Every iconic role Michelle Pfeiffer turned down: “I got so picky that I disappeared”
Michelle Pfeiffer was one of the most iconic performers of the 1980s and ’90s, starring in hugely influential projects such as The Age of Innocence and Scarface, becoming renowned for her portrayal of the unconventional countess in Martin Scorsese’s period piece and infamous wife of Tony Montana. Over the years, she expanded her filmography as the roles available for women broadened, playing a host of villains, witches and rude house guests in the work of Darren Aronofsky, Matthew Vaughn and Tim Burton.
While she is associated with many cinematic masterpieces, the actor has also spent an equal amount of time away from the spotlight, joking about her strict sense of judgement when accepting new projects that has led her to decline many similarly iconic characters.
The leading ladies of the ’90s were unlike any other era in cinema, with actors like Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson and Demi Moore leaving a lasting impact on Hollywood. Each woman has had her own tumultuous and complex relationship with fame and Hollywood, arriving in the industry at a time when the harassment and scrutiny they faced weren’t publicly discussed, expected to stay silent about their honest experiences and exist as an object of beauty on the big screen. Many of the key changes happening in the industry occurred throughout their early careers, with the roles for women slowly being developed and leading to huge spikes of fame as they reprised roles with more substance.
Due to this, many films were made that were the first of their kind, with the likes of Alien, Thelma and Louise, and Silence of the Lambs breaking history for their inclusion of women in roles that typically went to men. While Pfeiffer was a prominent figure during this time, she was very picky about the roles she accepted and shared the surprising number of roles that she turned down during this time.
Pfeiffer declined to accept parts in films like Pretty Woman, The Silence of the Lambs, Thelma and Louise, Sleepless in Seattle and Casino, which all became hugely popular and commercially successful projects at the time of their release. When discussing this, Pfeiffer said, “I got so picky that I … disappeared. My agent’s nickname for me is Dr No.”
However, while she may have chosen to step aside for those particular characters, the actor has spoken about how she has only been offered more opportunities in recent years, highlighting the trailblazing work of Meryl Streep in making this possible and changing the way older women are viewed in cinema. “Our window of opportunity expands incrementally year by year,” she said. “I feel like the roles have only gotten more interesting. I want to grow up to be Judi Dench or Ellen Burstyn. The older we get, the less we work. But look at the work just those two women are doing. It gets deeper.”
While this has historically been the case for women over the age of 30, people like Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon have continued to thrive and work at new levels as their careers progress, showing that while you might have missed out when you were younger, this won’t always be the case.
