Ashley Judd is a naturally gifted performance artist who has been at the forefront of Hollywood throughout the nineties and early aughts. At ease in dramatic fare and light-hearted features, she has made her presence felt in ensembles and led from the front as a leading lady, displaying her versatility in both forms. But it’s easy to note that the pendulum swings favourably towards her penchant for exhuming the humanity in noteworthy dramas.
Like all promising lives bursting with youth and career highlights, she suffered her share of professional setbacks. Being hounded with harassment from whom the media now calls “The Monster”, she decided to turn the tide and call him out publicly. Judd, along with the formidable likes of Tamara Burke and Rose McGowan, has been at the forefront of the #MeToo paradigm. Her share in the societal churn of this movement is staggering. But that’s to be expected from someone who has seen her mother Naomi and sister Wynonna take the reins of their own life and careers as country superstars.
Bringing that fact into sharp focus, a 19-year-old author from Tennessee, Nina Donovan, penned a spoken word poem in time for the Me Too paradigm’s flashpoint. “I Am A Nasty Woman” was a rejoinder to the patriarchal diktats that widen the gulf among genders and accentuate culture wars. By calling out every hue of moralistic propaganda, the piece cut through the noise and didn’t get silenced by markers of time-worn dignity in the garb of censure.
Who better than Ashley Judd to bring each word to the global stage courtesy the Women’s March in Washington (2017)? Having endured her fair share of abuse in her lifetime, she was fire and brimstone, delivering these impassioned lines without looking at teleprompters to guide her artistry. Getting to use her years of experience as a gifted performance artist, this was perhaps her greatest moment as a public figure to make her voice resound beyond these Washington streets. With one impassioned swoop, she hence became one of the leading voices of a generation who brought past and present survivors together. To this day, her performance of these lines gives me chills. Such is her commitment to the cause.
As a cinephile, I find vivacity, warmth, and something naturally joyous and confident in her screen portrayals. Just watch her display inherent intelligence in two quintessential thrillers, such as “Kiss The Girls” (1997) and “High Crimes” (2002). In the latter, geopolitics and army intrigues tie her firebrand attorney in a crisis of faith on the home front. In the former, she is a survivor who uses her physical acumen to escape from the nefarious patriarchal network of a serial killer, in turn circumventing every influence that threatens the lives of independent, working women. Kudos to her for holding her individual ground alongside Morgan Freeman in both films, designing character studies that escape genre archetypes.
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To say that she deserves her flowers for her acting prowess is an understatement. So here I am, translating my love for Ashley Judd with her memorable performances that stand out to me.
10. Beverly in Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)
“Twin Peaks: The Return” gave ample space to new, recurring cast members to shine in individual scenes. From this roster that included the likes of Richard Chamberlain, Ernie Hudson, Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tim Roth, and Caleb Landry Jones, Ashley Judd also left her mark. Paired with Richard Beymer’s reformed Benjamin Horne, Ashley, as Beverly, oversaw The Great Northern Hotel’s inner workings with professionalism to boot.
But it’s Ashley Judd, the formidable performer, and hence David Lynch tapped into her inner wounded core as she enquired with an old nurse and then lashed out at a male relative, a terminally ill man, for constantly questioning her place in the hotel’s management. It’s a scene characteristic of her talents for invoking empathy for her kindred and simultaneously calling out their insecurities. With Benjamin Horne, she listens to a peculiar hum in a room of the hotel, linking the series’ cryptic, cosmic mythology as a thing of bewilderment and wonder. With her, he shares moments of affection and hardened truths regarding his fractured family ties. She is a patient listener and ally.
To sceptics, her character may not have any discernible impact in the show. But to this cinephile, her glimpse of a sad personal history and that exposure to the hum in the hotel room tie in to Twin Peaks, the town’s mysteries. One where everybody’s inner core is touched by crisis. Yet they prevail. Ashley Judd’s rare poise, vulnerability, and friendship with Ben are sharpened by the bass in her voice. It’s as if she is accessing a novel depth while at work in Twin Peaks.
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9. Herself in She Said (2022)
Ms. Judd’s contributions to the cause of women’s empowerment are well-documented and have effected considerable social changes. The primary force of her voice for change is a haunting leitmotif in She Said’s blueprint for justice. Her real-life testimonies and years of sorting through painful encounters with “The Monster” are at the heart of this cinematic unraveling of a societal implosion. Hearing her actual voice relay details and then watching her in one crucial scene when she is out in the open, showing us a pensive face full of concern, gives her journey a metacontext. Like always, her participation in this recreation of actual events, where a group of people parsed ugly truths from the debris of cultural chauvinism, is outstanding. She is integrity and conviction personified in the support she lends to this work of art.
