Sarah at Cinesnark/LaineyGossip referred to Blake Lively as our new “B-movie queen,” and I find that rather fitting. In another era, and in a parallel universe where Blake had less hustle and wasn’t married to Ryan Reynolds, she would be in Lifetime movies. But since she’s the queen of the hustle and she’s A-list by marriage, she gets to star in movies. At some point, she just stopped trying to do “important work” in smaller roles in more prestigious films. Now she’s only doing starring, lead roles in small-budget B-movies. And it works for her.
These are photos of Blake filming The Rhythm Section in Dublin this week. Some sites have claimed that Blake is playing a homeless woman. I suspect that’s being said because of the busted wig and the clothes, although I’ve never seen anyone homeless wear such a well-cut coat or “ugly” sweatpants that drape so flatteringly. Blake is not doing “homeless cosplay.” She’s playing Stephanie Patrick, a woman “pushed over the edge by the violent deaths of her family, [who] survives only by taking other identities.” From the Amazon description of the book (the source material for the script):
Stephanie Patrick’s world was destroyed by the Atlantic aircrash. Falling into a downward spiral of prostitution, drugs and drink, she is picked up by a journalist who has discovered that it was a bomb that caused the crash. And it is his murder that pulls her out of herself.
The Rhythm Section is not a thriller about the hunt for a terrorist, although that is the path Stephanie takes, and it’s not a story about revenge, although justice for her family is her initial motivation. Rather, The Rhythm Section is the story of Stephanie’s attempt to reclaim herself. She has to rediscover who she is through a series of roles that she is forced to play; she is never herself. As a prostitute, she is Lisa, the chemical blonde. Later, she is Petra Reuter, German anarchist turned mercenary terrorist. Sometimes, she is Marina Gaudenzi, a Swiss businesswoman, or she’s Susan Branch, an American student, or Elizabeth Shepherd, an English management consultant.
Stephanie (a terrible spy name) ends up being recruited by a spy agency and she falls in love or something. This sounds like an excuse for Blake to try to do different accents (GOOD LUCK) and wear a lot of wigs. It sounds like Alias mixed with Atomic Blonde mixed with… like, James Bond, or something. It’s going to be a mess. But hey, someone has to do it. Why not Blake?
Ryan teased her on Instagram too:
Photos courtesy of Instagram, WENN.
She’s got dark circles, a hat on, and chapped lips, like she’s still an incredibly beautiful woman. Just because she isn’t in makeup, hair, and fancy dress doesn’t mean this is some ugly version of her.
I don’t find her beautiful at all. Even with all the make-up and plastic surgery she is still not that pretty. It didn’t take much to make her look unattractive, they just removed the face paint.
V4real – agreed.
@V4Real – yeah, agreed. She’s one of the very few celebs about whom I can honestly say that genetics did better by me than her plastic surgeon did by her.
Just now noticed her beauty is in the hair. her actual face isn’t beautiful. reminds me of when Nina Dobrev chopped her hair or Kaley Cuco chick from big bang theory did. less than stellar bone structure all around.
Agree, she’s very meh IMO.
She might not be pretty (I think she is) to some but I think the word attractive describes her pretty accurately. She’s a very attractive woman. I mean on good days I look in the mirror and go “Yeah, I look good.” But those days don’t involve unwashed hair or a shiny/spotty, pale face. Most people don’t look beautiful when there is zero effort involved unless you know them, like them, and/or love them.
Yep, not particularly attractive without war paint.
I think she is one of those women who are I think of as “attractive package” like with the long hair, the height, the body altogether she is attractive. And here she is obviously not done up.
But then there are women who even with shit hair and an average body will be attractive because they have beautiful faces. I think Lively’s face is normalish. But I like Lively so meh.
@DiligentDiva
Agreed. I actually think Lively looks rough-house good.😈😲😶
And she’s far more beautiful as a brunette IMO.
#DiligentDiva – I find her beautiful too.
ITA, DiligentDiva. And LittleMissNaughty–YES. She might not be drop-dead gorgeous but she is really attractive IMO plus bangin body too.
@Kitten, DiligentDiva, littlemisnaughty, Amide, Misti –
Agreed. Have always found her beautiful.
Especially in motion.
Very Elaine Irwin.
I will never be happy until one of these alternate spy identities is something more interesting, like Kitty Keen, English duchess and sometime sailor, who uses a shopping body double while out secretly saving the world.
