The Forgotten Legacy of Brittany Murphy

excuse me yes i would like a children's perspective what is your name brittany brittany how you doing today brittany great how are you very good you want a job posting a television show sure you seem to have like a good personality so brittany where are you from edison edison and you come to the fairview yes yes you want to say hello anything's out there brittany murphy was 12 years old at the time that this video from new jersey natives carl sylvester and rick scunnheim was shot not too long after it was recorded she would successfully convince her mother to move to la so she could start an acting career one that would be versatile and rewarding but also arduous and painful through it all she persevered this is about how her one-of-a-kind talent wasn't and still hasn't been respect it the way it deserved to be [Music] being in entertainment wasn't britney's bones she dreamt of becoming an actress and a broadway star for years she idolized diana ross and barbra streisand and clara beau later when she got a dog she would actually name it clara when she was old enough she started taking dance lessons in edison new jersey and when she was 9 years old she starred in her first musical really rosy she was young and her move to los angeles was still a few years away but she had a plan the night of the play a local news network interviewed her and she laid out her big aspirations i'm going to get an agent and do commercials in work in new york then i'm going to move to los angeles be in movies in hollywood and then come back and do broadway then i'll probably have a huge musical career i'm going to change the world and what did she do she went to new york and hired a manager and started to do commercials the very commercials she said she would it's the new beverly hills 90210 collection did you see what brandon was wearing yeah i helped him put it on she moved to la with a chaperone in 91 but after doing a lot of auditions that went nowhere she called her mom and asked her to move out to ellie with her her mom sold all the furniture and left her job to join brittany in california and then one week later brittany would land her first tv series oh tell me good bad what i'm trying to impress somebody what do you think why don't you just drop the costume and be yourself honey that's a chance i would never take drexel's class was a sitcom about an ex-corporate raider who has to teach elementary school as part of his suspension after he's got dodging taxes not the most interesting show no but who cares britney would play the youngest of his two daughters it was her first experience on a sitcom and she was already a natural drexel's class didn't last very long the show was marred by subpar writing and low viewer ratings not even tupac and digital underground could save it oh bad signing knows for sure but that didn't deter britney she would do an episode the kids incorporated a show used as a vehicle to showcase the singing and dancing talents of kids the episodes had loose plots that were written around musical interfaces brittany never made it to being part of the recurring cast she was only in one episode season 8 episode 3. she played celeste a girl who has to cancel her birthday party after her father gets laid off from his job in 1993 the same year she would book her second tv show her first movie appearance would happen in a drama called family prayers she plays a girl who the main character rejects during a game of spin the bottle the role wasn't a speaking card but it was hard not to be drawn to her in the scene her big brown eyes so magnetic and full of life were impossible not to fall into the show she would be part of that year was a spin-off of the torkelson's tv series almost home i'm gonna need some room for my clothes in this closet hey those are my clothes i wouldn't brag about that if i were you unfortunately this show was also short-lived but for brittany it was only the beginning between 93 and 95 she would have guest spots on a range of different shows from party of five you know uh jason's parents leave in town tomorrow and nina we're thinking about doing something if you're interested to sister sister around this time she was also in a music group called blessed with soul there are no official recordings of their music but there is surviving footage of one of their performances from 1993. this didn't last much longer either and to any other young actor they may have thrown in the towel but brittany never did majority of the films brittany did during this period throughout the 90s were small budget independent films that after premiering at film festivals didn't always see the light of day until years later clueless would be her first mainstream studio film the 1995 classic is often credited for being britney's big break into the industry but it still took a while thereafter for her career to pick up steam when it was over she did more tv guest spots including one on the clueless tv series a few thrillers and a tv movie called double jeopardy she played a character named julia who was murdered by a policeman twice her age after bearing his child it was your standard lifetime original cry movie but naturally britney gave it something [Music] extra [Music] she did this with every movie or show she was in she could give the flattest characters the fullest life and make it all look so easy she got her first leading role as reba in the dark comedy zack and riva opposite sean patrick flannery fun fact this movie also featured debbie reynolds who recalled the production in her memoir unsinkable she said britney