MovieChat Forums > Fertile Ground (2011) Discussion > Did you find the lead actress attractive...

Did you find the lead actress attractive?

posted 11 years ago by jtfriday2000
11 replies | jump to latest

There was a thread created here by some guy who said the director made the mistake of casting Leisha Haley because she was unattractive. Rather than resurrecting that thread, I wanna resurrect the topic. I didn't find her unattractive. But I was surprised to find that men and women who watched this movie felt they should have gotten a hotter chick for this movie. Was she that unattractive?

Horror movies today are mainly starring attractive women but only few times will the women get naked. Call me a lecher, but I don't get the point of always having a hot chick and almost never having her naked. You watch these horror movies and they'll have women dress in skimpy clothes while running through mud, grime, and dirt, yet their hair, makeup, and nails will still look good on them. How am I supposed to feel scared for these chicks when their makeup and hair are so perfectly in place?

I understand Leisha Haley isn't the hottest. But I felt having a regular chick without makeup was more realistic than having a chick who looks like she's going to a Victoria Secret photoshoot. Plus, Leisha got naked. Thumbs up for that. I just watched a flick called "It Waits" with Cerina Vincent on youtube. She was the least convincing forest ranger you could imagine. She was stuck in a ranger tower for days without running water and the same clothes, yet her hair, makeup, and nails were flawless, even after running through the mud and the rain. I kept wondering, "Is there a beauty salon in that forest?" It was just difficult for me to feel scared for her. What's worse, she had her boobs showing in skimpy tanktops and t-shirts all the time and she never got naked. What was the point of trying so hard to stimulate male audiences without showing skin?

All in all, I didn't care for Fertile Ground. It wasn't scary. But I commend the director for going in a different direction by hiring Leisha Haley and having her wear no makeup. And she also got naked. Plus, I am tired of the same old final girl ending where she kills the monster/slasher and walks away happily ever after.

What did everyone else think of Leisha Haley?
My sig: why do almost all movies on imdb have a "worst movie ever!" thread?

[–] moionfire-259-468629 11 years ago

She is average looking- not unattractive or attractive. But it shouldn't matter. Women don't exist for the visual pleasure of men.

[–] jtfriday2000 11 years ago

She is average looking- not unattractive or attractive. But it shouldn't matter. Women don't exist for the visual pleasure of men.

You misread my post. So I'll repeat myself.

Some months back, there was a thread called, "Note to the Director: never hire an ugly chick to star in your movie". The OP was a guy who felt Leisha Hailey was too ugly to play a lead role. Thus, he couldn't care about her. There were both men and women in that thread who agreed with him. The female posters were saying things such as,

--"I am a girl. And while I don't like the way the OP makes his statement, I agree that she wasn't attractive enough for the role."

--"I am a woman. And this may sound kind of bad, but the OP is right. The lead actress was definitely too ugly for the part."

--"I am a woman too. I was watching this last night with my hubby. Less than halfway through, I looked at my hubby and said, 'You know, they really should have gotten a more attractive woman to play the lead.'"

There was even a woman who was blasting at the OP because he felt calling her butt ugly was offensive. However, after the OP apologized somewhat. She sheepishly agreed with him, saying something like, "As an actress, she seemed good for the part. Physically, she wasn't right for the part."

I wish I could link that thread so you could see what people wrote. But the thread was deleted because it was deemed inappropriate.

So that's what I am asking. Do you think the lead actress was attractive enough for the role? I just want to see what people have to say about this. I don't wanna read stuff about women not existed for the visual pleasure of men. Let's stick to the movie, please.
My sig: why do almost all movies on imdb have a "worst movie ever!" thread?

[–] ganskacp 11 years ago

I found her kind of unattractive... do I think they "shouldve" casted someone more attractive? Not sure.

[–] sheepdog07 11 years ago

I think that her looks are toned down on purpose. They make her appear disheveled and frumpy. She is very attractive in The L Word and a few TV shows I've seen her in. They have her dressed down in plain clothes, oily hair and complexion, no make up and sickly looking through out the movie. Even Charlize Theron was dressed and made down and made to appear unattractive in a movie. If she was movie star hot through out the movie it would be hard to relate to her down word spiral and it would not elicit the right emotion from the viewers.

[–] willowtara 11 years ago

I agree with sheepdog7-she was very attractive in The L Word. Her hair is darker and she dresses like a 1960s housewife in this movie!
As mentioned, Charlize Theron did a complete turn around in Monster.
When I'm at home, I don't dress to impress-my cats don't mind how I look!

[–] davannacarter 11 years ago

I agree. When I'm alone at home, I don't dress to impress. But a lot of the time she wasn't home alone. Even when she was having friends over she looked washed out.

[–] davannacarter 11 years ago

If she was movie star hot through out the movie it would be hard to relate to her down word spiral and it would not elicit the right emotion from the viewers.

I don't necessarily agree here. If she had been made to look attractive, I still would have been sympathetic.

[–] MadRotaryOne_DDCgod 10 years ago

I think you and maybe some others here are totally missing
the OP's point, what he is saying makes sense, its not just
like getting a model, it would be like if they made to have
their hair, nails, makeup, etc to be perfect all the time,
it would be hard to imagine someone going through all of this
stuff in this house and also to have her, or someone else,
have her face all put together all the time, like she must not
be that bad off if she has time to fix herself up all the time.

I also am watching this, into the third act,
and while she was on the phone with a friend hysterical about
the bad goings on lately. I came here to find out if anyone
else found her voice absolutely annoying where she was upset,
it sounded nasally and just had a bad tone to it, the director
should have spoken up and either gotten her a vocal coach, or
maybe played with the sound mix. maybe slowed it down a bit
to make it sound deeper or something, I am not a sound guy.

[–] davannacarter 10 years ago

I actually had to watch the movie twice because I fell asleep during the middle of it the first time I watched it. How did you like the movie? I found it tedious beyond belief. I just find a lot of these psychological horror movies garbage. They don't have any suspense. A horror movie doesn't need gore to be good. But if there's going to be little gore then there needs to be an element of suspense throughout the entire movie. There were long stretches throughout this movie where it felt more like a drama than a thriller/horror movie.

[–] fluffchop 9 years ago

No I didn't find her attractive.

---
Scientologists love Narnia, there's plenty of closet space.

[–] DodgersRule 8 years ago

I thought she was very pretty wearing the white dress during the party -- even with the wine stain.