Jennifer Jason Leigh, in my-so-humble opinion, is not only an underrated actress but an underrated sex symbol as well. That may be because, unlike her better-known contemporaries, Jennifer has tended to take on darker roles, especially roles that involve darker sexuality. For instance, she was gang-raped in Last Exit to Brooklyn. She was abducted and had a torrid affair with her abductor in Flesh & Blood. She kissed Bridget Fonda at knifepoint and gave Bridget's boyfriend a rather disturbing BJ in Single White Female. Even in her fluffier roles like in the eighties teen classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High, while her co-star Phoebe Cates got all the accolades for her by-now-legendary topless pool scene, Jennifer's rather ample nudity in the flick has gotten nowhere near the accolades probably because, in her first "love" scene, her character loses her virginity while complaining how much it hurts and, in her second "love" scene, her character's sexual encounter leads to a pregnancy and an eventual abortion. Plus the fact that Jennifer actually looks like your typical teenager in the film unlike Phoebe who looks like Hollywood's version of your typical teenager. Even in her non-sexual roles, her performances can be memorably intense such as in the earlier-reviewed The Hitcher where she gets strapped to two semis and literally torn apart by her abducter played by Rutger Hauer (who also played her abducter/lover in the aforementioned Flesh & Blood). Regarding her sex symbol status (or lack thereof), Jennifer Jason Leigh is not considered to be as glamourous as, say, an Angelina Jolie or a Julia Roberts even though, as far as her acting capabilities are concerned, she's just as good as Jolie and Roberts and--again, in my-so-humble opinion--perhaps even better.
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