TMS Muse of the Week: Bridget Fonda

(Kurt Krieger)

Every once in a while, artists and celebrities fade into obscurity after a period of popularity. In fact, I would this happens more often than not. For every Meryl Streep, there’s a dozen actresses we haven’t heard from in years. A lot of the time, these actors are actually still working, just in more lowkey projects. But sometimes they completely leave the industry, as is the case with my previous MOTW subjects Ali MacGraw and Lisa Marie. One of the more surprising former stars is actress and Hollywood dynasty member Bridget Fonda. Third generation in her legendary family of respected actors, Bridget had her time in the spotlight throughout the 1990s as a leading lady and it girl. But if you look at her IMDb or Wiki pages, you’ll find the last time Bridget appeared on screen was way back in 2002 as the title role of David Wu’s The Snow Queen.

Despite her famous roots, Bridget didn’t spend her formative years living in LA like so many of her fellow Hollywood offspring. Instead, dad Peter Fonda and stepmom Portia Crockett chose to raise Bridget, younger brother Justin and stepbrother Thomas McGuane, Jr. [son of the successful novelist and screenwriter] primarily in Livingston, MT. Though Bridget was surrounded by talent and showbusiness connections her whole life, the acting bug hit her when already an adult, around 22/23. You can quickly spot the blonde as a 4-year-old during the hippie commune sequence of Dennis Hopper’s classic Easy Rider (1969), co-starring Peter and Dennis. But Bridget’s official debut on film would be in the sex romps of Michael Caton-Jones’ Scandal and Zelda Barron’s Shag, both in 1989. From there, the latest Fonda rose to her own stardom with Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part III (1990); Sam Raimi’s cult classic Army of Darkness (1992); Quentin Tarantino’s retro crime flick Jackie Brown (1997); the hit thrillers of Barbet Schroeder’s Single White Female (1992), John Badham’s Point of No Return (1993), Raimi’s A Simple Plan (1998) and David E. Kelley’s Lake Placid (1999); and a couple of romantic comedies—Cameron Crowe’s Singles (1992) and Andrew Bergman’s It Could Happen to You (1994)—to boot. During the prime of her career, Bridget was in a relationship with fellow actor Eric Stoltz from 1990 to 1998 and dated country music star-turned-character actor Dwight Yoakam in 1999-2002. Since 2003, Bridget’s been married to former Oingo Boingo frontman and film composer Danny Elfman, whom she has a son with, Oliver [b. 2005].

(Warner Bros. Pictures)

This adds up to a pretty picture perfect scenario, with all the publicity, fortune and acclaim any aspiring actor could ask for. So what made Bridget completely abandon fame and never look back? Well, the truth is, after twenty whole years, we still have no idea what motivated the decision. About six months before she married Danny and a year after The Snow Queen was released, Bridget experienced a serious car crash that fractured her vertebra. Over the years, rumors have spread the accident was possibly worse than reports led on, and that the injuries were so bad she had to quit acting. Now, I could easily buy something serious like a car crash influencing Bridget to take time off from work. But if you pay attention to her husband’s career, you’ll notice Bridget has actually made a couple rare appearances at public events with him. Such as the LA premiere of Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock (2009) [which includes a score composed by Danny]; where we can find photos of Bridget looking just as much the movie star we’re familiar with, as well as behaving seemingly normally in candid red carpet footage uploaded on YouTube. This premiere was six years following her car injury, so just from a glance, it doesn’t look like there were any obvious repercussions for Bridget to completely retire. Of course, like a lot of women with families, she could have simply wanted to focus on raising her son with Danny, and didn’t feel the need to make a public announcement.

Oliver would be 17 currently, so Bridget could make an unexpected return to the silver screen if she wanted to. But something tells me even with her schedule freeing up in the future, she probably won’t be rushing to the studios any time soon. Some might have noticed a set of recent paparazzi pictures surfaced on social media at the end of January, where Bridget appeared completely different than how we remember her. The public’s reactions were, not shockingly, predictable and immature. The incident reminded me of when a very rare modern photo of White Stripes drummer Meg White was posted online by a fan in 2012. The response from most music fans was essentially, “What happened to Meg??” Neither Meg nor Bridget should feel obligated to look like glamorous superstars if they’ve chosen to take a step back from the limelight for ordinary lives. Sure, there’s aging gracefully, but there’s also the concept of minding your own business and allowing others to live their lives who they please.

Interestingly, I also don’t think Bridget leaving stardom behind is actually surprising in retrospect. A couple years ago I came across an old profile on Bridget from a 1993 issue of People Magazine, where her father was quoted as saying: “She’s not into being pretty, man.” Whatever Bridget’s reasons for calling it a day as an actress, you can’t say she didn’t earn the peace and privacy. She coined her own legacy that wasn’t just in the footsteps of Peter, her grandfather Henry, or Aunt Jane; so she can safely feel accomplished with her place in film history.