Dianne Wiest: An Appreciation Thread

PEEDOFILE ENAYBELLER!

I've only seen her in one movie, Hannah and her Sisters, and I really liked her. Unique look, talented actress.

(I hope we're still allowed to reference Woody Allen movies.)

She was heartbreaking in Independence Day

SAY HELLO TO THE NIGHT! LOST IN THE SHADOWS! LOST IN THE LONELINESS!

I first saw her in Parenthood and became an instant fan.

She had some amazing one-liners in Parenthood. That scene where she finds out she's going to be a grandmother is priceless ("I was at Woodstock, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!")

Didn't she go bankrupt a few years ago?

i would put Estelle Parsons also in her category::::actresses we just love/admire, as when she was in Rachel Rachel with joanne woodward, as the marvelous repressed dyke schoolteacher. riveting...

Diane's flix with woody were awesome. could deliver a line conveying both strength and heartbreak simultaneously.. .. not easy. (hannah and her sisters !)

I love her in Jodie Foster's "Little man Tate" but her character was so pushy and pretentiously annoying I'm that film. WHAT happened to the kid who played Fred in that movie?

I agree...she's talented and underrated even though she was in many of my favorite films from my childhood like "Edward Scissorhands" and "Parenthood" I always forget about her.

Dianne has had quite a career from stage to film to TV, lots of accolades and deserved awards. I don't think she ever gives a bad performance. R6, I don't think she went broke a few years ago, but there was an interview in the NY Times where she bemoaned the high cost of living in NYC for a working actor - she questioned being able to stay in the city and remain financially solvent (I think that was the gist of her feelings). Does anyone know why she lasted just one season on Law & Order? I thought casting her as the new DA after Adam Schiff was brilliant.

Can we really call somebody who's won the Academy Award "underrated"?

Agree, though, that she's marvelous.

According to the made-for-TV movie Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story - and who could doubt the source - Dianne had an affair with Woody while he was dating Mia.

Don't Speak. Don't Speak.

Two Academy Awards, R10, tow.

And she was totally hilarious as an aging, manipulative gangster moll in Coocky. It was the same year she was nominated for Parenthood, and while she deserved that nomination, she should have been gotten it for the former film.

She's been starring in a hit sitcom on CBS for the past three seasons.

She's wonderful in everything I have seen her in, but Bullets Over Broadway is probably my favorite.

^ agree, she's perfection in that. Even though "Hannah" is perfection as a movie.

She lived or maybe still lives on the Upper Weist Side. Perhaps o Weist End Av.?

R8, he's a tv writer now.

....and The Lost Boys.

I'm with R3......I like her in 1983's INDEPENDENCE DAY as the abused wife of Cliff DeYoung......the look on her face when she takes her revenge on him is fascinating.

got my 1st glimpse from Hannah and Her Sisters. have been a fan ever since.

She’s also great in RADIO DAYS, one of my favorite Woody Allen movies.

Wow I forget she was in that R21. Great film.

But Mia is Bitch r11

She pretended to be friends with Mia Farrow, while sleeping with Woody behind her back

Brilliant... among my all time favorite scenes from any movie.

Whaaaattttt? Why that is ridiculous, r24 Everyone know Woody only sleeps with underage girls. Anyway, Mia is STILL bitch

She was adorable as Whoopi's Sidekick in The Associate!

When is she going to apologise for working with Woody?????

She has Oscars = NOT underrated. She was also on the hit show IN TREATMENT for years, in addition to work others have mentioned here. And she won an Emmy for that.

Apparently we need a GoFundMe for Dianne...

Her agent was her boyfriend for a long time, Sam Cohn of ICM.

R19 in an old late-nite ‘lookback’ interview on TNT the late Corey Haim said that if he had to choose a different mother figure he’d have chosen Dianne, just as she acted with him together in THE LOST BOYS.

Life in Pieces on Amazon Prime is excellent. It's one of the few shows that properly makes me laugh. Dianne is great in it as are the rest of the cast.

Brilliant actress, no doubt about that.

But she had a rather self-destructive long term relationship with married super agent (and fugly) Sam Cohn throughout the 80s. At that time he also repped and juggled Meryl Streep and Kate Nelligan.

Gues who won?

