Its easy to look at Geena Davis and assume that she is just another pretty face. On screen, she frequently appears as a bit of a ditz. But in reality, there is a lot more to Geena Davis. For example, Davis is a member of Mensa which requires an IQ in the top 2% She is fluent in Swedish, trained in several musical instruments and is an Olympic-level archer.
Lets see Meg Ryan do that!
Davis auditioned for several movies including the role of Sarah Connor in The Terminator before landing her first acting job in one of the biggest comedies of the 80′s, Tootsie.
Tootsie starred Dustin Hoffman as an out-of-work actor who lands a role on a soap opera by cross-dressing. Davis role was small and mostly consisted of parading around in front of Hoffman in her underwear. The joke came from Hoffman pretending to be one of the girls while Davis flounced around in front of him.
Although her role was small, Tootsie was a monster hit in 1982. The reviews were great, it was nominated for several Oscars and the box office was very strong. It was a great way to start an acting career.
Following Tootsie, Davis spend the next few years paying her dues on TV. She had guest spots on Knight Rider, Family Ties, and Remington Steele from 1983-1985. Davis also had a recurring role on the short-lived Dabney Coleman sitcom, Buffalo Bill.
Buffalo Bill ran for two shortened seasons. Despite critical acclaim and 11 Emmy nominations, Buffalo Bill suffered from low ratings which lead to its cancellation.
In 1985, Davis returned to the big screen with small roles in two movies. The first was Fletch, also known as the last really funny movie Chevy Chase ever made.
Fletch was an action/comedy/mystery based on a series of novels by Gregory McDonald. Davis played Larry, who was Fletchs girl Friday at the paper he worked for. It wasnt a big role, but Fletch was a big hit and got good reviews.
The same can not be said for Davis other movie from 1985, Transylvania 6-5000.
Transylvania 6-5000 was a horror spoof starring Jeff Goldblum and Ed Begley, Jr. The picture above probably tells you everything you need to know about Davis role. She was the sexy lady vampire.
Transylvania 6-5000 got negative reviews and was ignored at the box office. It is really only significant in that it was Davis first film with future husband, Jeff Goldblum.
In 1986, Davis appeared opposite Goldblum again in David Cronenbergs remake of The Fly.
The Fly merged Cronenbergs unique style of body horror with a mainstream horror film. Unlike the merging of the films central character with a common house fly, the movie was surprisingly successful.
The 1986 version of The Fly got positive reviews and performed well at the box office. Davis first starring role was an unqualified hit
Regular readers of What the Hell Happened already know what I am about to say. 1988 was a big year for Geena Davis. She appeared in three films that year startinf with Tim Burtons ghostly comedy, Beetlejuice.
People remember Michael Keatons show-stealing performance as the title character in Beetlejuice. But the lead characters were actually played by Davis and Alec Baldwin. They played a young couple who died and were doomed to haunt their home for eternity.
Davis and Baldwin ended up playing their roles straight while everyone around them was allowed to be zany. As a result, they end up being the least memorable characters in the movie despite getting the most screen time. Even so, starring in Beetlejuice was a boost to both of their careers.
That summer, Davis starred opposite Jeff Goldblum (now her husband) in the quirky comedy, Earth Girls Are Easy.
Earth Girls is a sci-fi musical about three furry aliens who crash-land in a valley girls swimming pool. Believe it or not, it is sillier than it sounds. But if you turn off your mind and go along for the ride, its pretty entertaining in a fizzy, empty way.
Davis played the valley girl whose doctor fiance is cheating on her. Goldblum played the lead alien who discovers (thanks to Davis) that earth girls are in fact pretty easy. His alien followers are played by then-unkowns Damon Wayans and Jim Carrey who would go on to stardom on In Living Color.
Reviews for Eath Girls Are Easy were mixed to positive. But the movie failed at the box office. It has gathered a cult following on video and is definitely worth checking out.
Davis capped off the year with an Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress in Lawrence Kasdans drama, The Accidental Tourist.
The Accidental Tourist starred William Hurt as a travel writer whose marriage to Kathleen Turner was collapsing after the murder of their 12-year-old son. When Turner moves out, Hurt returns to his childhood home where he meets an eccentric kennel manager played by Davis.
Davis Oscar win for The Accidental Tourist announced her arrival on the A-list despite never having starred in a hit movie.
In 1990, Davis returned to comedy opposite Bill Murray and Randy Quaid in Quick Change.
Quick Change is a heist movie co-directed by Bill Murray. The caper that opens the film is inspired. Murray poses as a lunatic dressed as a sad clown. His conspirators are already in the bank posing as hostages. Then, when the police demand that he release the hostages, he slowly releases them and himself to make their get-away.
Unfortunately, once the story leaves the bank Quick Change looses a lot of its momentum and turns into a bunch of stereotypes about New Yorkers. Murray and Quaid are both funny and Davis makes a great straight lady, but Quick Change never recaptures the energy of the bank heist.
Quick Change got mixed reviews and was ignored at the box office.
In 1991, Davis co-starred with Susan Sarandon in Ridley Scotts road pic, Thelma and Louise.
