Jessica Lange is one of about two dozen actors who’ve achieved the “Triple Crown of Acting” by winning an Academy Award, an Emmy, and a Tony. She won one of her two Oscars and one of her three Emmys for historical roles, and she won the Tony for a role she’ll reprise soon on film — so it’s about time she got some Frock Flicks kudos too! Lange seems to have a sweet spot for portraying complicated women in the 1930s to 1960s, and here’s her hits.
Cora Papadakis in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)
Frances Farmer in Frances (1982)
Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1984)
Patsy Cline in Sweet Dreams (1985)
Babs in Everybody’s All-American (1988)
Alexandra Bergson in O Pioneers! (1992)
Carly Marshall in Blue Sky (1994)
Mary in Rob Roy (1995)
Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (1995)
Bette in Cousin Bette (1998)
Edith “Big Edie” Bouvier Beale in Grey Gardens (2009)
Madame Raquin in In Secret (2013)
Sister Jude Martin in American Horror Story: Asylum (2012-3)
Elsa Mars in American Horror Story: Freak Show (2014-5)
Joan Crawford in Feud (2017)
Dorothy Quincannon in Marlowe (2022)
Mary Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night (upcoming)
What historical costume movie or TV roles do you admire Jessica Lange in?
In regards to Feud, it doesn’t really bother me if an actor doesn’t particularly look like the person they’re playing as long as the costuming is accurate and the acting is good. If they can portray the essence of a character that’s good enough for me!
Sharon Stone made an interesting comment last year (I think it was last year) about how, for women there can be only one top dog, i.e. there’s only Meryl Streep, and thus no other woman can compete, because women can’t have a litany of talented actresses “There can only be one”. when I read that I immediately thought of Jessica Lange, who I’ve loved since I saw Rob Roy as a kid. Not that Meryl doesn’t deserve her hype, she does. But so do a lot of other actresses who have had long and interesting careers; including Jessica Lange.
She deserves more cred and buzz than she’s been getting.
Loved her especially in Sweet Dreams, Crimes of the Heart and American Horror Story. But really I love her in everything, starting with King Kong when I was a teenager, then her tiny but perfect and pivotal performance in All That Jazz. So happy to see her again with Ed Harris in Long Day’s Journey into Night.
Cousin Bette is such a delightfully satisfying revenge piece!
I loved, loved Everybody’s All American, even if it so damned dour in the second half.
I know of Jessica Lange and have heard of many of these movies, yet I haven’t seen any of them! In the pictures from Blue Sky, her costume and attitude seem similar in vibe to Jessica Chastain’s character in The Help.
Love Cousin Bette- it’s wickedly funny! I hate to nitpick, but I think the second photo from Marlowe is of Diane Kruger. :)