Jennifer Jason Leigh too Attractive to play role

I don't think the point of Catherine is if her face was ugly. I think “unattractive” is not just the face, but all those insecurity and unworthy feelings of not loved by her father and always compared with her late mother. It was showing in her awkwardness and clumsiness. Because of that, she was very quiet and shy - till she fell in love with Morris. You can see how Catherine developed herself to confront her father – after the mountain and the kitchen scene – and the last scene where her father was about to die. I think Jennifer Jason Leigh played the role very well.

that child was pretty overweight

David Traversa
Lel513. You are absolutely right. If you saw the first version, ("The Heiress" with Olivia De Havilland), she was ravishingly beautiful (as was her sister Joan Fontaine in "Jayne Eyre" and "Rebecca" --two ugly ducking characters or just plain little things maybe, if you prefer--), but nevertheless played by two of the most beautiful women of the Hollywood establishment at the time. But that was the way with Hollywood movies, they sold GlAMOUR, with capital letters, and the farthest they went to uglyfy a face was to use a lighter shade of lipstick and only one pair of false eyelashes instead of four.
I too was shocked by the way she changed from infancy to young adulthood, but it's not that strange because in many cases the person looses the baby fat to become a willowing thing. Who knows, maybe she went into a strict diet of yoghurt and lemon juice or some other concoction. Remember that diets are something quite old within the human race.

I couldn't disagree more. I actually found it astonishing how such a beautiful woman was able to make herself so unattractive.

You're right, the overweight kid playing her is totally unconvincing as Leigh's younger self.

They should have replaced the kid- not her.

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I kind of had a hard time with that bit of the casting, too, in both movies. I love JJL's acting, and it is hard to think of her as being thought of as SUCH an unattractive person.

But, if thought was given to some other aspects in the casting (i.e., if it wasn't just about JJL or OH wanting the role, so they both got it), I wonder if the director thought that if the Catherine character was TOO ugly, that it would have distracted away from the rest of the story. People, unfortunately, may not have empathized with her plight as much due to the awful bias we have toward what society considers as 'ugly'. And, maybe the people who made these movies did not want that to happen.

Also, there is a thread of ambiguity that runs through the film. Is Morris truly in love or not? Is he really that self-centered and heartless -- this is hinted at throughout much of the film, and although he is an utter cad at the end, alot of viewers still want his and Catherine's relationship to survive. He has beauty, and so we may be blinded to his true character, while Catherine's father does NOT have beauty, which makes his character faults that much more evident. Maybe we are supposed to feel the same ambiguity toward the Catherine character, too -- maybe we are supposed to question somewhat whether she is really that unattractive.





"I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than..a rude remark or a vulgar action" Blanche DuBois

Agreed. The ending of this film was beautiful. As to JJL I thought she looked pretty unattractive especially if you compare her with ODH in the Heiress. However, in this film her father was particularly cruel to her and it wore her down and you couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She wasn't ugly but she was not what you would call desirable either.

She's not supposed to be "ugly" but, rather shy and not cleaver.

I don't remember the novel saying that she was very unattractive, but that she was dull and plain. I guess she wasn't very outgoing but I kind of agree .. I think Leigh was a bit too attractive to play the role.

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Well, Catherine is more geeky, awkward, shy and unfashionable rather than being physically ugly. And her father keeps comparing her to her mother which stifles any kind of spirit within her.

Since film is so visual, it would be easier for people to accept a non-beautiful actress in the role. But I think Leigh did well portraying the awkwardness of Catherine.