of The Washington Post criticized Connelly's performance and the cast in general, although she acknowledged the chemistry between the characters of Dempsey and Lila Kédrova.

In 1990, she played the role of Gloria Harper, a woman who finds herself involved in a dangerous love triangle, in Dennis Hopper's Burning Lips. Connelly's performance was praised. For example, Stephen Schaefer wrote for USA Today: "Anyone looking for proof that girls grow up fast in movies should take a look at curvaceous Jennifer Connelly [...] In her twenties, she has known how to manage the transition from child actress to naive». During an interview with Shaefer himself, the actress stated that although it was difficult to perform her first nude scene in the film, she accepted it because it did not take place "in a sordid context". That same year, director Garry Marshall considered her for the lead role of Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman, but ultimately decided to cast Julia Roberts, considering Connelly too young for the role of a prostitute.

In 1991, she co-starred with Frank Whaley in the film Career Opportunities, directed by Bryan Gordon. She played Josie McClellan, a young graduate who wants to leave her city in search of a better life away from her family. People magazine published an article criticizing what they considered a case of sexism with the actress: an early version of the ad campaign included a life-size cardboard cutout showing Whaley watching Connelly on a mechanical horse, with the caption "She's about to take the ride of her life". The actress confessed to Rolling Stone that this type of publicity made her reflect on the type of roles she wanted to continue doing, especially when one of her Yale professors told her that he had seen the poster in question. Media critics from The Washington Post, Common Sense Media, and Three Movie Buffs agreed that Connelly's involvement was the only compelling reason to see the film.

That same year, she starred in Disney's high-budget film The Rocketeer, in which she played the role of Jenny Blake, an aspiring actress and girlfriend of the title character. New York gave the film a mediocre rating, and while appreciating Connelly's on-screen sexiness, called her performance "flat". Jason Bailey of FlavorWire praised her performance, stating that she had never been "lovelier (or unbelievably beautiful)" before. Burgess in the telefilm The Heart of Justice, by Bruno Barreto. For Hoyt Hilsman of Variety, the cast's performances overall suffered from a "lamentable lack of direction".

His next film was De amor y de sombra (1994), a co-production between Argentina, Chile and the United States directed by Betty Kaplan in which he shared the main role with the Spanish Antonio Banderas. This story about a couple persecuted by the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet was not well received by critics, but the performances of the lead duo garnered some praise. Critic Scott Nash stated that, although Connelly's performance was correct, it would have been better. cast a Spanish-speaking actress instead. A year later, director John Singleton cast her in the supporting role of a college student in Higher Learning, a film starring Omar Epps and Kristy Swanson that garnered a lukewarm critical reception. The same year she had a small appearance in the Sam Irvin telefilm Out There, as a woman in line at the supermarket. In 1996, she starred in the independent film Far Harbor John Huddles as Elie, a screenwriter who writes a story based on her personal traumas. For Nash, it was a transitional role in Connelly's career: "Most of his previous films gave him They demanded to just be the pretty girl, but here she, her almost for the first time, she gets to branch out a bit as an actress into a serious role."

In 1996 he starred in the crime thriller Mulholland Falls, in which he shared the lead role with Nick Nolte and John Malkovich. David Denby of New York magazine wrote about a romantic scene between Connelly and Malkovich: "This sequence [...] makes us feel like voyeurs when we watch it, but it is so juicy erotic that we can hardly look away." Given the high erotic charge of the film, the actress stated: «Everyone who knows me was surprised that I ended up doing this film, because I had always been very careful with nudity, it was a very important part of this character and I could not be shy, reserved or self-conscious, otherwise it would not work. It was kind of a challenge I wanted to take on, I guess." Although the film received lackluster critical reception, Mike Clark of USA Today praised the performances of Connelly, Bruce Dern, and Melanie Griffith.

A year later she appeared in the 1950s-set film Inventing the Abbotts, in which she played the role of Eleanor, one of the three daughters of the town millionaire. In her review for Entertainment Weekly, Lisa Schwarzbaum praised her performance, stating that the actress "ups the ante every time she's on screen". Co-producer Ron Howard, who would later direct her in A Beautiful Mind and The Dilemma, he said: “Not only was she beautiful and seductive, but she gave a lot of depth and complexity to some difficult psychological moments in the film. She had an extraordinary combination of talent and beauty, and I guess I stored that information in the back of my brain." Her next appearance was in Alex Proyas' science fiction film Dark City (1998), in which she starred alongside Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Ian Richardson and Kiefer Sutherland as Emma, a jazz singer who is the victim of a kidnapping. Author Sean McMullen opined that Connelly appeared " visually splendid like this femme fatale from the 1940s", and Sergio Benítez from the Espinof page highlighted her along with Hurt as "those who are best capable of condensing the infinite melancholy that surrounds the inhabitants of the city".