8. Charlene in Heat (1995)
In Michael Mann’s mood piece that strips away the bravado of action dramas, Ashley Judd is one among the pithy female cast. Along with Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, and Natalie Portman, she pulls our gaze towards the lives of females who are caught in the crossfire of violence and wheeling-dealings perpetuated by men on both sides of the law. As Val Kilmer’s character’s partner, Charlene, she manages the home front. But her implosive confrontations with him regarding his future course let us know that she’s no doormat. Her journey begins with love for the man in her life, and the child they share is a common unifier.
It’s due to Ashley’s naturalism imbued in her arc that her vulnerability and resolve shine through, especially when she is sheltered by the police after Kilmer goes on the run. That one moment where a sincere smile is shared between both of them in a particularly tense situation tells us how this woman was always cognizant of the dangers she had to face. Yet she gives Kilmer’s character a chance to escape this mortal cycle. It’s this raw and heartfelt intelligence that marks her as a brilliant performer whose expressions do the talking.
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7. Norma Jean in Norma Jean/ Marilyn (1996)
This HBO film is noteworthy for effectively splintering the public and private worlds of a world-conquering cultural icon. Here, Judd is mercurial and beauteous as Norma Jean, the woman who appears as a vision in the mirror and a voice in the head to Marilyn (Mira Sorvino). If Sorvino, as Marilyn, is treated with sharp disdain by others ( as is exemplified by the cold feet she gets from Bette Davis on All About Eve’s set) and is constantly questioning her place, Judd’s Norma Jean steels herself. She rebukes her public self for being a wimp and becoming a doormat a little too easily.
But both personas battle the gaze of a world that leaves them with blank spots regarding their self-worth. From this dual interplay comes the tragic picture of a woman who was never allowed to reconcile her intelligence with her beauty or vice-versa. What seals the deal here in terms of the casting is that both the actresses portraying a veritable icon were blemished by the hands of an industry magnate who sabotaged their careers. Hence, they make all the more difference with their performative unity in hindsight. Judd is promise and inner churn personified in a part that strips away the glamour and refracts the mirror image to reveal internalised truths.
6. Tina Modotti in Frida (2002)
There are truly no small parts when a performance artist rises to the occasion. Ashley Judd is all of that as the real-life artist and rebel Tina Modotti, who strikes up an instant rapport with the inimitable Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek) at an extravagant party. Sparks fly as both women’s propensity to challenge the status quo, especially regarding the role of women under patriarchy, makes them transition to a sensual dance together. All eyes are on them as they display swooning looks and moves and share a passionate kiss – a mark of having found their common ground as passionate individuals. But the innocent laugh they exchange with each other seals their bond of amity above all.
Ashley Judd is grace and individuality in a nutshell as she presides over a social event as the hostess and later, at another occasion, denounces matrimony as a sanctified prison for women. Judd’s Tina is unforgettable not only because she raises these pertinent truths out in the open. She is powerful because she holds everybody captive by her persuasive gift of the gab and social graces.
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5. Lexie Coop in Where The Heart Is (2000)
This is the part that made me admire Ashley Judd’s natural screen presence. As a small-town waitress struggling to make ends meet for her young children, she still opens up her heart to Novalee ( Natalie Portman). Both have been abandoned by the men in their respective lives and know more than a thing or two about surviving against odds. They naturally connect owing to the tendency to grow up before their time and become anchors for their children.
The turning point comes when Lexie realises that the man she is finding herself drawn to has been abusing her children. It’s this turn towards the more tragic aspect of her life that brings both women closer as best friends. That scene where Lexie narrates her ordeal to Novalee is heartbreaking. Both actresses nail their emotional graphs. This is part of Lexie’s journey, but her silver linings are many. Female solidarity empowers her and Novalee. Both Ashley Judd and Natalie Portman prove by dint of their natural screen presence why they are beloved among their fans.
4. Linda Porter in De-Lovely (2004)
Ashley Judd plays yet another society woman in this slow-burn, liltingly lush look at the lives of Linda and Cole Porter. But she turns it into a study of compartmentalising her true individuality. Cole Porter (Kevin Kline) is a musical genius with an appetite for beauty. His dalliances with other men serve as an open secret for Linda. She accepts him as a man of many seasons and irrefutable liveliness.
“DE-LOVELY” traces their swooning courtship and excavates the ambiguity of his union with this intellectual, beautiful, accommodating woman. She is loved by those around her. Linda is loved by Cole. But her womanly instincts and constant habit of turning away from his indiscretions take a toll on her physical health. Even if Cole Porter was a queer man who established a bond of extraordinary tenderness with Linda, such is the way of gender that it was only Linda who suffered the most as a figure of faith and perseverance.
