The actress celebrates half a century of life cultivating a distant reputation. Yet she has carved out an eclectic and solid career for herself in a Hollywood accustomed to punishing women.
The premiere of 'Noe' by Darren Aronofsky in the heart of Madrid. A reporter from this medium (it could well be the one writing this...) has the immense honor of asking a few questions to the protagonists of this fantabiblical and ambitious film. Among them, is a very tall and beautiful Jennifer Connelly. The question, improvised and somewhat quick due to the circumstances, is whether she has prepared a lot for her role as the woman of the mythical (real or fictitious, there each one with her beliefs) character from the Old Testament. Her response is cold and direct, and one might even say unfriendly.
Noah's loving wife in the film assures, somewhat surly, that "everyone knows" the story of the creator of the biblical ark. "It's only a few pages from Genesis," she adds reluctantly. The rest of the reporters present comment, self-confidently, that the protagonist of 'A Beautiful Mind' not only dislikes some questions but also that they focus too much on her hands or feet. Perhaps because she is no longer that girl who was lost with Bowie 'inside the maze'. The cinema came, in fact, by chance to this woman who turns half a century this Saturday.
Jennifer Connelly was only 14 years old when she worked for Sergio Leone in 'Once upon a time in America' and she made it to that film, today a legend of modern cinema, without pretending to have an acting career. A friend of the Connelly family worked in the world of advertising in the early 80s. It was he who, given the beauty of little Jen, suggested to her parents that they take her to castings. The girl started working as a child model and, suddenly, she found herself in Leone's blockbuster, surrounded by stars like James Caan or Robert De Niro. "I remember what I did, for the most part, but I don't know why. I had no aspirations, I didn't have movie posters in my room, and I wasn't a fan of movies. I liked Evel Knievel and animals. And I liked science. and English," she recalled of her first movie experience. Over time, 'In the labyrinth' would arrive, next to the aforementioned Bowie, and other already essential titles such as 'Requiem for a dream' or 'A wonderful mind', for which she won an Oscar thanks to her interpretation of Alicia Nash.
During her nearly four-decade career, it's no secret that Ella Connelly has cultivated a reputation for being cool and aloof. Perhaps that is why it has been less difficult for us to believe many of her characters, marked by the drama and the coldness of her gaze. In her private life, secrecy has been part of her life from minute one. Since 2003, she has shared her life with Paul Bettany, with whom she has two children. Even though they are both actors and celebrities, it is rare to see them showing off on the red carpet, as other Hollywood couples do and have done.
To understand us, they have nothing to do with the Brangelinas on duty. The actress also has another child from her previous relationship with photographer David Dugan. That love of youth did not go through the altar but they say that he filled Connelly with happiness. "If I got married, I would prefer not to get divorced. And I didn't get to the moment where I felt it was the choice," she commented on it in 2002.
Icon of style (one only has to remember her daring and wonderful looks at premieres like 'Alita' or on the red carpet at Cannes) and an actress with extensive records, Jennifer Connelly has managed to become essential in an industry that crushes its children prodigy or penalizes maturity in women. A far from trivial achievement in the neoliberal Hollywood of this time of uncertainty; a feat for which perhaps it is necessary to err on the side of being unsympathetic.