2000-2003: Requiem for a Dream, A Beautiful Mind, Hulk and worldwide recognition

In 2000, Ed Harris directed her in the biopic Pollock, in which she played Ruth Kligman, the mistress of artist Jackson Pollock. The film garnered generally good reviews, and was selected by Roger Ebert as one of the best films of the year. She then went on to play the lead role of Catherine Miller in the Fox drama series The $treet, about three stockbrokers who seek to make a place for themselves on Wall Street amid all kinds of intrigue. The series, of which only seven episodes were broadcast in the United States due to low audiences, was described as "passable, but nothing remarkable” by critic Howard Rosenberg of Los Angeles Times.

That same year, he played one of the leading roles in the dramatic film Requiem for a Dream, by Darren Aronofsky, based on the novel of the same name by Hubert Selby Jr. Connelly, who was drawn to the scripted for her depiction of addiction and its effects on the family, she played Marion Silver, a young middle-class woman from Manhattan Beach who pursues the dream of launching a career in the fashion industry, but becomes addicted to heroin and ends up prostituting herself. To prepare for the role, she isolated herself for several days in an apartment and designed clothing to live out her character's experiences. She also interviewed with addicts and attended Narcotics Anonymous meetings with one of her friends, who was in recovery at the time.The actress garnered critical acclaim for her portrayal of her mental and physical degradation.. Elvis Mitchell, for example, wrote for The New York Times

His performance is the one that gives weight to the film, since his fall is the most precipitated [...] In the end, when he curls in fetal position with a furtive smile on his face, he has come to love his degradation [...] His understanding is more disturbing than anything else in the novel, and Connelly never did anything to prepare us for how good it is here.

The same year she played Sarah Williams, an activist killed by a car bomb in Minneapolis while driving Chilean refugees, in the film Walking the Dead, based on the novel of the same name by Scott Spencer Initially, director Keith Gordon was reluctant to cast her, not considering her ideal for the role. Risa Shapiro, the actress's agent, convinced Gordon to see her performance in Far Harbor, and finally decided to give him the job. About her role, the actress stated: "Waking the Dead It was the first film I worked on where everything I did felt like my own. I really tried to do something with the role and threw myself into it, so it meant a lot to me." The New York Times described her performance: "As Sarah, Connelly captures an ethereal, fiery will that is very typical of the time. She and [Billy] Crudup connect powerfully in love scenes that convey the fierce tenderness of a relationship whose passion is tinged with religious fervor."

The screenplay for the Ron Howard biopic A Beautiful Mind (2001), based on Sylvia Nasar's 1998 biography of mathematician John Forbes Nash, piqued the interest of Connelly, who she was invited to audition after her agent sent the producers an excerpt from the then-unreleased Requiem for a Dream. Producer Brian Grazer cast her in the role of Alicia, the patient wife of the schizophrenic Nash, played by Russell Crowe. The actress had the opportunity to meet with the real Alicia Nash before filming began, to learn details about her life and having more tools to play her. A Beautiful Mind garnered generally positive reviews, did strong box office numbers, and earned Connelly a Golden Globe, an Oscar, and a BAFTA, all in the category of Best supporting actress. Time magazine critic Richard Schickel called her performance "luminous" and the actress "intelligent and passionate". For his part, Roger Ebert wrote in his Review: "Jennifer Connelly shines as Alice. Although Crowe is given the most colorful performance, it is Connelly's complex work, depicting a woman torn between love and fear of the same man, that elevates the film to a higher level."

In 2003, she starred in Ang Lee's film Hulk, because she was interested in his philosophical perspective on the Marvel Comics superhero. She played Betty Ross, a scientist and romantic interest of protagonist Bruce Banner, played by Australian actor Eric Bana. In his review, Ebert found similarities to her previous role: "It's funny how much this character's dilemma resembles the situation of the woman she played in A Beautiful Mind . She both times she's in love with a brilliant scientist who's a charm until he loses his mind, and [also] thinks the government is after her.” Although critical reception was mixed, the film did well at the box office.