was a dear but she didn't get to work with her that much and that flannery was difficult to work with because he was a wannabe james dean who refused to do rehearsal and that is why murphy mcmanus was the better twin guys toward the end of the 90s is when her career got really interesting she took on dark comedies like drop dead gorgeous she played the second lead in the oprah produced remake of the 1962 film david and lisa opposite lucas hass she showed her dramatic chops with the historical drama the devil's arithmetic and she did her first broadway show opposite alison janney for a view from the bridge what you don't like you like it yeah at the tail end of the decade she would become best known for her portrayal as daisy in the james mann gold film girl interrupted jesus get out get out all right don't take advantage just cause she's new pony up some value get the [ __ ] out of calling valerie valerie yeah yeah why don't you why don't you call valerie let's call valerie and ask her for some co-likes just like suzuki's got her [ __ ] hand she had also started doing voice work on the award-winning animated tv series king of the hill as luanne and like 15 other characters but you can trust us we will tell you when you're hungry we will tell you when you're tired will you tell me if i have to go to the bathroom right now because i feel like i do but a lot of times when i get there i don't and i just sit there and hug no most of the films she did post clueless were still supporting roles she never really got to play the lead that often brittany would later say that as a brunette she struggled to get acting jobs and yet even when forced to the sides of the screen she couldn't help her catch her eye she wouldn't land a leading role in a studio film until the year 2000 when she starred in the subversive horror cherry falls there wasn't a whole lot said about this movie upon its release it had a few positive reviews but it still kind of went quietly into that good night falling under the shadow of more popular horror films like final destination part of this was because it was given a tv release in the us as opposed to a theatrical one and it had little promotion as time has passed though people have been able to appreciate it it's a story about a small town that's disrupted by a serial killer who was only murdering virgins so everybody starts [ __ ] if they weren't already it's clever and britney is absolutely stellar in it i would say more about this one but honestly it could be a whole video on its own so just know that it's great in 2001 she would act in sidewalks of new york the edward burns directed comedy i introduced myself how are you doing hi hello so i don't know it seemed obvious to me that uh that there was something special between us really sure when was that while i was pouring you your coffee right there was that and then it was morning behind the moment you were behind the counter and i i looked at you smiled at me again so if you're so into me why did you only leave me at 50 cent's hip then it doesn't make any sense burns who had only known murphy from her work on clueless admitted that he didn't really consider casting her initially i knew britney from clueless quite honestly i couldn't see casting her at first then i saw a girl interrupted and a clip reel of some scenes clearly this is an actress who can do anything she's one of those talents that is a real chameleon she was able to be vulnerable without playing the victim i don't know how you do that but she does summer catch and don't say a word both of which are subpar movies were made more memorable by her small appearances in them the most riveting part of the name thriller don't say a word is when her character elizabeth burrows is supposed to deliver the line i'll never tell in the script there was no specification on how to deliver this line exactly and brittany who was always approaching scenes in different ways and never did the same thing twice improvised singing the line instead elizabeth what who wants i'll never tell [Music] i'll never tell any of you she was something of a creative genius like that something that no one around her seemed to appreciate film critics often dismissed her casting directors thought she was just ditzy and amongst the actors in her cohort she always seemed to be taken less seriously even though she proved time and time again that she had the range what are we talking about range we're talking about range man my daughter's a [ __ ] my daughter's a trip my daughter's a trap you're 15 years old how can you do this to me you make me sick to my stomach why don't you just take my gun take my gun and shoot me in the head with the [ __ ] i wish that you were never born gary fleeter the director of don't say a word had this to say i would compare her to edward norton they're both incredibly smart highly gifted actors who are very instinctual i don't think i've ever seen her repeat herself on screen and like edward norton she can play a lead with ease but also do great character work you can't predict who's going to be a star no one can but she exudes so much humanity i see her right up there it wouldn't be until 2002 when eight mile the semi-autobiographical film about eminem premiered that people started to take notice brittany was made to audition three times before she actually got the part and when she did she underwent six weeks of intense rehearsal but she loved every minute of it alex her character in eight mile is a total deviation from anything she had done previously years down the line brittany would confide in robert allen akerman the