Debicki F.E.A.R.
Sunday, August 16, 2015 at 11:30AM 
Jose here. While watching The Man From U.N.C.L.E. yesterday and getting endless cinephile-boners from watching Elizabeth Debicki slink her way through the senseless plot - as she played the sexiest villain this side of Eartha Kitt as Catwoman - a pervading fear entered my mind: will Hollywood know what to do with her?
Combining the voice of la Blanchett, the statuesque-ness of Nicole and the effortless class of both Hepburns (although she's much more Kate than Audrey), Debicki might find spineless studio honchos not knowing what to do with her! Will they stick her to playing villains forever (she might've been a much more interesting Bond baddie than what hammy Christoph Waltz is doing in the Spectre trailers)? Will they stick her to playing icy sidekicks like she did in The Great Gatsby? If they saw what she was up to onstage in The Maids where she stole the show from both Blanchett and Isabelle Huppert (!!!), casting agents should be dreaming roles for her 24/7. However we know how these things usually turn out, and now I'm worried, we'll never see her again! *breathes into paper bag*
Dear readers, what movie-related fears invade your mind today?
Let Elizabeth whisk you away into dreamland as you come up with witty answers in the comments, we're all ears...
Reader Comments (11)
I haven't gotten to see this yet but she looks fahhhhhbulous in every publicity still i've seen of her in this movie. She did a great job with a reduced role in Gatsby (where she also looked fahhhhhbulous) so i'm happy to hear that she's also great in this.
More Elizabeth! (though she looks *incredibly* similar to Caitlin FitzGerald of Masters of Sex off-screen which frequently confuses me)
With Spectre, I'm still holding out hope that Monica Bellucci turns out to be the main villain instead of some throwaway Bond girl so we'll see.
Can I be one of her henchman?
One of mine is that with each passing year the studios will continue to make less challenging or even just entertaining films and fall victim to overusing technology to foist mindless trash with no redeeming value on us and that everything will be shot in the godawful black & blue palate to show how "edgy" directors with minimal talent think they are.
Oh wait that's already happened.
I loved Debicki in U.N.C.L.E., I really enjoyed the whole film it did have some holes in logic but overall it was a breezy fun spy adventure and at least it didn't have any big "Oh come on!" moments like driving a car through the air from one building to another and emerging completely unharmed. And the fashion!!! If there isn't a nomination for it come Oscar morning then the awards are rigged.
Doesn't it feel like Debicki might find some TV series work before we get to see her really lead a film? Although I could also see her breakout being something like a Richard Curtis film, or a comedy where she plays Emily Blunt's sister. Her work so far has been in period films - she'd be overqualified for the alleged "female-centric" reboot of "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", but to be clear, I wouldn't wish that on her.
I think the main thing against Debicki is her age. She's 24/25 and roles usually offered to actresses that age are ingénue's which Debicki would never be able to be as she towers above most actors. Once she hits her 30's I expect big things for her to arise because she will have to look for the interesting roles and she will have aged into her beauty that she already has. I wish the world for her because she's 2/2 for me stealing these big blockbuster movies. She's over six feet which Kidman can at least say she's not and that is really difficult for an actress like her to make it. Could you ever imagine Debicki in the Ferguson role towering over Cruise or playing Howards role in Jurassic World where in heels she tower over Pratt who himself is tall 6'2.
Dave S.: Eh, I think the concept sounds promising and it can't seriously be done worse than last time.
Eoin Daly: I didn't recognize how TALL Debicki when watching the movie would have to be, but after finding that out: Who else here would KILL to have her be Wonder Woman instead of Gal Gadot? (There's not a lot of choices for an actress so tall that aren't some flavour of awkward. Wonder Woman is one of the ones that definitely isn't and it's better to have a good-great actress having promising work.)
Volvagia - Ooh, but we don't have our Captain Marvel just yet! Although, again, I'm not sure feeding her into the superhero machine is the route I'd hope for.
Debicki's new BBC miniseries sounds great, although I don't know how big her role is. The Night Manager, based on a Le Carre novel, with Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman, and Debicki, directed by Suzanne Bier.
If ever a good film about tennis was made, Debicki would be a wonderful Maria Sharapova.
Umm... she's only been in the public eye for two years. Give her a bit of time yet before we start worrying for her career. She's gotten good notices in bad movies, appeared in what is sure to be a critical success (Macbeth, in which she's good in a small role) and done stellar work on stage (The Maids).
But what Debicki has in her favour is Hylda Queally, having the same agent as Blanchett, Winslet, Cotillard, Cruz, Chastain and others can only help her. And she is able work in the theatre.
Just saw the movie, a decision supported strongly by this post, but am afraid I missed whatever it is everyone sees in Debicki. Hers was the thinnest villain role we've seen in a while for one if these spy flicks, and she doesn't rise above. The movie was a lot of fun, but I have to say, of the four leads, Debicki is the most forgettable!
I'm glad you enjoyed her, and I'm certainly not saying she was bad, but just sort of... nothing. That was mostly the script I imagine. I did find myself wondering when Hollywood would give us a truly villainous woman without wanting to explain that she's inherited the family business from her father. (See also: Spy). Movies never feel the need to explain the pedigree of their male baddies quite so often.