The iconic role that made Michelle Pfeiffer miserable: “I would go to bed every night crying”
Anyone who sets their sights on becoming a successful actor knows that it won’t be an easy ride, with Michelle Pfeiffer enduring several ups and downs on her road towards the A-list and a reputation for being one of her generation’s most gifted stars.
Pfeiffer has enjoyed a stellar career that’s seen her rewarded with three Academy Award nominations and a Golden Globe win from nine nods, which included being shortlisted for ‘Best Actress’ six consecutive times between 1988 and 1993, and she managed to do it while turning down a number of iconic roles.
In another world, it could have been Pfeiffer starring as Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs, taking Sharon Stone’s role as Ginger in Martin Scorsese’s Casino, playing one of the title characters in Thelma & Louise, sharing the screen with Richard Gere in Pretty Woman, or striking sparks with Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle, all of which she turned down.
The actor admitted that her agent called her ‘Dr No’ after she knocked back so many offers, but she deserves praise for navigating a ruthless business on her own terms. It’s not as if she doesn’t have a sprawling collection of memorable performances and indelible characters either, and that determination to carve out her own path may have been born from the misery she endured in one of her earliest roles.
The first notable entry in Pfeiffer’s filmography is the pointless sequel Grease 2, which she doesn’t hold in the highest esteem. However, her next high-profile outing after that was in Brian De Palma’s Scarface, with the gangster’s moll Elvira dripping in screen presence and star potential.
Leading man Al Pacino wasn’t entirely convinced of her talents, and that was just one of the problems Pfeiffer faced after confessing she struggled with the male-dominated environment of Scarface and the lingering fear that she could be out of a job at any moment.
“I was with this incredibly seasoned group of actors, and only one other woman, who I didn’t even work with,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “I was just waiting to be fired the whole time. I would go to bed every night crying.” Obviously, her fears were unfounded, and she’s one of the most integral parts of the film, but it just goes to show that even movies that seize the zeitgeist aren’t immune from behind-the-scenes woes.
De Palma and Pacino considered almost every actor in Pfeiffer’s age range, including Glenn Close, Geena Davis, Melanie Griffith, Kim Basinger, Brooke Shields, and Stone, among others. The star didn’t really want her as Elvira and the director wasn’t 100% sold on her either, and being completely aware of that throughout shooting can’t have been the easiest thing for a relative newcomer to deal with.
