She sings in the “Rocky Horror Picture Show”, in “Thelma & Louise” she gives full throttle. Susan Sarandon wins an Oscar as a nun in a death penalty drama. At 75, she sees herself as a mother, activist and actress.
Los Angeles – The final scene of “Thelma” & Louise “is unforgettable: on the run from the police, the two friends drive their Ford Thunderbird into the abyss at the Grand Canyon.
For Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis, the two leading actresses in the road movie by director Ridley Scott (“Blade Runner”), it was a career high point 30 years ago.
Feminist road movie
“It was revolutionary at the time to show two women who are not enemies and who simply have fun on the screen together,” said Sarandon in an interview with the “Hollywood Reporter” in June, looking back on the filming three decades ago. The feminist road movie was a box office hit and set new standards in 1991 with strong female roles.
Sarandon, who will turn 75 on Monday (October 4th), and Davis, ten years younger than him, celebrated their 30th anniversary in style in June. The two Oscar winners screened the film in Los Angeles. Proceeds from the campaign went to a food plaque and to Davis’ nonprofit, which works to increase the impact of women in the film and television industries.
Commitment to human rights
In addition to her film career, Sarandon is now more often in the limelight as an activist. She lists this order on her Twitter page: “Mother, Activist, Actress”. The mother of three (and grandmother since 2014) and ultra-liberal Democrat has been campaigning for years against the death penalty, for the right to abortion and for comprehensive health insurance. In the US presidential election campaign, she clearly sided with the left-wing Bernie Sanders. She is often present at protests.
She also likes to take a position with her film roles. In 2019 the euthanasia drama “Blackbird” celebrated its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. In it she plays a terminally ill patient who decides to end her life. This decision creates tension with her daughters, played by Kate Winslet and Mia Wasikowska. She supports the right to “die with dignity without family members being charged with murder,” said Sarandon at the film premiere. “It is an individual choice and it should be legal and controlled.”
One of her greatest Hollywood moments was 25 years ago. After four Oscar nominations, including for “Thelma & Louise” and “The Client”, Sarandon won the Oscar for Best Actress in 1996 under the direction of her then partner Tim Robbins. In the death penalty drama “Dead Man Walking” she played a nun who looks after a murderer (Sean Penn) before the execution.
„Rocky Horror Picture Show“
With his 12 year younger colleague Robbins, the father of their sons Jack and Miles, Sarandon was together for more than 20 years without a marriage license until they separated in 2009. The native Susan Abigail Tomalin owes her first film role to her first husband, Chris Sarandon. In 1968 the young literature student accompanied her husband to a casting call in New York. The young actor went empty-handed at the audition, instead she was hired to play a rebellious daughter for the social drama “Joe”.
Sarandon owed her first big screen hit to the uptight Janet on the “Rocky Horror Picture Show”. In 1974, in the cult music film about an alien transvestite, she played a shy girl who ends up in a haunted castle.
The French master director Louis Malle made her internationally known in the 1970s with his films “Pretty Baby” and “Atlantic City”. In 1985 she had a daughter Eva with the Italian director Franco Amurri. She met Tim Robbins in 1988 while filming the baseball comedy “Annie’s Men”.
On twitter
The character actress also makes money with light comedies. In “Tammy – Voll Abfahren” (2014), she goes on a weird road trip as a drinking grandmother with her granddaughter (Melissa McCarthy). In 2017 she played with Mila Kunis and Kristen Bell in the women’s comedy “Bad Moms 2”.
At the age of 75, Sarandon is planning another appearance with her daughter Eva Amurri (“Californication”), who is emulating her as an actress. In the music-drama series “Monarch” planned for 2022, Sarandon will play a famous country singer whose family life is plagued by intrigue and secrets. Amurri will play the singer in flashbacks at a younger age. Mother and daughter have previously made comedies such as “Groupies Forever” (2002) and “The Chaos Dad” (2012).
When asked about her love life by the US magazine “People”, Sarandon said in August that she enjoys spending time with her children. Dating during the Covid pandemic is not ideal, the star quipped. You want an adventurous person, whether man or woman, as a travel companion, said Sarandon. And what about a love affair? It might be too late in life for that, said the actress. She is “always hopeful”, but not desperately trying. dpa
