ClankSinatra t1_jef47cd wrote on March 31, 2023 at 3:38 PM

Conflunce of things, probably. From her choices, it seems like she started looking for films where she was the main lead instead of co-lead or supporting actor. Those tend to be hard to find if you're a woman older than 35, especially in like 1978.

The kind of New Hollywood movies she was best in and best known for started to wind down post-Jaws and Star Wars.

She was also notoriously difficult to work with, and not in the euphemistic "she wouldn't fuck the producer" way that Weinstein used to brand actresses with. She was actually a right asshole that would just not show up on set sometimes or make the production remake her whole wardrobe on a whim.

For what it's worth I think she's the best American actress of the 70s and her Chinatown performance is top 10 all-time.

pmmemoviestills t1_jefk78b wrote on March 31, 2023 at 5:21 PM

Yup, she was also in things like Three Days of the Condor. She's THE actress of the 70s in my opinion.

skrillskroll t1_jeg5yux wrote on March 31, 2023 at 7:45 PM

I agree but you really understated the age issue. Only very recently have actresses around 40 years began to thrive. 35 used to be a career ender or the start of a 20 year long slump. And the rebound from the slump was never spectacular. It just meant you came back to some respect for having survived the desert. I think her lack of resurgence has to do with her not signing onto a show for the long term. She's done many 1 episode guest star bits but never committed to a show like Sally Field or Jane Fonda did. TV and streaming is fantastic for older actresses careers.