Watch Judd’s sublime artistry as she mines her inner emotional depths in “DE-LOVELY.” Pair it with 2023’s exquisite “MAESTRO” to know about the inner lives of a woman and the man in her life who shared multiple stages of joy and grief together. The Porters endured their mutual admiration for each other with the poisoned fruits of separation.
3. Lucille in Come Early Morning (2006)
In Joey Lauren Adams’ stirring directorial feature, Ashley gives further heft to her dramatic strengths and harnesses many hallmarks of her storied career. Like “Ruby in Paradise” and “Bug,” this is a deeply personal tale set in the American South, namely Arkansas. It looks at her struggles to find her own individual centre while occupying the regressive, gendered mores of a small town. Like “Ruby In Paradise,” it offers her emotional succour in the form of her work commitments and the move to a higher designation, hence solidifying her true independence. Due to the commitment to her craft, she embodies the inner, internalised pain of having no real allies or a parental unit to look up to at all within this Arkansas town.
Lucille breaks down and appeals to the complex contours of faith. She harbours love, guilt, and shame as well as a familial legacy of emotional recession. She hears a pivotal anecdote about her father’s glory days as a musician from her uncle. But she has a life-force and a spark in her eyes. Her professional acumen as a contractor alone breaks the glass ceiling without making it a huge talking point. In a way, the screenplay appeals to many of the attributes that make her a tremendously tenacious dramatic actor. In a way, this is a companion piece to “Ruby In Paradise” in terms of tonality. What if Ruby had grown older and had fallen into harsher patterns of casual flings and painful internalisations? Watch it to know the power of Ashley Judd’s performance, backed by a great ensemble cast.
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2. Agnes in Bug (2007)
Ashley Judd’s most underrated performance comes in William Friedkin’s 2007 study of trauma and its long-term effects on the physical body. Ashley Judd is Agnes, a struggling waitress from Oklahoma who has lost a young son to a sudden disappearance years ago and is haunted by the penumbra of domestic abuse from her partner( Harry Connick Jr).
The disturbing character study manifests in her trajectory of mental disintegration and credulity when she finds a kindred in Peter (Michael Shannon). Their codependence unravels layers in her distraught life. There’s the genuine stirring of love and kinship, an exchange of concerns and intellectual ideas. But it soon transforms into downright paranoia that insulates her further from her best friend and makes her believe in the larger apparatus of state-sponsored paranoia in the form of surveillance and biological infiltration. It’s all supplied to her by the prophetic ways of Peter, channeling the unhealthy inner workings of patriarchy and victimhood.
The mind and body are sites of infestation in “Bug.” Ashley Judd lets us view the vice-like grip that trauma has on a febrile psyche, dovetailing into being gaslighted and assimilating one’s own sincere self in a crucible of conspiracy theories. She is effective all throughout, but none so much more than in the final thirty minutes. Lines of fact and fiction blur. Trauma takes hold. Judd uncovers that world through her own raw internalisations. So much so that a room tinged with blue light and covered in foil is like an ice-chamber where her trembling breaths witness her ultimate annihilation of the Self.
1. Ruby in Ruby in Paradise (1993)
There couldn’t have been a better showcase for Ashley’s debut performance than this Victor Nunez feature. It’s a heartfelt and interiorized valentine to the everyday. It helps that its narrative voice and point of view are from the titular character’s perspective. Chance and experience build this slice of life drama as the ultimate exemplification of independent filmmaking. From the moment the camera pulls out of a dull, grey house in Tennessee in the opening credits, we are riding along with Ruby. Her face in silhouette as she drives under the blue evening sky reflects the evolutionary arc of women who dare to escape the drudgery of small towns and abusive personal backlogs.
Solidarity from a female businesswoman, a co-worker and confidante, Rochelle finishing college, an Indian neighbour relaying the promise of America, and a duo of women presiding at a laundromat design vignettes of working-class lives that extend the comfort of kinship towards each other. Ashley is naturalism personified as a young woman who journals, ruminates, observes, and takes the beatings of an economy in doldrums. Yet she perseveres and dares to dream beyond her retail job.
Nunez’s screenplay gives her the freedom to understate her emotional graph and give intense power to even her quiet moments in her modest home. Or when she cries out from her gut after receiving sexist treatment from her boss’s son. The Florida sky, tangerine silhouettes, waves, and beachside walks, as well as the spaces of her bed, dinner table, and the emporium where she works, punctuate the changing inflections of her day-to-day arc. There’s color all around Panama City. Ruby draws from them the skills to survive.
Ashley makes it worthwhile, aided by a mellow musical score and cinematography. She registers everything on her highly expressive face. She is a star without vanity. Furthermore, Ashley is a true performance artist without the baggage of her lineage dictating her choices. “Ruby In Paradise” attests to her blessed beginnings. Self-definition is her hallmark here.