director of the roman girl that people only ever wanted to cast her as either cute or crazy alex was neither she was sultry she was mischievous and under britney's command she became real that was britney's greatest talent of all she could act and she could sing and she could dance but her greatest talent was that she did all of that in a way that made it seem like she wasn't performing at all she delivered her lines like she was thinking of them on the spot she captured cassavetes dialogue outside of cassavetes it's a skill very few actors possess eight mile would boost her career in a big way britney said herself that it was a lot to get used to people knowing her first and last name in a way they suddenly did she would get advice from winona ryder one of her closest friends since they met on the set of girl interrupted noni has basically been through everything a zillion times over something as simple as dressing classy in pictures she'll advise me on it i've never said anything about it in the print before because it's weird to talk about a friend but she's really there for me and my ultimate mentor and still she wasn't fully prepared for the kind of limelight she was in constantly scrutinized and if people weren't paying attention to her work before eight mile after eight mile was worse in a way while it gave her more leading roles it also made her subject to tabloid rumor unconcerned with the career she was aiming for or the career she had people asked her questions about who she was dating did she date eminem and and uh what now is there was there was there romance here actual not big screen romance but you know what i'm saying why dave i'd never kiss and tell well okay but you don't need it but you know for example uh was there did you uh what characters were romantic interests in the film they were uh they were love interest in the film i understand that but off i'm talking about i'm talking about off the silver screen yep yeah what yep yeah yeah sure really yeah yeah sure and how did how how did that go but but no no i i know it's none of my business but i and and i don't mean or america i don't mean to all right you want me to change the subject don't you sir yeah uh what not but when she co-starred opposite ashton kutcher in the romantic comedy just married was she dating him years later when she would have a few career setbacks articles were pinned about her quote unquote downfall on a popular walt disney forum an anonymous user posted about britney's departure from the 2008 tinkerbell film and wrote in hollywood you're only as good as your last picture or your last boyfriend in both cases brittany murphy became as cold as a cucumber brittany was a seriously passionate performer who came into the industry at an unfortunate time she wanted not only to be famous but to be taken seriously as an actress the industry has never been kind to women the climate of hollywood in the 2000s was especially violent and cruel britney's career had been noticed and boosted as she entered the 2000s just as celebrity culture was transforming into the hyper-invasive monster it's become known for it just wasn't fair britney hit her career peak in an era in which celebrity coupled him became its own form of currency wherein the glossy groping bodies of jennifer lopez and ben affleck spilled over every tabloid cover cutesy portmanteaus became a gossip editor's raisin deathr and any man within spitting distance of brittany murphy was an eligible would-be lover in 2003 britney was interviewed by her riding in cars with boys co-star drew barrymore her interview magazine drew posed the question what is your idea of perfect happiness the thing i'm learning right now is self-preservation over the past year i've discovered if you keep on giving and giving you end up losing yourself i think that learning to give and receive is the trick i think the key to happiness is allowing ourselves to not feel bad or guilty for feeling it and letting it be contagious and to not be dependent on other people to create your own happiness britney never got the career she wanted the career she undoubtedly deserved she had way too much talent to be relegated to playing the one-dimensional character she was usually given as a testament to her ability to breathe life into everything even those characters without nuance became nuanced with her performance she disappeared into her characters if you've been watching my videos for a while you probably noticed how much i mentioned roger ebert he became my favorite film critic when i was a kid not because of how he wrote about movies although he did write about them eloquently no the thing that mattered most at that age to me was that he seemed to be the only film critic who saw britney's brilliance the way i saw it and he saw it while she was alive and to me a girl who loved her in pretty much everything and was devastated after her death that really meant a lot well in the first place i think britney murphy is a great deal more talented than some people do i wouldn't compare her with marilyn monroe who is incomparable but she has a similar ability to draw our eyes to her segment of the screen even when the action is ostensibly elsewhere she does this not with sex appeal but with life force she has the quality of seeming immediately there on the screen opened a possibility unrehearsed unstudied natural appealing she hasn't had the roles yet to prove it but she is a born movie star and that she was her role in uptown girls is one of the best roles of her career she acts opposite dakota fanning as molly the daughter of a dead rock star who has