I miss seeing British actress Saffron Burrows’ height (she’s 6’0″! My people!) and amazing cheekbones in my historical costume movies and TV series! She seems to be doing mostly modern-set projects these days, but she’s played supporting roles in many iconic-to-me frock flicks. Do any of you remember her?
Circle of Friends (1995)
Ostensibly set in 1950s Ireland, Burrows plays the complicated, glamorous friend to Minnie Driver’s girl-after-your-own-heart.
Miss Julie (1999)
She played the title role in this adaptation of the 1888 August Strindberg play about an upper class woman who toys with her male servant. It’s kind of weird, but Sandy Powell’s costumes are AMAZING.
Enigma (2001)
She’s again the complicated, glamorous friend (notice a theme here?) in this Kate Winslet-starring World War II film about British codebreakers.
The Seventh Stream (2001)
A TV movie in which “A lonely widowed Irish fisherman meets a pretty mysterious woman who may just literally be the stuff of legends,” per IMDB.
Frida (2002)
She has the small role of “Gracie” in this Frida Kahlo biopic, and it’s been too long for me to remember what she’s about.
Troy (2004)
As the heartbreaking Andromache, wife to Hector, in this adaptation of Homer’s Illiad.
Klimt (2006)
A biopic about the Austrian painter. Burrows plays dancer Lea de Castro, who has a relationship with Klimt. If anyone knows where to watch this, please let us know!
Agatha Christie’s Marple: Towards Zero (2007)
She starred in one episode of the 1950s-set murder mystery series.
Do you remember Saffron Burrows, fondly or not?
Her look would suit the 1930’s best, imo.
I first saw her in an English production of a Ruth Rendell mystery. She played a cool-y calculating beauty opposite a hapless woman. She was mesmerizing.
On the subject of that Klimt movie: the sets and costumes are brilliant, and the fellow who plays Schiele makes the young artist instantly recognizable using the same mannerisms as in his paintings. There are other important figures from the Vienna Secession in the movie as well, and it’s fun to pick them out. The movie itself is poor, moves slowly, matched only by Malkovich’s completely languorous, boring, characterless portrayal of Klimt. Talk about phoning it in! I found the videotape at a tag sale.
Thanks! I figured Klimt wasn’t very good since I’d never really heard about it, but I do want to see the costumes someday.
I remember watching The Seventh Stream, and liking it. They hinted at the fact that her character may or may not have been a Selkie, mythical creatures that are seals in the water and humans on land. :)
The thing on her head looks a bit like a Thai crown. But why she’s wearing it is anybody’s guess!
I don’t think I ever realized it was her in Circle of Friends, but it’s been ages since I saw it. Love so many of these roles she’s done.
her character in Circle of Friends makes me seethe. Seethe, I said. SEETHE, even if she was glamorous and charismatic as fuck.
Oh God, do I remember Saffron Burrows? I LOVE her! She’s one of those women who is so gorgeous that I question why I even exist. Beyond envy, she’s a good actress, and I always enjoy her performances. She’s in one of my all-time FAVORITE romantic comedies, The Matchmaker, from the mid ’90s. It’s not a FrockFlick, but it’s criminally underseen and underrated. And I also liked her in what I’ve seen of the contemporary Amazon Prime show Mozart in the Jungle. As for her FrockFlicks, I really enjoyed Enigma. Troy was a travesty, but she was excellent as Andromache and Eric Bana as Hector–GOOD LORD!! It’s been forever since I saw Frida, but I think her character was a lesbian dalliance for Frida…maybe? Open question to anyone who’s seen her version of Miss Julie: Was it any better than the Colin Farrell / Jessica Chastain version? That one was so boring I couldn’t even last 10 minutes!
I’ll have to check out The Matchmaker! I didn’t see the recent Miss Julie, but yes, the Saffron Burrows one was decently engaging.
Forgot to add that I would love to see Saffron Burrows and Natasha McElhone star as sisters in some project, especially a Frock Flick.