Mariah Carey

Acting

Carey had participated in theatre workshops as a child and began to study acting again in 1997 http://www.mariahdaily.com/jun99.html with acting coach Sheila Gray, but it was not until 1999 that she made her big screen debut. The Bachelor, a romantic comedy starring Chris O'Donnell and Renée Zellweger, saw Carey in a cameo appearance as an opera singer and one of the ex-girlfriends of Jimmie (O'Donnell), who proposes to her, as he tries to find a woman to marry so he can inherit his father's fortune. Despite protests from the film's director, Carey insisted she do her own stunts for a scene where her character, Ilana, falls to the ground and plays dead in a performance of La Traviata but later came to regret it: after filming the scene "30 times over", she said, "My hips and legs hurted like hell and I had to walk all day with an ice-bag. I will never do that again." http://www.mariahdaily.com/may99.html Her demonstration of physical endurance was for nought as far as critics were concerned; Berge Garabedian called Carey's presence "distracting" http://www.joblo.com/bachelor.htm, Paul Tatara from CNN derisively said Carey's casting as a talentless diva was "letter-perfect" http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/9911/09/review.bachelor/, and Tony Lee simply stated "no, she can't act" http://movies.dowse.com/bachelor.html. Bill DeLapp, however, said Carey handled her part "with a brisk flourish, especially when her diva disses both Jimmy and their eminently forgettable relationship" http://newtimes.rway.com/films/bachelor.htm, and Rob Blackwelder commended Carey and co-star Brooke Shields for managing to "easily outshine" star Chris O'Donnell http://www.contactmusic.com/new/film.nsf/reviews/bachelor.

Related Topics:
Theatre - 1999 - The Bachelor - Romantic comedy - Chris O'Donnell - Renée Zellweger - Cameo appearance - Opera - Director - La Traviata - Critics - CNN - Brooke Shields

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Carey's first starring role was in Glitter, a 2001 film that had been in development as a vehicle for Carey since 1997. In it, she played Billie Frank, a struggling singer and songwriter who breaks into the music industry after she meets DJ Julian Dice (Max Beesley), and in many ways the film's storyline echoed Carey's own early career. Reviews were scathing; while Roger Ebert gave mild praise for Carey's performance, saying that "Her acting ranges from dutiful flirtatiousness to intense sincerity" http://web.archive.org/web/20020202201433/http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/2001/09/092301.html, most other critics panned it. Stephanie Zacharek called Carey "numbingly bland" in her role http://dir.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2001/09/20/glitter/index.html, and Michael Atkinson observed, "when she tries for an emotion?any emotion?she looks as if she's lost her car keys" http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0139,atkinson,28470,20.html. Mimicking the sales of the accompanying soundtrack album, Glitter was a box office failure http://www.boxofficeguru.com/092401.htm, and Carey, who "won" a Worst Actress Razzie Award for her trouble (her breasts additionally received Worst Screen Couple), has since referred to the film as "a diva moment" http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2005-04-12#celeb10.

Related Topics:
Glitter - 2001 - Development - DJ - Max Beesley - Roger Ebert - Razzie Award - For her trouble

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The film is often cited as one of the worst ever made.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Carey next appeared co-starring with Mira Sorvino and Melora Walters in the independent film WiseGirls, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2002 and received a standing ovation. Partly due to the fallout from Glitter, the film was not given a theatrical release http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/carey%20sad%20over%20wisegirls%20flop and went straight-to-cable in the United States, but those critics who saw the film lauded Carey for her efforts. Mick LaSalle proclaimed Carey as "just perfect" for the role of Raychel, a tough-talking waitress at an Italian restaurant run by mobsters http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/05/30/DD308699.DTL. Roger Freidman, referring to her as "a Thelma Ritter for the new millennium", said "her line delivery is sharp and she manages to get the right laughs" http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,42928,00.html. Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter predicted "Those scathing notices for Glitter will be a forgotten memory for the singer once people warm up to Raychel" http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1257566, while Variety said Carey displayed "charm and relaxed assurance" http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=upsell_review&reviewID=VE1117916757&categoryID=31&cs=1. The film's star, Mira Sorvino, was impressed as well: "She's very talented actually. I don't think people have yet given her credit as an actress, but they will when they see this" http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2002-08-16#celeb8. Producer Anthony Esposito, meanwhile, likened Carey to Cher, and went so far as to cast Carey in another film, The Sweet Science, about an unknown but talented boxer who is recruited by a determined female boxing manager http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1452473/20020220/nullcarey_mariah.jhtml. However, due to a bonding problem caused by the schedule for Carey's Charmbracelet tour in 2003, production was delayed, and the project remains stuck in development as of July 2005 http://lovemariah.com/news/2004/01/truth-behind-sweet-science.shtml

Related Topics:
Mira Sorvino - Melora Walters - Independent film - WiseGirls - Sundance Film Festival - 2002 - Thelma Ritter - The Hollywood Reporter - Variety - Producer - Anthony Esposito - Cher - The Sweet Science - Boxer - Bonding - As of July 2005

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the hip hop industry satire Death of a Dynasty, a Damon Dash film dismissed as "especially amateurish" by Elizabeth Weitzman http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/story/304555p-260635c.html, Carey had a cameo as herself. She followed this up with a small part in State Property 2, another film directed by and starring Damon Dash, as the spoiled girlfriend of a drug dealer played by Dash. Michael Rechtshaffen called Carey's two minute long appearance "notable" http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/reviews/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000882737 and Kathryn Dresher said she was "unsurprisingly perfect" in her role http://www.udreview.com/media/paper781/news/2005/04/22/Mosaic/Movie.Review.state.Property.2-933907.shtml,

Related Topics:
Hip hop - Satire - Death of a Dynasty - Damon Dash - State Property 2

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

but the film itself was met with mostly dreadful reviews http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/stateproperty2. Both films made it to theatres in 2005, but neither was given a wide release http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=deathofadynasty.htm http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=stateproperty2.htm; Death of a Dynasty had in fact been searching for a distributor since its premiere at the TriBeCa Film Festival in 2003 http://www.indiewire.com/onthescene/onthescene_030410deat.html.

Related Topics:
2005 - Wide release - TriBeCa Film Festival - 2003

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was announced in October 2003, and later June 2004, that Carey was to star in a theatre production on London's West End, a stage adaptation of the 1957 film The Prince and the Showgirl. Carey would play the role of a showgirl originated by Marilyn Monroe, and would also be given the opportunity to sing a song in the show. http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/0/768FF43D922003D280256DD0004E24B0?opendocument http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1488282/20040609/carey_mariah.jhtml?headlines=true http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,994469,00.html

Related Topics:
2003 - 2004 - London - West End - 1957 - The Prince and the Showgirl - Marilyn Monroe

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~