Rebecca De Mornay approaches Ernie Hudson in a scene from the film The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, 1992. (Photo by Buena Vista/Getty Images)
The ’90s were a glorious time for the revenge thriller. Following the success of Fatal Attraction (1987), the film industry saw a renewed interest in stories about unhealthy obsessions, paving the way for a trend that would translate into Misery, Sleeping with the Enemy, Fatal Obsession, Single Woman Seeks and of course one of these reflects the most successful thriller of the time: The hand that rocks the cradle.
How to forget them… The tale of the nanny who invades a family in search of revenge (and who ate apples with more malice than any movie villain) captivated us through a plot so disturbing and impactful that we don’t know them anymore Rebecca de Mornay She would forever be remembered for her character. But as much as the title has burned itself into the viewer’s memory, His story hid a problem that made his protagonist dissatisfied.
Rebecca de Mornay She was 29 when she starred in the villain of The hand that rocks the cradle a decade after her first film, Risky Business, put her on the Hollywood map. Still, he didn’t enjoy the same meteoric rise as his co-star (and ex-boyfriend). Tom Cruise, but he knew how to stay in business through elegant, seductive and attractively eye-catching characters. But far away from the blockbuster … Until the revenge thriller presented them to an international audience again.
Rebecca De Mornay knits while looking at Annabella Sciorra in a scene from the 1992 film The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. (Photo by Buena Vista/Getty Images)
Directed by the late Curtis Hanson (Naked Angels), the film chronicled the revenge plan of Peyton (De Mornay), the wife of a multimillionaire obstetrician who committed suicide after a patient (Annabella Sciorra) accused him of molestation. Sex during a medical consultation. The allegation sparked a scandal worthy of the #MeToo movement that set Peyton down the path of absolute loss: Not only were her accounts frozen due to possible multi-million dollar lawsuits, but she also lost her baby after miscarrying a few months later during pregnancy. And so, driven by pain and a desire for revenge, she infiltrated the family of the patient who initiated the allegations, posing as the nanny of their newborn baby.
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At the time of its release, it was a resounding success. Not only did it garner unanimous public approval and gross $140 million, but it also sparked discussions around the world about our mixed feelings about Peyton’s character. She was undoubtedly evil. She was stubborn and determined: she wanted revenge. Rebecca De Mornay played her with such wicked conviction that it was impossible not to become addicted to her wickedness.. Unlike other villains, however, Peyton intrigued us with the ambiguity he provoked. Something very similar to what Alex, the character of Glen Close in Fatal Attraction, provokes. For we speak of “villains” who are motivated by pain, mental health, or trauma, and not by a mere psychopathic naturalness.
We won’t deny that part of us felt sorry for her. Or at least he wanted her to recognize her mistake and focus her pain on healing. But the film avoided delving into those emotions or understanding the motivation behind her revenge, instead focusing solely on her role as a vicious villain who threatened the very existence of a sexually abused mother.
And that detail left Rebecca De Mornay unsatisfied.. In an interview with EW at the film’s premiere in 1992, the actress admitted she was proud, but also admitted that she didn’t agree with the way her character was treated. She felt they didn’t take the time to explain why they were motivated, such as why Peyton is marrying a man accused of sexually abusing other women. Or how she would have felt inside if faced with the undeniable fact that the same woman who had victimized her had been her husband’s victim.
“The film has done phenomenal business,” said De Mornay. “Everyone was scared, everyone was laughing, everyone was screaming. But for my money I would like to know more. Maybe I’m intellectual, I don’t know. But I want to know more when I see a movie“.
“I mean, even though Curtis had a great sense of suspense, I had to fight him so I could bring more humanity to the role like I did. Peyton was a woman devastated by the loss of her husband and son. “He was operating on an unconscious mechanism of anger, fear, and longing for what was being taken from him. She was obviously the villain, but she wasn’t willing to do what she was doing out of vanity or materialism. She wanted a home, a baby, a husband. There was something very moving about all of this.. I had to find the emotional connection points to integrate humanity into an otherwise two-dimensional character.”
And he was right. The hand that rocks the cradle She did an excellent job of portraying her as the undisputed villain and one of the most iconic vengeful characters of the ’90s. However, she avoided explicitly pointing out Peyton’s humanity. He let her glimpse it in a few sequences, like the moment she was breastfeeding someone else’s baby or confronting a child who was spreading bullying but had her unbounded gaze on her evil figure. Actually it is with the comment of Rebecca de Mornay that we can discover those subtle nuances that she herself was able to impregnate through grimaces or secondary gestures.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 14: Rebecca De Mornay attends the ‘Risky Business’ screening during the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival on April 14, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for TCM)
After hearing the actress’ words, I get curious and want to imagine what the film would have looked like if it had dealt with the villain’s double entender. After all, Peyton had lived through an extremely dramatic situation that could justify certain irrational thoughts fueled by tragedy on so many different fronts.. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been the impactful and defined thriller that it was, or if she had delved deeper into the aspects that made her such a contradictory character, she would have made an even greater impact.
Rebecca de Mornay became one of the emblematic labels of the revenge thriller of the ’90s, although his career hasn’t enjoyed the same success since. She continued with films like The Three Musketeers (1993) and the erotic thriller Never Talk to Strangers (1995) with Antonio Banderas, but little is known about her for more than two decades. She remains active in the industry, albeit very sporadically.
Still, while making the film, she thought the world would hate her for her character (LA Times). But he was wrong. In a twist of fate, viewers recognized her more for the role of Peyton, approaching and celebrating her work, always greeting her with a smile as a reflection of the impact she had made as the film’s villain.
This article was written exclusively for Yahoo en Español by Cine54.
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