I don’t know if you’re aware of the Orange Peril: one man quadruple – might even be quintuple, plot twists and red herrings abound – agent, singlehandedly saving the world while masquerading as the destroyer of democracy?
I hope you are the author of the books and screenplays!!😄
Sasha Baron Cohen as Mr V. Putin, please.
Blake can play Theresa May, who gets to hold the hand of Orange Peril.
I love it. Now we need a role for Hiddleston…. Corbie?
I think Tommy-omelette should do his espionage in drag. He can play Meghan Sparkle, whose secret mission is to introduce American kitsch into UK culture. Tommy will meet a sorry end at the hand of fried chicken.
Thanks for the chuckle Liberty! I would go to see that!
“In another era, and in a parallel universe where Blake had less hustle and wasn’t married to Ryan Reynolds, she would be in Lifetime movies.”
Spot on Kaiser!
I see this movie as a bid to show her range, etc etc. but yes. A friend calls her a future Hallmark movie triple threat.
Yea that sentence was spot on.
Queen of B list movies is fitting. That being said Hollywood as usual is so lazy. Since Atomic Blonde, there’s been countless projects about females spies with essentially the same plot. It just varies from A list name like Jennifer Lawrence to B list queen Blake lively. At least Red Sparrow looks visually great.
Oh sweet mother of God! All the “real” actresses/actors ugly themselves up, gain or lose weight, etc. etc. etc. Please tell me this Gossip Girl alum….wants us to believe she’s in that category. Go home and babysit Woody Allen.
Go home and babysit Woody Allen.
LMAO!! Loved this!
Also, I’m probably in the minority but I always side-eye couples who start talking via social all of sudden. Havent these two always blabbed about how private they are? Usually these sudden changes are not a good sign, just my 2 cents.
LOL!
I didn’t know that Ryan Reynolds was A-list, was it Deadpool that made him an A-lister or was he considered A-list before that? Because the only two movies of his that I could name is Van Wilder and Blade and neither was great, I love him as Deadpool but I’ve never seen him as an A-list actor.
I agree and think the same. Neither of them are A-list. Sorry. Someone once referred to her as marble mouth because she talks like her mouth is full of marbles and I totally agree!
Van Wilder is awesome! We watched that so much in college. Stupid, mindless, fun.
you know, I really like Ryan Reynolds. I did not like Deadpool. He was great in Safehouse, and more recently The Hitman’s Bodyguard. I think he’s a bit underrated, and I’d like to see him in a true drama.
I don’t know why he married Blake (but I admit I watched her stupid shark movie- it was so so bad, and I love those kinds of movies)
This Blake movie looks like a budget Covert Affairs. We really loved Covert Affairs, though it got a bit silly in the end. But still- Kari Matchett!
I’m also surprised that he’s A list. I just remember the Sandra Bullock engagement movie. Was Deadpool really that good?
Omg don’t get me started on covert affairs. I’m so sad it ended. That show got better every season and Kari was amazing. I wish I’d see her more on tv. All of them really.
Auggie…sigh.
I miss. That. Show.
Am I the only one who thinks she’s a pretty good actress? Not amazing, and not wildly versatile, but pretty good? She’s very expressive, she has quite a bit of screen presence, and she’s not brought down by crappy material which takes a certain talent.
I liked her a lot in Gossip Girl. Her character became kind of pointless, but she was always great as that character. She did fine in The Town and Savages despite her roles being the kind of cliches that could have taken a turn into embarrassing, and she totally carried The Shallows and made what could have been a dull, repetitive B movie into an extremely enjoyable and watchable B movie.
Not saying she’ll ever win an Oscar or anything, but if she’d been around a decade earlier I think she could have had a much brighter career in the kind of rom-coms and light dramas that rarely get made these days.
No it’s not just you. There are a quite a few of us up here.
I’ll always love Blake cause of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants and Elvis & Anabelle.
She’s also working with interesting directors, like Foster and now Reed Morano.
I’m really, really, interested to see her and Jude Law in this.😏
Not a great actress but if I am having one of those days where I’m in the mood for something completely mindless the Age of Adeline is definitely on my rotation.
I enjoy Blake in movies.
