Streets of Fire

Some things written by Jeff Kelley, a man in Richmond, Va. He likes aircraft carriers but doesn't really know the intricacies of them (weight, length, etc.)

Gwyneth and Heads

We recently rented the movie Contagion and while I’ll say that it was rather slow and uninteresting (a pity rental), I was curious on why Gwyneth Paltrow chose to do this film. I’m not giving anything away by saying she dies because her death comes at the beginning, but there is a scene where, lying dead on a table, the autopsy-doer pulls her scalp down over her face to reveal her brain. It was super gross.

But then I remembered back to that movie Seven, and how Gwyneth’s head winds up in a box at the end, and I started to wonder: Why would such a great, pretty actress agree to doing another role where they have to cut into her head and face? I’m sure it hurt something awful when Kevin Spacey chopped off her head in Seven (not to mention he probably just nonchalantly tossed it in a box, so double ouch), so if I were her, in every new movie I was thinking of doing, I’d ask the obvious question of whether my head was subject to getting cut into or, worse, off.

Maybe the actors union has worked out a sweet getting-your-head-sliced-into/off bonus, but I’m not aware of one or what an actors union does in general (food related?). Taking a role that far must take a lot of dedication as an actor, but I guess some will go to great lengths for art. By the way, a diseased pig that indirectly touches Gwyneth is responsible for the global outbreak in Contagion and her scalp getting cut off. Sorry to ruin the stupid art for you.

  1. mrsbadcrumble said: I kept waiting for her to come back as a zombie to justify her name in the credits.
  2. jephkelley posted this