never learned to grow up when she loses all of her inheritance she has to start facing real life which includes getting a job as a nanny to the uptight too old for her age ray get a broom you get a freaking room when you work for me you leave when i say you can leave for your information i do not work for you i am employed by your mother oh yeah take a look around do you see her anywhere news flash you're not gonna unless you make an appointment with her assistant or hang around her bedroom door at three o'clock in the morning in the meantime you're working for me oh is that so uh-huh news flash mussolini i quit swinging door the movie was far from a commercial or critical success and to anyone during that time this would look like just another flop but over the years it has become a staple of slumber party theater or sweep over cinema if you will the chemistry between britney and dakota was undeniable and the casting was the thing out of fairy tales because dakota was a precocious child and you could buy into the idea that she was a kid who didn't know how to be a kid who grew up too fast and britney with her bubbly personality and her wide-eyed whimsy she perfectly fit the image of someone who's so in love with life everything seems fantastical and dreamy even when it's so clearly not when you look back on this experience let's say 10 years from now aside from the fact of the friendships and all of that what one thing are you going to remember most about oh yes when we made uptown girls i'll never forget ten years from now being able to say you said ten years yes like what will even a double impression will be dakota because i can't wait to see her grow i i love watching her grow and i can't wait to see where she'll be in 10 years she's 19. i just can't oh my she proceeded to act in sin city love and other disasters and the indisputable masterpiece happybeat in which she finally got to sing to be fair she did sing occasionally in other films like riding in cars with boys [Music] and little black book but happy feet was the first time she got to sing as herself and she blew george miller away oh baby he had no idea she could sing most of the public didn't know but people who worked with her knew because she sang on set all the time as kira maliki sanchez recalls of the time he spent with britney on the set of cherry falls she and i had this scene coming up and she was walking down the hall and i could hear this booming sort of ella fitzgerald voice i had no idea who was singing and she rounds the corner and she's this tiny little thing with these big eyes carrying this giant voice it said an awful lot that she was a little bit in her own world singing this dreamy thing and only for herself she had been looking for a project where she could do some powerful acting and some powerful singing for a long time happy feet was perfect and there had been a janice joplin biopic in the works she auditioned with this rendition of me and bobby mcgee that blew everyone away and she won the part but unfortunately the production fell through and she was heartbroken and still there was the media quite suddenly after years of directors and co-stars deeming her a joy to work with and a brilliant collaborator she was branded as being difficult her director unabandoned one of her last films recalled the first day he met brittany i went into her trailer and she just came up to me with those britney murphy eyes and just gave me a big hug and said thank you so much for having me before i could say thank you for being part of it it was the sweetest thing it hurts me to hear all the salacious stuff because my experience with britney was really one of my best experiences with an actress the d for difficult has been the scarlet letter used to shun and banish actresses from the industry since the dawn of hollywood for some actresses it has merely stalled their careers and for others it ends them completely for black actresses in particular being branded is difficult can be an absolute death sentence it's been speculated that this sudden change was because of the tabloid journalism that churned out story after story about her the tabloids tore her apart if she gained weight when she lost weight they tore her apart for being too thin and then alleged that her weight loss was due to drug use they called her a coke addict so often that britney had to finally address it in 2005 saying that she never touched cocaine and that she didn't know where the rumors were coming from but it was too late the rumor was enough for studios to brand her as a liability and the work dried up brittany was never caught with drugs no one had ever seen her doing drugs there wasn't even the slightest bit of evidence that she was using cocaine her once adored personality her fast way of talking and her natural gittiness was condemned as being proof that she was a user it would have been bad to attack her this way if she'd been using drugs but it was a little worse because she wasn't in 2016 it was reported that there was no traces of illegal drugs or alcohol in her system and no history of abusive drugs they attacked her for every little thing straight up lied about her affairs and as a result it was hard for her to get work because she was quote a bad look it isn't far-fetched to presume the tabloids and the people behind them played a hand in the setback of her career and after her career was set back they blamed her for it perez hilton was gleeful to talk about britney's career on his website he called her a kook said she looked old called her desperate and a hat's been there was even an snl sketch in which