Jena Malone(Saved!, Donnie Darko) is an actress I've always thought should have been a greater star than she is. After years of watching her play the approachable, quirky chick in mostly independent stuff, she occasionally dabbles in supporting roles in bigger films. Most people hated Sucker Punch, but I dug it, and it was nice to see Malone in a film people actually paid to attend. While she's got nothing but small stuff on the horizon, her next role looks like another chance for Malone to show Hollywood what she's made of.
Malone is set to star in Lonely Hunter, a biopic on the life of author Carson McCullers. McCullers, at the age of only 23, wrote one of the most acclaimed novels of the last century, The Heart is A Lonely Hunter. A southern girl born in Georgia in 1917, McCullers led a difficult, troubled life. She suffered from many illnesses from an early age, attacked by numerous strokes since her teens. By the time she was 31, the entire left side of her body was paralyzed. She battled alcohol abuse, and struggled with the on again/off again marriage she had with struggling writer Reeves McCullers, until he eventually committed suicide. He did this while trying to encourage her to do the same. Yikes. A number of Carson's books have been made into movies, including The Heart is A Lonely Hunter in 1968.
So yeah, this isn't going to be a cheery film by any means, par for the course for director Deborah Kampmeier. You might recall the controversy surrounding her film, Hounddog, otherwise known as the "Dakota Fanning rape flick". It's a snap compared to Kampmeier's other film, Virgin, about an emotionally scarred girl who thinks she's carrying the child of God. Like I said, Kampmeier doesn't do cute and cuddly. She's found the right actress in Malone, as she's never shied away from a tough role or two. [ThePlaylist]
