MovieChat Forums > Pretty Poison (1996) Discussion > Wendy Benson's Character Portrayal...

Wendy Benson's Character Portrayal...


wendy benson-landes is a horrible actress. i just watched this film last night and her character's acting was so annoying and irritating. i only watched it because i wanted to see how it turned out but she was ridiculous. i absolutely hated her "over the top girly, girl" acting. her voice and over annunciation was grating on my ears. and she didn't even resemble a convincing high school aged cheerleader. the casting dept sure could have done a lot better than this.

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I could not agree more!..she was horrible and should have her acting union card taken away from here

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Possibly the worst actress...ever! They must have just wanted someone who'd work for minimum wage (which is more than she's worth, as an actress).

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Just saw this the other day, and disagree completely. Other than a few minor things like she looked a little too old for the part, as did the actor playing Dennis, and the constant wearing of mini skirts seemed silly, I thought she was excellent in the role. And of course there was the strange recasting of the Azenauer character from a white male to a black female, which seemed stupid. And then the movie failed to take advantage of that change by having this female who works with disturbed people, use both those attributes to be the one person who saw through Sue Ann's miss innocent act.

But getting back to Wendy Benson. She was very adequately alluring and very believable as the pretty poison who was able to find flawed men and then bend them to her will. She was sweet and wild and kookie, and by the time she had ensnared them it was suddenly too late to realize just how strange she really was.

The only reason I can see why someone might consider Benson's portrayal flawed is that the character itself just might seem unbelievable to some. Though the character of Dennis or the portrayal of same seems to be the less conceivable one. He seems to be presented as too many contradictions. Too daring one minute, too pathetic the next.

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Just watched it on LMN. Didn't think she did a terrible job as others think. While I agree she looked a bit too old to be playing a high school Cheerleader. (I'm guessing Wendy was 26-27 when they filmed this movie.) she did a fine job as a manipulative Sociopath in training.

I liked this version because of the slightly updated '90's setting. I am a huge fan of the original. Can't believe Tuesday Weld said she thought she gave her worse performence and hated working on the movie! While Benson is no Anthony Perkins I liked his performence. as for being too daring or timid remember he came from a childhood of abuse. he really only snapped when Sue Anne triggered him or he was pushed to the brink. He still had a Heart unlike Sue Anne. Hard to believe Benson was 35-36 when he filmed the movie.

~I love the rhythm it is my methoood!~

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I'm watching this movie now, and to me, she's just annoying.

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