abby elliott played and inebriated and confused britney murphy who had to be told it wasn't 2003 because the joke is that's when she was last relevant it was reported this week that actress brittany murphy was fired from her upcoming film the caller for being a detriment to production and oh no [Music] brittany murphy seth i'm really honored to be here hosting saturday night live no brittany you're not hosting yeah keep in mind just because she wasn't doing major motion pictures it wasn't like she wasn't getting work but that didn't seem to matter to anyone she was essentially driven out of hollywood and then laughed at for not being able to hack it in 2008 brittany was leaving a fashion show when photographers and reporters flocked to her according to the cut magazine britney refused an interview with one reporter by gently placing a hand on the girl's arm and saying not for that magazine your magazine hurt my life britney quickly took it back and told the girl it wasn't her magazine after all while reporters saw this as her being all over the place he can't help but wonder if it was one of the few times she tried to stand up for herself and felt immediate regret she could probably see the articles that would be pinned after this incident that she was a [ __ ] that she was difficult so she apologized right after this she begged a photographer to retake a photo that she feared was ugly she knew if she looked wrong in the slightest another story would be invented but she was right the tabloids did hurt her life and as a result she worried about every little thing she did because it was all so scrutinized friends of brittany have presumed that part of the reason she tried to self-medicate to fix her illness on her own instead of going to a doctor was that she was afraid of what would happen if anyone found out she was sick rumors had shredded her reputation to begin with on the set of the ramen girl ackerman said she seemed in distress about how she would be perceived she was very conscious of being liked it was very hard for her to concentrate too long on any one thing she had so many distractions that were in her own mind i think a lot of it was fear to give you an idea of how people talked about britney and her look and her weight here's an excerpt from a blog called celebrity career diagnosis which was ironically ran by a person who called themselves a feminist donut this post was published over a year before brittany passed slb she's completely anorexic feminist donut yeah her face is ruined and her hair has been bothering me for like 12 years it'd be nice if she put on 15 pounds yeah she needs weight and she needs to lose the awful blonde hair it washes her out and the ratty extensions seriously and get a better bra her boobs are looking kinda weird in this sundance pic yeah real [ __ ] gross kind of want to vomit after reading that to be honest with you it got to the point that britney became apologetic about her size toward the end of her life she was losing weight without intending to she was sick she was actually trying to gain weight and complained that she was too thin in one of her last interviews on her last movie something wicked producer scott chambers recalled she addressed her weight with me on the first day we met she apologized and said she'd been ill for about a week after the first day she seemed a bit better she was a trooper her career was promising and she was extraordinarily gifted but her talent was eclipsed by the rumor mills surrounding her who she was dating did she have an eating disorder who she was dating was she doing drugs and even after her passing when most celebrities get a surge of posthumous celebration her talent was eclipsed again this time by the circumstances surrounding her death in her life the speculation of how she lived was more important than her work and in death her tragedy became more important than her life her death has been used as a story for get ready with me videos her name becoming a digital campfire mystery a conspiracy still overtaking the life that she led it's heartbreaking to see the [ __ ] subjected to starlets in the entertainment industry the relentless criticism the bullying the constantly being made a mockery of the way the industry uses them tarnishes them and then spits them out we've been lucky to see in recent years a re-evaluation of how these stars and their work were valued we've been able to see people appreciate megan fox after she was driven out of hollywood we've seen tabloids and journalists apologize for the role they played in attacking britney spears witnessing this resurgence in real time reminds me of what was so tragic about brittany murphy's death it wasn't only that she died so young or that she died so suddenly but also that she died before she could see how much her talent was appreciated how brilliant so many of us knew she was she died before she had the chance to do the movies she deserved to do before she was properly respected she died before she could get her flowers i like to think that if she was here today people would have woken up by now she probably wouldn't have been able to play janice joplin but she would have done so much more she would have been able to release her album she would have been able to be the character actor she wanted to be she would have been able to return to broadway she would have had her baby lots of people have slumps in their career hell people thought katherine hepburn would never act again during her career setbacks it wasn't like these actors just stopped being talented and they had a chance to prove that to pull