10 Movie Performances That Got Too Real
1. Gloria Swanson - Sunset Boulevard
It's fair to say that many people watching Sunset Boulevard today won't appreciate the full devastating context of Billy Wilder's ingenious 1950 film noir.
Gloria Swanson stars as Norma Desmond, a mostly forgotten former silent film star whose depleted fame has brought her to the brink of suicide.
Like Desmond, Swanson was a celebrated silent film actress who struggled to transition into "talkies" and eventually fell into obscurity.
The delicious irony of Sunset Boulevard is that it was Swanson's first major movie role in around 20 years, and like her character in the film, was mounting an attempt at a Hollywood comeback.
Thankfully in Swanson's case it worked, as she netted herself a third Best Actress Oscar nomination, and unlike the character she played she didn't end up losing her mind or murdering someone.
In this case "too real" was basically the point, and it worked splendidly.