Happy Birthday Suit: Ashley Judd

Eye of the Beholder

(Formerly) Cute as a button, Ashley Judd, daughter and sister of The Judds, took the Charlize Theron approach to Hollywood only a few years ahead of her.  After her well-received leading debut in Ruby in Paradise, she took on small roles working with all the right directors in the 90s: Oliver Stone, Wayne Wang, Michael Mann, etc.  Oftentimes playing the "girlfriend/wife" she always seemed to add a gravitas to each project with her nominal contributions.  After playing such a part in the big budget John Grisham thriller A Time to Kill, she hit pay dirt in James Patterson's Kiss the Girls teaming up with Morgan Freeman's Alex Cross to track down a serial killer (Tyler Perry will be shitting on Freeman's role at the end of this year).  Her career would hit its pinnacle in 1999 when she would take over for Jodie Foster as a woman tried and convicted for her husband's fake murder, who then gets a free pass to actually kill the no-good philanderer in Double Jeopardy.

The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

The Bruce Beresford movie didn't accumulate the best reviews, but the $70M production made bank.  Having two hit crime-related action-dramas under her belt, she would play out her Hollywood capital trying new genres, but often returning to her bread-and-butter.  She managed a Golden Globe nod for her rather stiff portrayal of Cole Porter's wife Linda in De Lovely, and was noted for her supporting turn in the hit The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, but none of her choices led to much further success, even the edgy independent feature Bug.  With films like Tooth Fairy and Dolphin Tale, she has now graduated to "mom" status in family films.

Her Norma Jean

Recently, she made the news about how catty bloggers criticized her "puffy" physical appearance.  While the latest development in her visage may be related to something other than surgical cosmetics, it still doesn't explain the other obvious modifications she has made over the years.  Lainey sagely argued that her words were sound, if only she come clean about the plastic work she has had done.  If you're going to submit to the socialized patriarchal definition of beauty and emphasis on youth by slicing up your face while being upfront about it, then all the power to you, girl. But, when one criticizes the system and its misogynist rules, they're going to make examples out of those who perpetuate it--that means you, Ms. Judd!  Own it, girl, if you want to rise above.  Today, she turns 44, though I'm not sure what age her face is.  It seems like it's asking more for a (bad) grade than it is a number.

You can currently find the actress on TV today in the television show Missing.  Fun fact: Judd is one of the few A/B-listers of her generation in Hollywood with a college degrees (Bachelor's in French; Masters in Public Administration).  As well, she's very outspoken and assertive, even though sometimes she can't see the forest through the trees.

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