Do Bowie and Connelly really dislike Labyrinth?

[mupcollector1]

I've read that Labyrinth was her first acting role, so it would have been after.

This thread kind of reminds me of her acceptance speech when Jennifer Connelly got her first (and only?) Oscar. With all her happy crying, I kept thinking, "She's not acknowledging her work in Labyrinth???" Yeah, back then I was thinking too much about it, and taking it a bit too personally that she wasn't talking about Labyrinth when accepting an award for a different movie.

Yeah that's a shame. Especially the fact that Labrynth was her first lead role. And Jim Henson giving her that operationally. I would take that personally too myself. lol For example, Jim have Frank Oz his first directing operationally with co-directing The Dark Crystal which lead to where Frank is today (though I'm not sure if he's still directing movies or if he's just retired all together now except cameo rules on Sesame Street) but anyway whenever Frank wins an award or is interviewed, 90% of the time, he would mention how Jim got him where he was today. If he didn't have the oppertunaties directing and also The Muppets, I've heard he would have been a journalist. OH MY GOD, could you imagion! lol Anyway, I like seeing that. When people remember wonderful things Jim did for them, the oppertunaties and even creative freedom. It truely brings out Jim Henson's legacy.

 

[bandit]

I maintain the article is misrepresenting something that Jennifer Connelly or David Bowie said. It's easy to take something out context and put whatever spin you want on it.
For all we know, this is just some kind of 'telephone' syndrome.
I wouldn't worry about it at all. ^_^ They're wrong by any account I've seen.

 

[minor muppetz]

Yeah that's a shame. Especially the fact that Labrynth was her first lead role. And Jim Henson giving her that operationally. I would take that personally too myself. lol For example, Jim have Frank Oz his first directing operationally with co-directing The Dark Crystal which lead to where Frank is today (though I'm not sure if he's still directing movies or if he's just retired all together now except cameo rules on Sesame Street) but anyway whenever Frank wins an award or is interviewed, 90% of the time, he would mention how Jim got him where he was today.

There is a difference between Oz and Connelly, though. Oz had worked with Jim Henson for many years and is/was one of the few Muppet performers who even the general public would know the name of (I think this was even the case before he started his directing career), while Connelly only worked with Henson once (in addition to appearing in a Muppet Magazine to promote the film), albeit it's her first film role.

And I'm pretty sure Oz isn't retired from directing, though it seems it's been forever since he last directed a film (I think I've heard that he's directed a play recently). Though it seems he's only directed a handful of movies since his last Muppet performance.

Years ago I think I brought this up and somebody mentioned that production on one film could take a number of years (well, pre-production if it's live-action... I couldn't imagine a live-action film actually taking more than a year to shoot and can't imagine one being released years after filming ended), but then I saw an interview with Frank Oz where he basically said that he didn't need the money bad enough to direct a film with a terrible script (nevermind the fact that he could help make the film better by the time it comes out... Thinking back on this, maybe it's not surprising he judged The Muppets script by seeing one draft). And then I saw an interview where he mentioned that he has four daughters and had trouble balancing out being a performer, director, and spending time with his family (the same basic reason Brian Meehl swithced from performing to writing), and pointed out that he didn't really aspire to be a puppeteer in the first place. So I guess if he's not involved with a movie he's spending more time with his family.

It's interesting how Oz will often discuss his Muppet career along with his directing career, and apparently many reviews of his films mention his Muppet past, but the descriptions on the video boxes never point out that the director had performed with the Muppets.

 

[Plaid Fraggle]

As long as I like Labyrinth...don't give a care Haha. Interesting to hear, though, but that's about it--the context thing really is key!

 

[bandit]

I'd like agree with this 100%, Plaid, and I almost do except that if that HAD been true (which I will say again, I highly doubt) it would get under my skin. It's always in bad taste when an actor rags on their own movies in a non-loving way. There will always be horrible first films but they pave the way for them.
Obviously, I don't think Labyrinth qualifies as a terrible film because it's quite clever and kooky. I love it! I think a lot of people do. But let's just say that it HAD been one of those schlockmeisters, I would still hope they would have come away with it with a good attitude. Laugh, at least!

 

[VP Weirdo]

In response to this trend I googled old interviews with Jennifer Connelly and found these quotes from 2001 when she was promoting A Beautiful Mind. When talking about how having a son has changed her the way she works we got this exchange:

Has your son seen your films yet?​

No. He's seen the trailer for “A Beautiful Mind.” I think his dad showed him “Labyrinth” maybe, once. I wasn't there so I don't know what the reaction was. He saw the trailer and his response was, “You were really mean when you threw that glass at the mirror. Why did you do that?” Some of the movies that I've done recently have not been appropriate for him to see. And then a lot of the old movies, I would really rather not watch again, myself.​

Are you saying you don't want to watch “Labyrinth” anymore?​

No, I haven't seen that movie in a long time. I loved working on that movie. I loved everyone involved. It's funny looking at yourself. You know how it is when you look back at old pictures? It's just funny looking back at yourself walking and talking at age 14.​

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[Hubert]

For some reason I have the feeling that that exact interview VP Weirdo quoted was probably the basis for the Connelly-half of the fact in question...it makes sense how it could have got interpreted/misinterpreted.

 

[VP Weirdo]

For some reason I have the feeling that that exact interview VP Weirdo quoted was probably the basis for the Connelly-half of the fact in question...it makes sense how it could have got interpreted/misinterpreted.

Yeah, I kind of thought the same thing.
Certainly doesn't seem negative in context.

 

[bandit]

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing that, VP. See that's exactly what I mean. You can take any statement and totally change the meaning of it when you take it out of context. What Connelly said there is exactly the kind of thing I've always heard her say.

That's why in the media 'spin' is such an integral part of how you sell a story. SPIN is the thing, isn't it?

 

[minor muppetz]

And then a lot of the old movies, I would really rather not watch again, myself.

Are you saying you don't want to watch “Labyrinth” anymore?​

No, I haven't seen that movie in a long time. I loved working on that movie. I loved everyone involved. It's funny looking at yourself. You know how it is when you look back at old pictures? It's just funny looking back at yourself walking and talking at age 14.​

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I can't really understand what her "no" to not wanting to watch Labyrinth again is. Does she mean no as in she doesn't want to see that again, or no as in there's many old movies she would rather not watch again but Labyrinth is an exception? Confusing (and it's a shame we can't easily contact her on this subject).