The same year she appeared in House of Sand and Fog, a dramatic film based on the novel of the same name by Andre Dubus III in which she portrayed Kathy Nicolo, an abandoned wife whose inherited house is for sale in an auction to Iranian émigré and former colonel Massoud Amir Behrani (Ben Kingsley). After reading the script, Connelly stated: "[the story is] moving and beautifully written. I liked the fact that there isn't a good guy and a bad guy. I found it really compelling that both sides do morally questionable things, because life often works that way." Producer Michael London said of her portrayal: "I think she understood Kathy and she knew in her bones that she could take this character and give her the kind of dimension that she had to her. I don't think there is another actress who could have played Kathy with such strength and grace.” In reviewing her, the BBC stated that the actress “is totally convincing as a selfish, desperate and lonely woman”.

2004-2009: hiatus and return to the cinema

Connelly in 2005.

After a two-year absence from the film scene, Connelly returned in the thriller Dark Water (2005), based on the 2002 Japanese film of the same name. She played Dahlia, a young woman traumatized by her past who moves with her daughter into a New York apartment where paranormal events occur. Roger Ebert stated in his review that he became interested in the character of Connelly because "she is not a horror heroine, but an actress who plays a mother faced with horror [...] because of that difference, Dark Water works". However, Joshua Starnes of ComingSoon.net was more appreciative of the cast's performances Supporting the lead roles of Connelly and Ariel Gade.

A year later, she played the supporting role of Kathy Adamson in the film adaptation of the novel Children's Games, directed by Todd Field. This story about an extramarital affair was well received by specialized critics, who generally praised the performances of the entire cast. Also in 2006, she co-starred in Blood Diamond with Leonardo DiCaprio, as a journalist named Maddy Bowen who fights to bring to light the true story of blood diamonds in Sierra Leone. Although David Edelstein of New York magazine praised her performance, stating that it was "smart, sane and unhistrionic". Manohla Dargis of The New York Times criticized the character's "clutchlessness" and called her portrayal of a journalist in the midst of a context of human suffering as "ludicrous". Little Children and Blood Diamond received multiple nominations at the 79th Academy Awards.

She played the role of Grace, a mother trying to get over the death of her son, in the drama film Reservation Road (2007) along with Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo. According to the actress, this role proved to be her most difficult to date. Susan Wloszczyna of USA Today praised the performance of the cast, stating that their performances "elevate the film above overheated melodrama"; Similarly, Connie Ogle of the Miami Herald newspaper stated that the film is moving at times thanks to the skills of the cast. During the film's premiere, Connelly wore a dress designed by Frenchman Nicolas Ghesquière for the Balenciaga brand, in one of her first collaborations with the designer, with whom she would also work as a model for the Louis Vuitton company. Their collaboration continued in Balenciaga's spring/summer 2008 campaign, in which Connelly wore an outfit based on oriental clothing which was described as "strange" and "uncomfortable" by some specialized media.

In 2008, she starred as the scientist Helen Benson opposite Keanu Reeves in the adaptation of the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still, directed by Scott Derrickson. Unlike the original, in which Benson was a secretary and her relationship with Klaatu was the focus, the remake focused on the character's troubled relationship with her stepson, played by Jaden Smith. In preparation for the role, Connelly spoke with astrobiologists from Princeton University and consulted some books by authors such as Gino Claudio Segrè. Richard Propes of The Independent Critic portal stated that, although it is a "soulless" and "insipid" adaptation, it is sustained thanks to Connelly's "heartwarming bravery". who convinced her to play that small role because she wanted her children to see them working together in the future.In July, the Revlon cosmetics company announced that the actress would become the new face of its brand and that she would participate in various charity events sponsored by the company.

Connelly during the San Diego International Comic Convention (2009), promoting the animated film 9.

In 2009, he starred in the romantic comedy He's Just Not That Into You by Ken Kwapis, which also starred Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston and Drew Barrymore. John Anderson of Variety called her performance "really rich as a woman whose principles drive her into a corner". That year she appeared again with Bettany in the biopic Creation as Emma, the wife of the naturalist Charles Darwin. Set around the time On the Origin of Species was written, the film depicts Darwin's struggle with the subject matter of the book, as well as with his wife, who was opposed to his theories. In his review for The San Francisco Chronicle, Mick LaSalle stated: "[Emma Darwin], a religious woman who did not approve of her husband's theories, is played by Jennifer Connelly, the wife Bettany in real life, in a cast that doesn't always work, but here it does. We believe in the story of the Darwins, their familiarity and affection. Connelly's English accent is as good as Renée Zellweger's and Gwyneth Paltrow's. She not only captures the sounds, but also the music and the attitude ».Also in 2009 the actress provided her voice to one of the main characters in the animated film 9 , directed by Shane Acker and lukewarmly received by critics.

