Name: Brett Arlington
Gender: Female
Age: 34
Position: Actress
Appearance: With a height of 5'10", lightly tanned skin, and clearly defined musculature in her biceps and abs, Brett has a reputation for being a 'tomboy'. Which is really the press' nice way of saying that to may people, Brett seems to be a bit more masculine than many of her Hollywood actress peers. The press is, as they so often are, over-exaggerating. Brett is tall, tanned, and spends plenty of time throwing down against the heavy bag, but she's not a tomboy.
It's because of this supposed image 'problem' constantly being brought up on places like TMZ or Entertainment Weekly that Brett finally gave up trying to appeal to the press in terms of physical appearance. Off-set Brett adopts a casual style of dress, ranging from dark blue jeans and black tank tops, to skirts and more black tops. Of course, when she attends premiers or does the talk show circuit, her attire is a bit more classic celebrity. Fancy dress and enough make up to drown a fish. Needless to say, she vastly prefers to jeans and a shirt manner of dress, both for function and form.
Her hair is a defining feature of Brett, being long and flowing down to her shoulder blades and darker than a murder of crows. When it isn't being let loose to flow behind her, she wears it in a ponytail. Acting is all in the eyes, or so it's been said, and hers are a muddy brown, though they are quite expressive and bright despite their dark and drab irises. Despite having ivory whites, Brett rarely gives a full on toothy smile. At best she'll curve the corners of her lips upwards, otherwise the only way she expresses happiness or laughter is by a quick chortle with her lips still pressed together...or slightly parted.
Personality: "Let me tell you something about Brett Arlington. God damned nightmare, I'm telling you. You ever hear those nightmare stories about Brando on Apocalypse Now? How Brando showed up without the script memorized, way heavier than the role required, and generally a mess? Brett Arlington was like that every goddamn day. She'd show up for a day of shooting and not know her lines for that day until literally minutes before rolling, and even then not perfectly. So many re-takes because of that woman. But here's the thing. You know that final speech by Brando in Apocalypse Now? How it was mostly Brando just spouting improvised nonsense that turned into brilliance? That's Arlington.Nightmare to work with. But goddamn does she produce when she's on point." - JMS
It's a wonder that Brett hasn't been blacklisted in the world of Hollywood. Her work ethic is, at best, mediocre. Sure, she'll show up on set, though the question is
when she will show up, and when she does show up there's no guarantee she'll be ready for shooting. Brett is not a professional when it comes to such things, things like appointments and taking direction. There's a very clear reason why so many directors put up with her laziness and its because in spite of things, Brett can deliver when she has to.
Brett is, above all, a follower of the method school of acting. She loses herself in any given performance, becoming the character when the cameras are rolling. The problem is that Brett has a habit of taking on any roles that are offered - being grateful that anyone even offers her roles after the infamous stories swapped between industry vets. And with such a bad selection process, Brett's method acting often just leads to production nightmares. There's little need for serious character exploration in a really dumb sex comedy, after all.
When the cameras aren't rolling, Brett can be fairly vocal, chumming it up with the crew, unless the director has irked her or seems easily intimidated. Brett has little tolerance for directors who don't have an idea what they are doing, or the directors that constantly re-shoot scenes with different lenses or camera techniques. She knows that nine times out of ten, the artistic bullshit shots never get used in the final cut. It's just wasted time.
Once crews get over her timekeeping skills, Brett is generally worth the headaches. She's not shy to offer suggestions when she's with a crew that seems to know what they are doing or have a general idea for the kind of film they want to make. Except that her suggestions often have to do just with her character and not the production as a whole. Brett believes that she knows her character better than anyone, even the writer.
Brett is a modern day prima donna. An undisciplined, temperamental person who finds it difficult to work under direction or as part of a team but whose contributions are essential to the success of a team.
In her personal life, however, Brett is not shy about speaking her mind or getting involved in issues that resonate with her. If it wasn't for acting, she'd probably be on talk radio. Or on a daytime talk show. She's catty enough for such a position. Brett's made several friends in the industry, mostly because she is very careful about what bridges she burns.
History: Growing up as the only daughter in a family of six was certainly no picnic, but it did have its advantages. Born in Chicago, well technically she was born in a suburb about half an hour from Chicago - she just says Chicago because it sounds better, Brett was the second child of four. Her father owned a restaurant, the previous owner retired and gave it to his head chef, Jeff Arlington. Her mother, Ashley, was a substitute teacher. Which was all kinds of awkward when her mother was called to teach for Brett's class in elementary school.
As a child, Brett played on a youth soccer team along with her brothers. Originally she was the goalie but after much complaining she was placed in a midfield position. Brett remained an athlete through high school, swapping the foot for a bat and the football for a softball. Acting wasn't her first choice of profession, the most acting she had done prior to making her debut, was taking drama courses as an elective.
Her first time in front of a camera was for a commercial for a chain of supermarkets. The company wanted to stress family and value and Brett fit the part of the oldest daughter for a minute long spot. She was in college at the time, working on a degree in communications, and she only went to the audition because her room mate, a drama student, wanted support. The ads grew legs and she was called on to shoot three more of them. The company ditched the family focused commercials shortly thereafter. The next time she was in front of a camera was in a minor speaking role in a big budget action movie shot on location in Chicago.
From there, Brett wondered if the whole acting thing could work out. She started reading on various acting styles and started watching movies outside of her comfort zone of 80s movies. A demo reel was put out on the internet and sent to various studios, just on a whim.
Brett was called to audition for a television series. She got the part. It was a science fiction show set on Earth in the near future. Not heavy on the aliens and space travel, but dealing with more realistic science themes. Her role was as a rookie lawyer named Carla MacHale. A supporting role in the first two seasons, she became a main cast member in the third season until her character was killed off in the fourth season. That role was her big break, though she stuck with television for a few more years, landing a lead role in an HBO drama as a crooked cop. The show won an Emmy for Ensemble Cast.
As the years went on, Brett began taking film roles but found herself getting typecast as tougher characters due to her willingness to perform her own stunts - which mostly ranged from chasing people or brief fight scenes. In an effort to show that she was more than just 'that actor who plays tough girls', she produced and starred in an adaptation of
Nightwood. It was critically panned and a disaster at the box office. Not quite the 'I can do dramatic roles too' she was hoping for.
Brett began taking on all offers after her produced bomb in an effort to recoup her losses. One of the roles was as Margarita Latunsky, a curator/concubine/art thief in an adaptation of
Ghostwritten. The movie was relatively well received but it was her performance that stood out to critics and earned her a Golden Globe. Which is like an Oscar but not.
Since then, Brett has been hellbent on being in more serious roles. But her reputation precedes her and most of the time she is hired not because she was Margarita Latunsky, but because she can believably chase down the hero in a summer popcorn flick, or shout at the hero from her desk in a bland cop movie.Maybe that career in radio would've been better.
Miscellaneous: - Was involved in a now notorious marriage and messy divorce with a director. She still gets asked about it on talk shows.
- Has won a Golden Globe for Supporting Actress, an Emmy for Ensemble Cast, a Razzie nomination, and an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight and Best Kiss
- Now owns her father's restaurant. He has long since retired, but he's happy it is still owned by the family.
- Her oldest brother, Jeremy, is a journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times. Her younger brother Eric is a teacher, and her youngest brother Vince is a mortician.
- Her Twitter is @BArlington.