In spite of the Oscars and Emmys she would be considered "underrated" because NO ONE beyond a few dozen DLers have ever heard of her.

I mean, we're not talking about Norma Shearer or some long ago forgotten glamour queen but a constantly working actress most people couldn't ID in a line up.

Hmm, I don't know R35. I don't think not being a household name = being underrated. I think millions of people would know her face. Those Law & Order episodes are still in syndication.

Does anyone know why Dianne was part of Law & Order for just one season? I liked the character, enjoyed her work on the show.

She is one of my favorite actresses and R21, Radio Days is one of my all-time favorite films as well. One of Allen's best ensemble casts with a coherent story line. That period of Woody's work is pretty teerific... B'way Danny Rose, Purple Rose of Cairo, Zelig, Radio Days.

She’s squinty eyed. She’s the poor man’s Renee Zellwegger

[quote]r34 At that time he also repped and juggled Meryl Streep and Kate Nelligan.

Di may have got Sam, but guess who Babs cast in [italic]The Prince of Tides?[/italic]

R10 yes you can.

What does "underrated" mean? If it's the definition of someone who is not appreciated enough for their good work, then Wiest could be the dictionary's illustration of the word. And the fact that she's won 2 Oscars only confirms the definition, not denies it.

I sat across from her on a downtown 1 train a couple years ago. She got off at Franklin. She seemed very low key. She definitely wasn’t going for that moment in Soapdish when Sally Field’s character went to the mall for the sole purpose of being recognized and feted by fans. She was reading a paperback about mental illness.

She worth the nervous breakdown you will have making it through most of Synecdoche, New York for her brilliant performance at the end of the movie. Love her. I have always loved the Wiest, Steenburgen, Sandy Dennis type of actress.

[quote]R41 What does "underrated" mean? If it's the definition of someone who is not appreciated enough for their good work, then Wiest could be the dictionary's illustration of the word. And the fact that she's won 2 Oscars only confirms the definition, not denies it.

She is rated very highly. She is applauded. But actors are not usually chosen for film and TV (or even theater) based on talent alone. I do not know what would give you that impression.

In addition to her age, she is not a commercial type, and is so unique (her unconventional looks included) that she falls outside the boundaries of what women are usually hired to do in mainstream projects.

I think R41 does not understand that for most people, winning awards, getting good reviews, working steadily, getting respect, and getting praise are being "appreciated."

Should we do a list of actresses who were sexually involved with Joe Papp? Weist and Masterantonio lauched their careers that way.

Were there others?

[quote]She was reading a paperback about mental illness.

She plays a psychologist on "Life in Pieces." I'm assuming that show films in LA -- has she relocated or does she just stay out when she's working?

R47, there was a piece in the NY Times a number of years ago where Wiest talked (or complained?) about how she couldn't make ends meet in NYC, correct? Now that she's got "Life in Pieces", I wonder if she's feeling more secure...

I love her soothing line delivery.

The Birdcage. Not a fan of the film but I adored her performance.

His adorable

Sense of humor

Suggests

Exciting sex!

What's wrong you with?

Loved her in Edward Scissorhands. She was PEG in that one

She baked a blueberry pie on stage at Playwrights from rolling out the dough to mixing the innards to placiing it in the oven. Amazing.

So glad she’s back

R53, she was terrific in EDWARD SCISSORHANDS.

Has Dianne had troubles paying her rent recently?

I saw her performing in Madison Square Park a few years ago and she was mesmerizing. (Not my video)

I've always loved Dianne Wiest. Sadly, outside of the Woody Allen films she was in, she has largely been typecast as the perky, sweet sidekick or wife.

Don't. Don't speak.

My stupid little rolling skating joke. I hate April, she's pushy.

She was quite wonderful in Happy Days...

I loved the high camp, The Associate with cameos by Bebe Neuwirth; Lanie Kazan; Don Amici; (Trigger warning) Trump.

She was excellent in the Rabbit Hole opposite Nicole Kidman

Wasn't Sam Cohn repping Sigourney Weaver in the 80s too?

Nelligan was talented and was brilliant onstage in PLENTY (much better than Streep in the movie), but she had all the warmth of an igloo.

I thought it was Sally Field in Edward Scossorhands until years later.

Diane was also good in "Rabbit Hole".

