Natasha Richardson died today (local time. Wednesday night in North America).
How sad this news makes me surprised me. Yes, I am saddened by the loss of a wonderful actress, but the depth of how much came as a surprise. This news item genuinely depressed me. It's not just that her talent is now gone, that there will no longer be any opportunities to watch her onscreen, but she's also the woman who is married to Liam Neeson.
Good will is bestowed upon her family, obviously.
Godsdammit, I was waiting for her to make like her mother and show up with her sister on Nip/Tuck. That dream's gone. dammit.
It's a pity that so many people would know her name only now, and some might be assaholic enough to wonder why her accident and subsequent death even warrants mention on, say, CNN.
Looking at her list of movies, it is understandable that most people have not ever heard of Natasha Richardson (because most people are insipid). Unfortunately, the movie she was in that most people probably watched is fucking Maid in Manhattan. If you must, go with The Parent Trap. It has a pre-rehab/pre-Wilmer Valderrama Lindsay Lohan, and it pretty much sums up how people feel about Ms. Richardson.
Onscreen she is instantly likable, someone you can relate to. She is undoubtedly talented. And her acting is subtle, nothing that hits you on the head with. Sometimes you even forget that she's acting, which is strange, considering she's done solid theater work.
Oh, yes: she's got a frakking Tony award. She may have been nervous about taking on the role Liza Minnelli made famous, but when good talent takes on a good role... (or, as Mary Louise Parker described her work on Angels in America, it's the kind of role you get awards and recognition from, just by accepting the role.)
The first time I came across Natasha Richardson's work is in Nell, which I watched during my Jodie Foster-is-the-best stage. Her subdued, straight-man role as opposed to Crazy Jodie and Intense Liam in that movie was a brilliant counterpoint. Too bad it takes a lot of patience and studying to figure out that movie.
I don't know when I became a fan, or at least an avid supporter, but I wanted her to succeed so badly. I "allowed" her (or at least accept her appearance in it) to be in The Parent Trap because it's actually not a bad movie. I cringed when I learned she and Ralph Fiennes were both selling themselves short by being in Maid in Manhattan. I loved and worshipped her when I heard about Asylum (which I am still yet to find and watch), and I so badly wanted her to get recognized for her work in The White Countess (which was so Marchant-Ivory Oscar fodder, I still hate that it went released under the radar).
I am a fan of people with history, and the discovery that Natasha Richardson comes from the family Redgrave was something to mull over. When your parents are Oscar-winning actresses and directors, it's a surprise when you voluntarily go and act opposite your mother in a whole lot of things. But that's what she did, in theater and in movies (most recently, Evening, with the now-annoying Claire Danes). When she went and married Liam Neeson, thus stopping his serial dating of Hollywood actresses, let you know, this woman was something. Something.
I think, the one thing that stands out most, looking at this woman's work, is how varied and different her roles have been. The range of her roles defy typecasting, and it truly is a pity that not only will people no longer have the opportunity to see her work, but that there would be great roles that she would no longer be able to fulfill.
Sigh. Liam Neeson needs comforting.
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