'lost' actresses

Film Illeana Douglas is one of the great 'lost' actresses who simply doesn't get the work she should or hasn't got the recognition she deserves. Perfect for The AV Club's Random Roles column:

It was funny, because they’d say, “Oh my God, you were so brilliant in To Die For.” And I was like, “Then why won’t you let me do anything I did in To Die For?” They wanted “an Illeana Douglas type.” I remember one of the [Picture Perfect] writers was like, “The studio said we had to make the character more idiosyncratic, so I said, ‘Why don’t you just cast Illeana Douglas?’” [Laughs.] But they’d put me in something like that, and then they’d keep telling me, “Too much! Bring it down. Don’t upstage the celebrity.” I’m like, “I’m just walking. I’m not trying to do anything!” I started shying away from those kinds of parts, because I didn’t think they were very fun. I mean, it was fun because it was a huge payday.

There's some interesting discussion too about how the financing of independent cinema has changed. It used to be if you cast Walken or Turturro in your film was set, it could be financed. These days, it apparently doesn't work that way. No wonder there don't seem to be any new Tarantinos, Soderberghs, Smiths, Lees or Linklaters coming up.