Mallrats, by Claire Forlani
Few British actors have established careers in Hollywood as swiftly as Claire Forlani. The British actress made a low-key debut in the early 1990s and then worked her way up through big-budget romantic dramas like Meet Joe Black and indie comic smashes like Mallrats with All-American Stepdad Brad Pitt.
Where has she been since the end of the 1990s, when she hit hard and quickly?
Claire, who was raised in affluence and was born in London to an English mother and an Italian father, was urged to pursue ballet by her parents as a young child before deciding on an acting career.
Her parents would go to the American West to begin a new life in Hollywood where their daughter would have greater opportunities in the spotlight, following in the footsteps of their forefathers.
Making her Hollywood debut in the television movie Scruples with Chad Michael Murray’s always groomsman, never the Groom. No one remembers it, but it had some kind of an effect and brought Claire more parts alongside future stars like Patrick Dempsey as JFK (with an intact head!) in JFK: Reckless Youth before she had a huge break in… The Moscow mission of the police academy.
It’s as awful as it sounds and somehow succeeded in bringing Sir Christopher Lee in while booting OJ Simpson out. Yes, I also don’t get it.
Even so, it would help Claire Forlani advance, getting her a role in the newest independent comedy from rising writer/director Kevin Smith.
The lead role in Smith’s sequel to Clerks, Mallrats, starring Claire as Brandi, one of the mall’s eccentric residents, was cast in 1995.
She would get an opportunity to demonstrate a different side in Basquiat the following year as only one of the back-to-back powerful flicks, giving her a chance to test her humorous muscles rather than dramatic ones.
She would play Sean “Open Hand Abuse” Connery’s daughter alongside another icon, Nicolas Cage, in The Rock in 1996, adding to the quieter drama of Basquiat and earning even more of that sweet, big studio money.
Claire would take on more challenging drama roles in the second half of the decade, including those in the aforementioned Meet Joe Black and The Last Time I Committed Suicide as well as the strangely endearing Ben Stiller superhero parody Mystery Men to wrap everything out.
Hank Azaria delivers the line “Leaving so spoon?” in this movie with perfect sincerity, and that’s only the top of how fantastic it is.
Claire Forlani simply kept going, developing into a drama powerhouse in the 2000s, and taking on increasingly frequent roles in films centred around horses.
She would occasionally contrast the sombre material with a lighthearted comedy, seizing the chance in 2003 to co-star in the action/comedy The Medallion with Jackie Chan.
The future Sons of Anarchy actor Charlie Hunnam and she co-starred in Greene Street Hooligans before she moved on to the most controversial and outlandish role of her career. She would go on to have additional modest but well-done roles in more indie plays.
Claire, are you serious? An Uwe Boll movie? But honey, you mean to tell me you saw “From the Director that brought you House of the Dead and Bloodrayne” and just signed up? I could understand if this was like an early career film. You sad, miserable beast. I’m hoping you received at least half as much money for In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale as they did for Statham, Pearlman, and Liotta. Burt Reynolds, Matthew Lillard, and Jesus Christ all fell for it as well!
But Claire wasn’t going to let it stop her. She returned to Hollywood with renewed vigour after getting married to Dougray Scott, an almost-Wolverine actor, and discovered the alluring world of syndicated procedurals and primetime drama.
She began her career with guest appearances on CSI and NCIS, and to usher in the new decade, she also had an appearance in a major role on the brief Camelot.
Throughout the 2010s, she would continue accepting roles, albeit on a much slower timetable, including Hawaii Five-O and appearing in independent films.
When Forlani and her husband Dougray Scott welcomed their first kid into the world in 2014, the slowdown picked up speed.
She would then take a break from performing to put more of her attention on her family, but in 2017 she would speak out to share her past interactions with producer Harvey Weinstein. He’s a piece of sh*t and repeatedly made repulsive approaches towards her, spoiler alert. Being a kind person to everyone you meet is not difficult, Harvey.
These days, Claire is content to lead a carefree mom life that includes acting in anything she pleases, caring for her kid, and spending time with him in between appearances in the Disney+ series Black Beauty and the Epix series Domina.
She has other projects lined up for the future to keep her busy and is on schedule to return for Kevin Smith’s eagerly anticipated sequel, Twilight of the Mallrats.