Rene Russo: the leading lady Dustin Hoffman and Clint Eastwood fell in love with
In the 1990s, a leading lady who offered something markedly different from her contemporaries rose to the top of Hollywood. In seven years, she starred opposite leading men like Mel Gibson, John Travolta, Kevin Costner, Pierce Brosnan, Dustin Hoffman, and Clint Eastwood. The latter two were so taken with her particular charm and commanding presence on-screen that it was claimed they’d fallen in love with her. Fascinatingly, though, this star believed her days as a go-to romantic interest for Hollywood’s elite would be finite – and she planned accordingly so she could exit stage left when the appropriate time came.
In 1972, a statuesque 17-year-old beauty was spotted outside a Rolling Stones concert by a modelling agent who encouraged her to apply to the Ford Modelling Agency. She duly obliged and went on to become one of the most in-demand models of the ’70s and ’80s, with Vogue magazine noting that she exuded a sexiness that was both accessible and aspirational. By the end of the ’80s, though, the 35-year-old realised that her time as a model was ending. As she put it, “They didn’t want me anymore – they had other, younger models.”
So, Rene Russo decided to make a career change. She’d auditioned for a few movies during her modelling days and even come close to being cast in Urban Cowboy but was hamstrung by her lack of acting experience. Still, she believed she could make a genuine play in Hollywood, and thanks to the tireless championing of her manager and her undeniable good looks, movie roles began to come her way. Russo landed her first feature film role at 35 in 1989’s Major League, and by 38, she was smouldering opposite Gibson in Lethal Weapon 3.
Throughout the rest of the ’90s, Russo landed memorable leading roles in Outbreak opposite Hoffman, and In the Line of Fire opposite Eastwood, as well as Tin Cup, Get Shorty, Ransom, and The Thomas Crown Affair. As she starred in more hits, her asking price rose as high as $2million by ’95. What exactly was it about Russo that saw her vault from an ex-model with no acting experience to a bona fide movie star commanding six figures in just six short years, though? Well, according to casting director Joanne Zaluski, who plucked her from obscurity for Major League, Russo’s star quality was immediately obvious.
“She’s got that sass,” Zaluski told the Los Angeles Times, “the intelligence and strength and sassiness of a Barbara Stanwyck or Carole Lombard. She’s also got the genuine quality that Mel Gibson has – you kind of want them to be your best friend because you like them so much.” Regardless of how that quote has aged like milk because it invoked Gibson – someone no sane person would want to be their friend – the sentiment was clear: Russo had “it.”
Indeed, Russo believed her success had a lot to do with her looks – but not in the way you’d expect. “You know what it was?” she mused. “I have an unusual face.” Indeed, she’s not wrong – Russo was undoubtedly gorgeous, but she looked different from most leading Hollywood ladies. This unique look, coupled with “a combination of humour, smartness, and great sensitivity with a little bit of shyness,” meant the camera loved her.
However, the cameras – and the directors behind them – weren’t the only people who loved Russo. As Wolfgang Petersen, who directed her in In the Line of Fire, said, “Clint fell in love with her. Dustin fell in love with her. I fell in love with her. There must be something about her.” Perhaps Eastwood appreciated that Russo was fun, in addition to being a worthy scene partner. Before they shot a love scene in the film, both stars agreed to eat garlic, with Russo chuckling, “That way we could cancel each other out.”
Fascinatingly, Russo was always a savvy customer, and as early as ’95, she was already talking about her post-acting plans. Maybe it’s because she came to acting late, so she always felt there was a ticking clock on her time at the top. Perhaps she looked at the Hollywood landscape and correctly deduced that good roles for women became depressingly infrequent as they got older.
More than likely, though, acting was only ever something she wanted to do for a fairly short time. As she told The Independent in 2014, “I don’t ‘love, love’ acting. I do love acting the two seconds that you are in front of the camera…but there is a lot of downtime when you’re just sitting in your trailer.”
This is why, in ’95, at the height of her fame when A-listers like Hoffman and Eastwood loved her, Russo admitted, “I’m going to be a smart businesswoman and make as much money as I can for the short amount of ride that I have here, and then I’m out.” She did exactly what she said, too, taking a five-year break from acting between 2005 and 2010, before settling into a late-period career where she mostly works with her husband – screenwriter/director Dan Gilroy – and occasionally plays Thor’s mum Frigga in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Maybe she’s cracked the code?
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