Linda Fiorentino brings a low voice, an intent gaze and a welcome lack of eagerness to be liked. We value her dry intelligence in thrillers and comedy, though repeated femme-fatale casting can leave too much of the character already decided.
Fi1m perspective
Fiorentino often looks as though she has assessed the company and found little reason to be impressed. Her low voice suits calculating characters, while the wry delivery keeps them from becoming entirely solemn. The Last Seduction (1994) gives her a particularly good fit in Bridget Gregory, a scheming woman who drives the plot. We rate her most when the script gives her decisions to make, rather than relying on her to look dangerous.
The early roles offered different uses for her reserve. In Vision Quest (1985), she was Carla, an enigmatic presence opposite Matthew Modine; Martin Scorsese's After Hours (1985) cast her as the more eccentric Kiki. Jade (1995) continued the erotic-thriller casting after her breakthrough in The Last Seduction. The move into mainstream comedy was welcome: there is only so much an actor can do with another part built around being seductive and difficult to read.
Men in Black (1997) casts her as Laurel alongside Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith. We laughed at the alien business because Barry Sonnenfeld keeps it brisk and lets the central partnership do the work. Fiorentino's self-possession makes her useful company in a comedy that could easily become frantic. It is a film we recommend readily, with the caveat that the story is thin and the chief pleasure remains Jones and Smith together.
The comedy also provides a useful check on the familiar description of her as a femme fatale. That describes a kind of part, but leaves out the dry intelligence that makes her casting in Men in Black work. Kevin Smith's Dogma (1999) took the shift further by giving her the lead as Bethany in a religious satire. For a fuller sense of what she can do with a plot, follow Men in Black with The Last Seduction.
Biography
Linda Fiorentino is an American actress. She played Laurel Weaver in the 1997 science-fiction comedy Men in Black.
Born Clorinda Fiorentino on 9 March 1958 in Philadelphia, she studied at Rosemont College and trained at the Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York. She first appeared in films in 1985, including Vision Quest, Gotcha! and Martin Scorsese’s After Hours. Fiorentino received critical acclaim and several awards, including the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress and the London Film Critics’ Circle Award for Actress of the Year, for her performance as Bridget Gregory in The Last Seduction (1994). Other notable roles include Jade (1995), Dogma (1999) and Liberty Stands Still (2002). She was married to director John Byrum from 1992 to 1993.
