‘DEGRADED’

Isabella Rossellini Was ‘Surprised’ by Roger Ebert’s Scathing ‘Blue Velvet’ Review

Ebert thought the David Lynch film exploited her.

Iconic actress Isabella Rossellini, who’s starred in everything from Wild at Heart to standout episodes of 30 Rock, made a name for herself in David Lynch’s thriller Blue Velvet. But departed critic Roger Ebert felt that Rossellini had been taken advantage of in her role, writing in his 1986 review, “She is degraded, slapped around, humiliated and undressed in front of the camera.” That came as a surprise to the actress. “I remember I was told that Roger Ebert said that [Lynch] exploited me, and I was surprised, because I was an adult,” Rossellini told IndieWire in a new interview. “I was 31 or 32. I chose to play the character.” In the film, Rossellini portrays a lounge singer forced into a sadomasochistic sexual relationship with a psychopathic murderer, unforgettably played by Dennis Hopper. “When I read the script I understood it could’ve been controversial and difficult, I did say to David, ‘You don’t have to say the lines, but I would like to rehearse with you all the scenes and paraphrase the lines,’” Rossellini added to IndieWire. “I wanted to make sure that what you’re seeing is a person who has maybe a kind of Stockholm syndrome, and we rehearsed for a full day. I felt reassured that what I saw in the character, the way I wanted to play, he had agreed.”