Siskoid Cinema presents... Fade In, the show that looks at famous actors and directors' first feature film, looking for that spark of future stardom. On its inaugural episode, Siskoid and horror expert Marty Léger pay tribute to the phenomenon of actors getting their starts in horror schlock, with Jennifer Aniston's first feature, Leprechaun! Did she already have what it took to become one of the 1990s' It Girls? Opinions will be divided!
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Credits:
Bonus clips: "Leprechaun" by Mark Jones, starring Jennifer Aniston, Mark Holton, Ken Olandt, Robert Hy Gorman and Warwick Davis; Leprechaun score by Kevin Kiner; and Jennifer Aniston interview on Howard Stern.
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Jennifer Aniston a perfect combination to f Jamie Lee Curtis and Sandra Bullock. My first encounter with her and Leprechaun was acts Wayne’s World sketch. Wayne and Garth are both crushing on “the girl from Leprechaun” while at the same time acting like they’re terrified of the titular creature. I remember thinking it was hysterical at the time.
Jennifer has certainly had the most successful post-Friends career. Sure she’s played it safe with her rom-com career, but she’s taken a few risks as well, like Horrible Bosses.
She’s done very well, deservedly so. I always respect the actors who aren’t ashamed of their early roles. It shows they have respect not only for that work, but for the fans of those works.
and for the people they worked with!
Love that the trailer takes a real swipe at the Irish. That could not have made this movie many friends! Get it! Friends! Man, that’s gold. And I wasn’t even trying!
Anyway, I really only knew Aniston as a superstar. I was very late to Friends. I guess I was too cool to sit and watch TV on a Thursday night. I had D&D games to play. You know, cool kid stuff. But when I finally did watch the show, I could see why Aniston has done so well. She can switch from comedy to dramatic scenes really seamlessly and has some very decent physical comedy chops. And it does seem like some of that was on display in Leprechaun with her reactions.
It’s funny, I think I always believed this movie was filmed before Friends but released after. I’d at least imagine the rental and home video marketing changed once she became a star.
It was fun to remember that this movie existed. And I enjoyed the conversation as you guys talked about it and discussed some of those bonkers 80s horror movies with some good natured ribbing.
Thanks for recording this.
As an avid watcher of Herman’s Head (why yes, I do have a signed William Ragsdale art commission, thank you) I may have been first exposed to Jennifer Aniston through a one-off episode, but the show I first remember her from was The Edge, a single season half-hour primetime sketch comedy show that also ran of FOX. At the time, “Just Say” Julie Brown was probably the biggest draw, and it was also my main introduction to Wayne Knight. Oh wait, I did see an episode of Ferris Bueller, but it was no Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, so the only thing that stuck with me was that they’d miscast the kid from Heartbreak Hotel as the lead. I then went on to watch Friends from the pilot until an unspecified point. I think I’d preferred the earlier episodes (with Herman’s Head‘s Jane Sibbett,) and lost interest as it went along, but the when is muddied by early and aggressive syndicated reruns. Anyway, Rachael wasn’t my type, so I gravitated more toward Monica, plus I liked the duo of Chandler and Joey (the guy who had starred in the short-lived Married… With Children spin-off, Top of the Heap.) As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to appreciate Lisa Kudrow the most out of the actors on that show, since she arguably was furthest removed as a person from her character… and also she was on Mad About You, which I stuck with and vastly preferred. Anyway, Aniston has star power and a lot of charisma. If she’s in something I was already disposed toward watching, she adds value, and seems like a cool person. However, I’ve rarely watched something for her, and have never warmed to her as a dramatic actress. She’s held up fantastically, and wisely avoided noticeable surgical enhancements (ahem,) but of all the top romcom actresses, she’s been the least beguiling to me. Despite being a horror fan, I continue to abstain from the Leprechaun franchise. Nice to hear from Marty again though– it’s been a spell.
I think the first time I saw Aniston was in a short lived Julie Brown comedy sketch show.
I was a big fan of Rachel and have remained a fan of Aniston. As a horror movie guy in the 80s and 90s, I love that she was in Leprechaun. I don’t know if I knew she was destined for greatness (I would have put big money on Heather Langenkamp becoming a cross-sectional mega-star instead). But I find it charming that she was in this before she exploded.
Ahhh … it was called The Edge! Thanks Frank!
Well done, gentlemen! Siskoid, I really like this idea and is a neat flip side of Rob’s Fade Out.
As a fan of the Leprechaun movies (well, up to 4 anyway), I really enjoyed your discussion on the first movie in the franchise. My general feeling while watching this move back in the day was, the filmmakers tried to make a scary movie and realized halfway through that it wasn’t quite working and added some more of the comedic elements which became a franchise staple in the following movies. And I really enjoy how crazy this series gets.
As for Jennifer Aniston, I agree with the both of you that you can clearly see her acting chops in this movie and she definitely is the highlight of the movie….. well maybe a second highlight as Warwick Davis is the true highlight!
This was tons of fun to listen to and I can’t wait to see who Fades In next! Keep up the great work!