Emily Watson: How come her career lost steam after PUNCH DRUNK LOVE?

Submitted by Lili_Danube t3_126zzoc in movies

I know from BREAKING THE WAVES, her breakout, to PUNCH DRUNK LOVE; her career was on fire. She got two Oscar nominations, I know ANGELA'S ASHES was prepped up to be another big movie but it fell short. She still did a lot of movies and respectable notices but after PUNCH DRUNK LOVE, it's like the ststus dropped. She started to get more supporting parts, she began to do more TV and I remember when she was roundly mocked for doing a Lifetime TV movie, a move that caught many by surprise.

She still got a few decent gigs: The Luzhin Defence, Miss Potter (why she didn't play lead in this one over a miscast Renee Zellweger?), The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, but a lot was supporting parts.

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Cool-Kangaroo-2021 t1_jebum2b wrote

I feel like she’s had a pretty normal career arc for a woman in the movie industry. She was never a megastar or destined to be one.

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neverfoil t1_jebv5zl wrote

Her performance was pretty strong in Chernobyl and she's booking more jobs than a lot of other actresses her age...

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truckturner5164 t1_jebuy5d wrote

She's a character actress, supporting parts come with the territory. She was never going to be a massive star.

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Lili_Danube OP t1_jebvw2j wrote

I disagree. In the late 90s, she was being prepped up as the ACTRESS of her generation.

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truckturner5164 t1_jebyh25 wrote

LOL, and what evidence is there that she and no other was being prepped as the actress of her generation? A generation I might add that featured multiple Oscar-winners Cate Blanchett, Frances McDormand, Hillary Swank, Emma Thompson etc. So Watson being nominated makes zero difference. She was merely one of several. Watson was well and truly behind the majority of them in the pecking order of leading ladies of the late 90s early 00s. I think you're basing all of this on subjective opinion rather than any factual basis. For one thing, Punch-Drunk love isn't even her most well-remembered performance (Breaking the Waves for sure).

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Select_Action_6065 t1_jec6wc8 wrote

Dude, she was 35 when PDL came out that is (unfortunately) considered old for an actress

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Dragonborn83196 t1_jebu1lu wrote

I was going to mention she was in War Horse and Kingsmen the Secret Circle but then you said supporting roles….

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