Thelma and Louise told the story of two best friends who take off on a road trip which goes awry when Thelma (Davis) is nearly raped in a bar parking lot. Louise saves her friend, but loses her temper and kills the would-be rapist. The two decide to make a run for Mexico. Despite the dark subject matter, Thelma and Louise mixed drama with action and humor.
Its easy to forget what a massive cultural impact Thelma and Louise had. It was actually a modest hit at the box office. But everyone was talking about it. Some saw Thelma and Louise as feminist icons. Many felt threatened by the image of two women armed with guns. The movie inspired heated debate.
The reviews were strong and Thelma and Louise received a lot of nominations at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes. Davis was nominated for both, but Silence of the Lambs reigned the awards season that year.
In 1992, Davis appeared in two movies. First, she starred opposite Tom Hanks, Lori Petty and Madonna in Penny Marshalls baseball dramady A League of Their Own.
A League of Their Own is best known for Tom Hanks No crying in baseball scene. At the time, Hanks was in something of a career slump. His supporting turn in A League of Their Own is part of what turned his career around.
But Davis was the star of the film. And its success cemented her role as a viable leading lady. With League, Davis had finally opened a hit movie on her own.
Later that year, Davis appeared in Stephen Frears media satire, Hero, opposite Andy Garcia and her Tootsie co-star, Dustin Hoffman.
Davis played a reporter who was injured in a plane crash. She and the rest of the survivors are rescued by a petty criminal played by Hoffman. But through a series of errors, Davis reporter credits Garcias war vet with the rescue. Comedy ensues.
Hero got mixed to positive reviews and made a small profit at the box office. But given the star power involved, it was largely viewed as a disappointment.
1994 was a rough year for Davis career. She released two films beginning with Angie. Angie was a comedy-drama based on the novel Angie, I Says about a pregnant woman who decides to raise her baby on her own. It bombed at the box office.
Later that year, Davis appeared opposite Michael Keaton in the political romantic comedy, Speechless.
Keaton and Davis played rival speech writers working on opposite sides of a campaign. The film, directed by Ron Underwood, got negative reviews and tanked at the box office giving Davis two bombs in one year.
In 1995, Davis appeared in Cutthroat Island, one of the most notorious bombs of all times.
Cutthroat Island was a 100-million dollar gamble on the pirate movie genre which prior to Pirates of the Caribbean had a spotty track record. The film, directed by Davis new husband, Renny Harlin, had difficulty attracting a male lead.
Originally, Michael Douglas was set to star in Cutthroat Island. But he left the picture claiming that Harlin was beefing up Davis role at the expense of his. After Douglas departure, the role was offered to just about every actor in Hollywood including Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Keanu Reeves, Tom Cruise, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jeff Bridges, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Keaton, Charlie Sheen, Liam Neeson, and Tim Robbins.
No one wanted to play second fiddle to Davis in a pirate movie. No one, that is, save for Matthew Modine. Matthew Modine was the guy you called when absolutely every other actor in Hollywood said, no. And he was about to star in a big budget pirate movie.
Cutthroat Island got horrible reviews. It was such an epic disaster that it contributed to Carlco Pictures filing for bankruptcy. It was a career embarrassment for all involved even Matthew Modine.
Many claim that Cutthroat Island ruined Davis career. While it certainly damaged Davis credibility as a leading lady, it couldnt have ended it. Because the very next year, Davis starred in The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Like Cutthroat Island, The Long Kiss Goodnight was also directed by Davis husband, Renny Harlin. Davis played a seemingly normal housewife who was actually an amnesic super spy. Essentially a female Jason Bourne before that franchise even started.
The film, which co-starred Samuel L. Jackson, got decent reviews and was a modest hit at the box office. There has even been talk of a sequel.
Following The Long Kiss Goodnight, Davis and Harlin divorced. Her next film wasnt until Stuart Little three years later.
In Stuart Little, Davis starred opposite a pre-House Hugh Laurie, a post-Jerry Maguire Jonathan Lipnicki and a CGI mouse voiced by Michael J. Fox. The family film about a mouse who gets adopted got good reviews and was a surprise hit at the box office.
In 2000, Davis retreated back to television with the ABC sitcom, The Geena Davis Show. It was not a hit and was cancelled after one season.
In 2002, Davis returned for Stuart Little 2. Despite solid reviews, the sequel didnt do as well as the first film. Davis would reprise her role again for the animated direct-to-video sequel, Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild in 2006.
Davis didnt appear in another movie until 2009′s Accidents Happen. She returned to TV again in 2005 for Commander in Chief for which she won a Golden Globe. Despite good reviews and decent ratings, Commander in Chief was cancelled after one season.
In 2012, Davis starred in the TV mini-series, Coma, produced by her Thelma and Louise director, Ridley Scott and his late brother, Tony Scott. But these days she seems to be focusing her attention on raising her children and pursuing her activist causes.
So what the hell happened? Well, despite the Oscar and being in a lot of successful movies, Davis was never really a proven box office draw on her own. When she finally had to carry a movie completely on her own, it was one of the biggest turkeys in box office history.
Cutthroat Island didnt sink Davis career. But it certainly hurt. In the wake of Cutthroat Island, Davis seems to have moved on to other things. She continues to work when it suits her.