2010-2016: Virginia, Noah and American Pastoral

Connelly played the lead role of a mentally unstable housewife dealing with schizophrenia in Dustin Lance Black's Virginia (2010), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The actress called the film "a very different [and] very personal independent film", and had to dye her hair blonde for the first time for a role, an experience she found fun. Blend stated that "Virginia is underpinned by a strong central performance, with Connelly doing some of her best work in years", the film generally did not enjoy critical acclaim.

Connelly during a movie show Once in America at the Festival de Cannes (2012).

In 2011 she worked again with director Ron Howard on the comedy The Dilemma, starring alongside Vince Vaughn and Kevin James. Although the review by The Austin Chronicle</i While calling Connelly's performance excellent, the film received generally negative reviews. According to Justin Chang of Variety, the actress looks "a little more loose and spontaneous than usual, [but] she seems stuck at an emotional point away from the action." Her next project, George Ratliff's Salvation Boulevard, premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In the film, which was able to convince the specialized press, Connelly played Gwen, the wife of a murder witness. For Walter Addiego of The San Francisco Chronicle it is a film "that criminally wastes a talented cast"., and for Tirdad Derakhshani of The Philadelphia Inquirer it is a film "amusing at times [with] some good nas interpretations ».That same year she recorded an audiobook version of the novel The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles, which went on sale in March 2012 through the Audible platform.

The same year, she starred with Greg Kinnear in the dramatic film Stuck in Love, making Josh Boone's directorial debut. Connelly played the ex-wife of Kinnear's character, with whom he is obsessed. Lou Lumenick of The New York Post stated that the film includes "the best work Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Connelly have done in a long time." time", although Kaleem Aftab of The National criticized the cast for failing to help Boone write "any decent [lines of] dialogue". Also in 2012, the actress signed a contract with the Japanese cosmetics brand Shiseido to participate in advertising campaigns and serve as a spokesperson for the company.

In August 2013, Variety announced that Paul Bettany had cast her in his directorial debut, Shelter, released in 2014. Connelly played Hannah, a drug addict who fights alongside a Nigerian immigrant (played by Anthony Mackie) to survive on the streets of New York. Although critical response was mixed, Eddie Harrison of The List website praised the actress's performance, stating that she "perfectly captures the anguish of a woman made nearly invisible by poverty". To play the role, Connelly had to lose twenty-five pounds. That year he participated in a supporting role in the film adaptation of the 1983 novel Winter's Tale, by author Mark Helprin, under the direction of Akiva Goldsman. The film, which featured starring Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay and Russell Crowe, was a notable critical and box office failure.

Connelly at the Berlin International Film Festival (2014) during the promotion of the film Aloft.

Also in 2014, she played the role of a healer named Nana Kunning in the film Aloft, the English-speaking directorial debut of Peruvian Claudia Llosa. Regarding her experience working with the South American filmmaker, Connelly stated: "As soon as I met her, she seemed like the type of person with whom I wanted to go on a journey like that."Although the film was not well received, her performance raised some good comments; Moira MacDonald of the Seattle Times said: “Connelly, with her characteristic brand of cool toughness, plays her tragic part very well, but she doesn't really have a character to play here; just an endless series of tight close-ups and worried expressions", with Tom Russo of The Boston Globe calling Connelly, Mélanie Laurent and Cillian Murphy's performances "slick".

That same year, she again shared a lead role with Russell Crowe in Darren Aronofsky's Biblical epic Noah, in which she played the role of Naamah. Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post stated that their performances were "impressively solid and powerful", and in her review for The Denver Post, Lisa Kennedy found Connelly to play her role with "great intelligence". Contrary to his last films, Noé managed to garner good reviews and box office numbers. During the film's premiere event, he wore the first design by Nicolas Ghesquière for the French fashion house Louis Vuitton.

American Pastoral (2016), a dramatic film directed and co-starring Ewan McGregor, was his next appearance. Though coldly received by critics, Nigel Andrews of the Financial Times said the lead pair of Connelly and McGregor did a good job as parents, and Tara Brady of The Irish Times defined her work as "a great performance, full of tears and anguish". A year later she provided her voice for Karen, the artificial intelligence used by Peter Parker in the Marvel Studios film Spider-Man: Homecoming, directed by Jon Watts. In this way, he registered his second appearance in a film based on a Marvel Comics character, after his appearance in Hulk (2003).