themselves out of that slump unfortunately britney never got that chance on december 20th 2009 brittany told her mother that she couldn't breathe that she was dying and that she loved her she was rushed to the hospital but nothing could be done she had been suffering with pneumonia and anemia without knowing she was in pain but pain had been nothing new for her she was so used to being in pain and so used to being sick she thought this was something that would blow over her death was a total shock to the world she was someone people grew up watching she was cheerful and exuberant and funny and silly and she had an infectious laugh she couldn't help but spread the joy she was feeling when she died there was an outpour of love from people she knew and from her fans and the overwhelming sentiment was that she was the sweetest person that she was always so kind and so passionate that was how she saw life she treats everybody the same way and you know she treats everybody so special and it makes everybody feel really good she was always pushing people to be happy but to be authentically so i would say would you like to eat something and she'd say only if it is very delicious it wasn't is it good for me what is it made out of it was just is it delicious and that was kind of the way she did things winona ryder who had become a good friend at britney's has only been able to speak publicly about her once in 2010 when she was interviewed about her career and spoke about girl interrupted i can't watch the movie now because of britney murphy i was very close to her before she died donald faison who worked with brittany on the set of clueless uptown girls and the first episode of the clueless tv series released a statement that read brittany was one of the sweetest people you will ever meet she had the voice of an angel and a genuine heart of gold i'm very happy to have known and worked with such a special person do you have a message to give to brittany right now i love you girl brittany is said to have been dissatisfied with her career that she wanted to achieve and be more than what she was she had big dreams for the types of movies she would do for her return to broadway so it would be easy to look at her career and say that she failed that all her legacy is is her death but i say even if she didn't get to do all the movies she wanted to it was never for a lack of talent or for a lack of trying she took the smallest roles and made them larger than life she made sure you knew she could do it all considering what she was given to work with most of the time i think she more than managed to let people know what she was capable of it's a shame that so few people could appreciate it it'd be easy to look at her career and say that she failed but i see someone with a dream who never ever gave up she was relegated to the sidelines of shows so often made to feel like a second choice so often overlooked she did shows that were canceled after one season and still she persisted she had a dream and she followed it she shot for the moon and landed in the stars her legacy isn't her tragic death her legacy is that she was beyond talented that she exuded warmth and kindness to everyone around her something britney said often was that the journey was the destination she learned that the journey is the destination the journey was the destination her journey from being a young girl with a dream in edison new jersey to an actor with a variety of iconic films under her belt was her destination her legacy is that she embraced the journey as the destination and that's what i want her to be remembered for the movies she did toward the end of her life aren't the greatest but i unironically love watching them i love seeing her at that time seeing how her performances were because even though she was going through a lot she still had that potential and she still had that twinkle in her eye you can see her carrying everything she'd learned from the start of her career and if you looked closely enough you could see everything she was going to do if there was any way for her to hear me now i would tell her that she achieved so much she had the kind of career most actors can only dream of the kind that was limitless and varied she couldn't be put in a box she did the comedies with perfect timing she created true fear and horror movies she made the dramas feel real she made the most mundane of rom-com's bursts with charm she partook in music videos and short films and theater she believed in the art and she was amazing in all of it even when the project itself was flawed or straight up bad she was always a beacon of light within the darkness she was a beautiful singer a versatile actress would range out the wazoo and she was perfect she brought the talent skill but more importantly she brought her warmth and her smile that lit up every room she walked into and her kindness she was one in a million and i just wish she knew that how would you like to die painlessly i'd like to be very very very very old i would like to be happy and healthy and live as long as possible stay here give us your name and what school do you go to hi my name is brittany murphy and i go to over hoover middle school you

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Id: KMa-b4Hv0eM

Length: 36min 7sec (2167 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 09 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/LiayaShunter]

I miss her. I was quite sad when she passed.

[u/beepbeeptaraalert]

did everyone spend the pandemic rewatching King of the Hill?

[u/obsessivesnuggler]

Uptown Girls is my guilty pleasure.