She’s way too fake-blond-bombshell to be taken seriously. I don’t have an opinion on her but on fame and success in general, it’s all purely random and arbitrary. All movie stars are overrated IMO. A combination of luck, hustle, looks and marketing.
I don’t think Meryl Streep is all that, but she had that non-threatening look, pretty but not too sexy, the right roles, interesting but not too boring, when she started and voila, deemed ‘greatest actress ever’. Same with De Niro and Pacino, a couple of well written, gritty attractive movies and they become gods. Marlon Brando? please, biggest joke ever. Harrison Ford, Nathalie Portman, Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Hugh Grant, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Scarlett Johansson just to name a few are all mediocre actors IMO, there’s thousands of actors in lifetime movies that are better than them but *they* are worldwide famous while others aren’t, go figure. Don’t get me started on B and C listers. The Rock LOL
It’s all random really, like in music, like in every field in fact, even for us civilians. Good or bad, nobody really gets what they deserve.
I enjoy her lots. I’ve only seen GG, travelling pants 1, and the town but yeah she’s not the worst actor and has charisma. I intend to see her other stuff because they are all my type of movies anyways (especially the new blindNess one.) Trying to think of an actor with success that is actually Terrible and can’t think of any. It’s true though that there must be many more talented actresses than Blake who have never made it and only do local plays or something, her family, privilege (financial and otherwise) looks (and enhancements 😉), social /business skills (Chanel,Anna, Leo) and luck (like the fact the GG was great, came at the right time and popular) obviously helped her …. so maybe that’s why it’s often said she’s overrated.
She once stated that Woody Allen is” so empowering to women”. Brainless kiss-ass!
Blake is lucky she can milk those connections her fame thirsty husband made thanks to Deadpool. I remember when Ryan was that dude from those cheesy romcoms no one ever watched.
It’s a shame a lot of these lead roles, B list or otherwise, go to mediocre actors instead of new ones who deserve a shot & may even prove successful.
Not sorry, I LOVE The Age of Adaline! The costuming is fantastic and Blake carried a timeless classic old hollywood feel about herself in the 21st century that made her even more fascinating.
Blake probably thinks if she uglifies herself she’ll get an Oscar, like Charlize and Halle. LOL.
But she can’t act. And she’s too plastic to be compared to Charlize and Halle.
I don’t wanna be all bitchy, but that is one fake lady and one fake family. Too much Instagram and posing…
This and A Husband’s Secret are the two things Blake has coming up that interest me.
And spot on to the poster excited to see Jude Law in this.
Me too. A much underrated actor!
I really really enjoyed that shark movie she was
You really think that coat and pants are flattering? Yikes, no. I think she is very well dressed for the part. She’s a beautiful woman but these photos really show how much her hair does for her, without it she isn’t nearly as stunning.
I hope this isn’t an anti-vanity project – like to show the world what a serious actress is b/c she’s willing to ugly herself down for the role. That would require a lot more than just no make-up and a bad wig. When Charlize Theron played the hooker that murdered all those men, she went the full nine yards. She gained 30 lbs, wore horrid fake teeth, and had makeup artists create a weathered, ruddy face with age/sun spots. I’m not saying Blake has to be Charlize. I’m saying any person who really did live homeless for any span of time would look worse for the wear in the face. But where Blake’s concerned, simply going make-up free is probably suppose to be considered brave and serious. It’s not. I go makeup free often.
P.S. That red coat is THEE coat of the homeless and downtrodden. I’m not making fun. It’s just something I didn’t realize until I saw it.
If I legit look that haggard at the end of the day, does that mean I would also look as good as Blake Lively if I had a makeup and hair team…?
Wow, surprised to see so much strong feeling, she seems bland and boring to me, pretty in a generic way and not very talented….I’m indifferent.
I am, though, a little surprised at how vehemently people pipe up that she’s not pretty….what’s the point of that? Schadenfreude, i think it’s called? And comparing her looks to your own, favorably or not…seems out of character for the Celebitchy comment crew, which i have sometimes admired for their maturity and feminism. Guess what, bitter folk, life is not a contest. Grousing about another persons looks – even if they do manifest an artificial, eurocentric standard of beauty…i think is catty and ungenerous behavior for grown women. She’s beautiful, we’re all beautiful except when we’re jerks, including when we judge other women by standards we resent being judged by ourselves.
I repeat, she’s like Samson. Once the hair is gone, it’s meh.