2017-present: Only the Brave, Snowpiercer, Top Gun: Maverick and present day

In 2017, he was part of the main cast along with Miles Teller, Jeff Bridges and Josh Brolin in Only the Brave, a film by Joseph Kosinski based on the Yarnell Hill fire that received good reviews from critics. Peter Sobczynski of RogerEbert.com highlighted Connelly and Brolin's performances, stating that while they are "potentially clichéd [the tough guy in charge and the stay-at-home wife worried about seeing her husband again], the they are imbued with real life and personality." Similarly, New York Times critic Andy Webster praised the pair's performance, calling Connelly's performance "vivid".

Connelly in 2019.

In 2019, she played the supporting role of Chiren, a cyber expert in Robert Rodriguez's science fiction film Alita: Battle Angel. In an interview with Empire magazine i>, the director confessed that he decided to cast Connelly and Christoph Waltz because this would "elevate the whole project", as they are two Oscar winners. Based on the manga GUNNM, it earned mixed reviews and good box office numbers, especially internationally.

In mid-2017, the media announced that Connelly would return to television in a series based on the South Korean science fiction film Snowpiercer, in the role of Melanie Cavill, a first-class passenger who controls the destinations of the passengers of a train that never stops, within the framework of a post-apocalyptic scenario. The series, titled Snowpiercer like the film, debuted on May 17, 2020 on the TNT network, after a rescheduling caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Connelly continued to be linked to the series in seasons two and three (premiered on January 25, 2021 and January 24, 2022 respectively), and received a nomination in the category of best actress in an action series in the first edition of the Critics' Choice Super Awards. In January 2023, a TNT spokesperson stated that the network would not air the fourth season of the series, and that they were currently looking for a new platform to host the fourth and final season.

In July 2018, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Connelly was in talks to join the cast of Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel to the action film Top Gun (1986). Directed by Joseph Kosinski, filmed in 2019 and edited during the pandemic lockdown in 2020, the film was released on May 27, 2022 and was a critical and popular success. box office. In it, Connelly played Penny Benjamin, the romantic interest of Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a character played by Tom Cruise. On the site RogerEbert.com, Tomris Laffly praised the performance of both by stating that there is " a fiery chemistry between Connelly and Cruise throughout the entire film", and for Variety's Matt Donelly, the actress brought "new dimensions to a 1980s classic".

Projects in development

In June 2022, Deadline reported that Connelly will star opposite British actor Ben Whishaw in the black comedy Bad Behaviour, Alice Englert's feature debut. According to the outlet, the actress will play Lucy, a former child actress searching for answers at a spiritual retreat while dealing with her stormy relationship with her daughter.The film is scheduled to premiere at select film festivals in late of 2023.

In September 2020, Apple TV+ announced that the actress had joined the cast of the television series Dark Matter, an adaptation of the Canadian series of the same name (2015) and the book of the same name by Blake Crouch. Connelly will play the role of Daniella, the wife of a physicist who is kidnapped and forced to live an alternate version of his existence. According to Joe Otterson of Variety, the series will be composed in its first season for nine episodes.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Her first recognition for her acting career came at the Saturn Awards, with a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Rocketeer (1991). For her work in Requiem for a Dream (2000), earned Best Supporting Actress nominations from the Independent Spirit Awards and from the Phoenix and Las Vegas Film Critics Associations, among others.

His performance in A Beautiful Mind (2001) garnered him the most awards and nominations of his career, including an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA, all at the Best Supporting Actress category. For her role in the film, she also won a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress, and an American Film Institute Award for Best Actress. of the year, and earned best actress nominations at the Empire Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards, among other accolades.

Connelly appeared again at the Saturn Awards with a nomination in the best actress category for her role in Hulk (2003), and her performance in the film House of Sand and Fog (2003) garnered her a Kansas Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress, and nominations at the Satellite Awards for Best Actress in a Drama Series and at the Film Critics Awards for Best Actress.

For her role in Reservation Road (2007) she won the Hollywood Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actress, and her participation in Snowpiercer (2000) earned him a Critics' Choice Super Awards for Best Actress in an Action Series.

