A Bastard Favorite Gone Too Young

I was very sad to hear of the sudden death of actress Elizabeth Peña at the all-too-young age of 55. Ms Peña was the female lead of one of my all-time favorite movies, John Sayles' Lone Star. She brought a quiet dignity to her role- that of a woman forced to come to terms with her past when a former boyfriend, the town sheriff, investigates the death of his father. The film examines the racial dynamics of a small Texas border town, but the forces which separated the protagonists go beyond simple racial animus- I don't want to give away any more, go watch the movie NOW!!!

Ms Peña also lent a certain almost disconcerting sultriness to the cartoon femme fatale she voiced in The Incredibles (the best "James Bond" movie ever made).

Sadly, there aren't a lot of clips from Lone Star on teh Y00T00B, but there is one steamy scene of the movie- watch the whole movie to put the scene in context, the movie is quietly devastating:





Here are two other dear, departed figures from the past talking about the movie:





Watch the film and fall in love with Elizabeth Peña, so you can feel the loss that we, her current fans, feel. She should have been a huge star, but moronic typecasting kept her in small roles in big films and big roles in small films. She was taken from us way too early.