I recently watched Independence Day (it's uploaded on YouTube), only to have the film cut off before the finale.

So ... she kills him?

A friend of mine worked on Rabbit Hole, r66. She couldn't say enough good things about Wiest.

R59 right? I’d love to see her in a dark twisted part where she can just go apeshit.

Sick of Dionne Warwick threads

[quote][R59] right? I’d love to see her in a dark twisted part where she can just go apeshit.

She gets to say CUNT in I Care A Lot

I loved her in Footloose.

I saw her on Broadway in Othello with James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer. She was terrible, the most whiny Desdemona I’ve ever seen. Kelsey Grammer should have smacked the hell out of her and finished the show playing Desdemona.

Fortunately, I’ve seen her in many things since and she has redeemed herself admirably.

R63 Minus the Trump cameo, The Associate is actually a lot of fun but I think made before it's time due to its feminist message.

According to this 2019 LA Times profile she didn’t have to leave NYC, just downsize to another neighborhood (which I guess for some people is just as traumatic). She left L&O because she adjust well to the dynamics of joining an established TV franchise.

I wonder if the quasi-secret relationship between her and Woody is why Dylan didn’t “call out” Dianne like she did other actresses who have worked with him (Diane K and Cate B). I also doubt Dianne or any of his other actors were very friendly with Mia.

**did not adjust well

[quote]She left L&O because she adjust well to the dynamics of joining an established TV franchise.

I wonder what that means? Did she have problems having a different director each week? Did the already established cast members not clue her in to their private jokes? What does that mean really?

Hard to say exactly, R47, I was just summarizing/paraphrasing from the article. She called the experience “a nightmare” but then went on to say how she demanded that the character she replaced be rewritten to suit her. She concluded by saying in retrospect she didn’t realize that when you get on a tv show like L&O you don’t mess with a successful formula. I took all that to mean that she was used to working with quirky directors and doing theah-tuh and didn’t realize what she was getting into with L&O.

Argh I meant R77

I loved her in Edward Scissorhands when she enters the house, climbs those daunting stairs and keeps saying "Avon calling, is anyone home?"

I'm always so surprised when she plays someone very loud or broad or scary. She's so good at playing meek that it really takes you by surprise when she develops a backbone and stand up for herself. That's range right there.

Anyone who has seen I Care a Lot just got a great reminder of how good Wiest is. It's a tricky performance, but she pulls it off beautifully. The movie would have been a lot better had it used her more.

r71 That was the only part of that movie I liked, the rest was a little crock of cunt.

R73 You are confused. Kelsey Grammar appeared in Macbeth not Othello and Shannon John played Desdemona in the Christopher Plummer/James Earl Jones Othello.

r84, you're confused. I still have my Playbill. Wiest was Desdemona, Grammer played Cassio.

R85 Sorry I did confuse it with the production at Stratford which featured Plummer and Jones but, not Grammar or Wiest.

Wonderful actress. I loved her in Parenthood. A well-deserved Oscar nomination.

Thought we covered this already on DL?

Dianne Wiest lives on UWS on Broadway just across from The Apthorp in an apartment she was (allegedly) struggling to keep up.

I lost all respect for her after that article in which she complained about the cost of living in NY. I worked in Manhattan for 20 years and I lived in the outer boroughs or Westchester all that time. I was not a 9-5 person either, I worked long hours. I put up with the commute because it was what I could afford.

Plus, she's a fucking carny, she's not saving lives, educating children, or brokering world peace. Get over yourself.

"He's still just a man."

I think she was Robt Redford's mother in The Horse Whisperer(??)

Apparently she clashed with Foster during the making of Little Man Tate - not a happy work relationship there.

She also used to flirt with Woody Allen and rumour has it that Mia Farrow got so pissed on the set of Radio Days that she threw something at Dianne. Can't remember what it was supposed to be but it probably isn't even true anyway given that Dianne appeared in September for Woody Allen two years later.

“Merci Docteur Rey“ is still my favorite for her code switching. She plays with expected melodious, soft voice as well as full-throated froggy blare, and then relaxes into a flat Midwestern tone.

I may not be as vulnerable as Mrs Coleman, but I still have feelings. Someone had to like me best! (sob)

Loved her in Edward Scissorhands. She was so sweet and nurturing. We should all have a mother like that.