Characteristics as an actress

Connelly stated that, early in his career, he wanted to distance himself from roles that could be seen as "superficial", although he confessed to the Hartford Courant newspaper that this was due to that at that time she did not have the possibility of choosing the type of roles she really wanted to represent. In an interview with the newspaper El País, she even confessed that in the early stages of her career she felt "reified and sexualized". According to the actress herself, her role in Waking the Dead (2000) meant a change of course in her career: "That was the first film I made after being a mother and I knew that everything It was changing for me at the time." She further stated that she had to work harder than usual to convince director Keith Gordon to cast her in the role.

After delivering critically acclaimed and dramatic performances in films such as Requiem for a Dream (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001) and House of Sand and Fog (2003), Conelly told Glamour magazine that she found it pleasant to participate in the comedy He's Just Not That Into You (2009): «I had just made a film called Reservation Road, which was about a mother who loses a child, and it was [an experience] heartbreaking. It was fun to do something very different." She told Vogue that in general she tends to choose intense dramatic roles because she finds stories with women who are coping with some kind of grief more interesting, and she assured in life In an interview with The Guardian, the actress confessed that she finds the sex scenes "incredibly uncomfortable [...] They're not my favorite, but there are circumstances in which they make sense."

Personal life

Relationships

Connelly and her husband, British actor and filmmaker Paul Bettany.

During the filming of The Rocketeer, Connelly began an affair with her co-star Billy Campbell. They ended their relationship in 1996 after five years together. She began a relationship with photographer David Dugan, with whom she has a son named Kai, born in 1997. In the early 2000s, she was in a relationship with actor Josh Charles.

On January 1, 2003, in a private family ceremony in Scotland, she married actor Paul Bettany, whom she met on the set of A Beautiful Mind. In an interview with Larry King, Bettany confessed that he had a strong admiration for Connelly since his work in films such as Labyrinth or Once Upon a Time in America, and that he decided to express his feelings through a call phone call just after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The couple have a son named Stelan (born 2003), and a daughter named Agnes (born 2011). After living together in the neighborhood A New Yorker from Tribeca, the family moved into a residence in Brooklyn Heights.

Lifestyle, politics and religion

Connelly has always been reticent to give details about his private life in interviews, preferring to talk about aspects related to his career. He confessed to Marie Claire magazine that he went on a diet vegan for many years before the birth of her first child, further stating that she consumes an average of three green apples a day and that her exercise routine includes running sessions of between six and ten miles.

The actress has expressed her support for the Democratic Party on several occasions, and in an interview for The Guardian in 2008, she was excited by Barack Obama's victory in the presidential elections of the same year. About her religious beliefs, in the same interview she confessed that although she was not raised under the precepts of any religion, in her adolescence she explored religious texts from different cults such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity because she wanted to feel that there was " something sacred that she could [feel] aligned with."

Philanthropic work

On 14 November 2005, Connelly was named Amnesty International's ambassador for human rights education. She appeared in a US television ad directed by Terry George, highlighting the global need for safe drinking water and donations were being sought for drilling projects in Africa, India and Central America for the non-profit organization Charity: Water. The actress has also supported the environmental non-profit organization Union of Concerned Scientists.

On May 2, 2009, she co-hosted with Jessica Alba, Jimmy Fallon, Beau Garrett, Jessica Biel and Christina Applegate in the annual women's 5k run organized by Revlon to raise funds for research into the cancer in women. In May 2012, she was appointed ambassador of the Save the Children fund, as a spokesperson for the defense of children's rights around the world.

In 2017, he was part of the #MeToo social movement against allegations of sexual abuse against Harvey Weinstein. She publicly stated, "I believe that no woman should have to suffer this type of violation to get or keep a job," and denounced the film producer's actions as a violation of human rights.

In the media

In 2009, Vanity Fair magazine included her in fourth position (along with Bar Refaeli, Penélope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson) in its list of the most beautiful women in the world. Two years she later appeared ninth among the 50 Most Beautiful Women in Film, a list drawn up by the Los Angeles Times newspaper that included actresses from various eras in film history.

Janelle Okwodu of Vogue magazine claimed on May 9, 2022 that Connelly starred in "the most glamorous moment of the week" during the world premiere of Top Gun: Maverick when wearing a dress designed by the Frenchman Nicolas Ghesquière; the same outlet referred to her as the designer's muse for her collaboration in campaigns for the Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton brands. The same year she appeared in the special "The Beautiful Issue » from People magazine, which highlights the most beautiful women of the year.