Brittany Murphy: Her Life on Screen

Image via Wikipedia

She made us laugh, she made us cry, she made us hope. At first she just seemed like one among a crowd of pretty, blonde actresses. But she was more than that. Yes, she excelled at the romantic comedies that were as shallow as a kiddie pool, but that’s not all she brought to the table.

Let’s take a look back at some of her best and most memorable movies. Also, a look at her movies that haven’t yet come out.

Murphy’s first big break was her role as the “ordinary” and bubbly friend in Clueless. But she got started years before this 1995 hit. She started out appearing in one episode on an episode of “Murphy Brown” back in 1991 when she was only 14.  She continued getting parts on other hit television series including “Frasier”, “Blossom” and “Party of Five”.

Clueless wasn’t the big breakout hit you might think it would have been for Brittany. For several more years she continued acting in TV shows and movies most of us have never heard of. Then 1999 came along and Brittany showed her true dramatic talent in the film “Girl Interrupted”. But the talents of Angelina Jolie and Winona Rider were also at their best in this film, so it’s easy for some people to forget Brittany was even in it.

Three years later, enter a slimmer Brittany Murphy in the startling Eminem hit 8 Mile. This is where she started making a name for herself, instead of only being known as the “chubby girl in Clueless.”

Now bring in the starring roles for Miss Murphy: Just Married, Uptown Girls, Little Black Book.

Cover of Just Married

As for what the future was holding for Brittany Murphy, it included a lot of work. Three films she was working on are in post-production, to be released in 2010. These include Abandoned, Something Wicked, The Expendables. Considering these are all in post-production, there’s a good chance these will be released. Two other films she was involved with (or at least rumored to be) are still in early stages of production (Shrinking Charlotte and Poor Things) so it’s undetermined if these will ever get released.

Here’s the trailer to her most recent film, a thriller called Across the Hall, which just opened in theaters earlier this month.