Cult Actresses: Shannyn Sossamon

Shannyn Sossamon, 32, came upon the scene in a most annoying way, which probably kick-started her career badly. Already a working model, she was discovered by a casting director -- not at a soda fountain on Hollywood Boulevard -- but at Gwyneth Paltrow's birthday party in 1999. Isn't that annoying? (I'm sure it must have been annoying to Ms. Paltrow, anyway.) Sossamon was already in a place of privilege... why her and not someone more deserving? When she made her movie debut in A Knight's Tale (2001, Brian Helgeland), opposite Heath Ledger, I wrote that she looked a bit like an Angelina Jolie wannabe. The movie, however, was a good deal of fun, never mind that most people couldn't get their heads around its goofy disregard of period detail.

After that, she chose wisely, but perhaps without much luck. She was in the sexy, cynical The Rules of Attraction (2002, Roger Avary), and the sexy, funny 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002, Michael Lehmann). In short, she was sexy. Sexy sometimes scares American critics, though, and neither of these films fared well. After that, she re-teamed with director Helgeland and star Ledger in The Order (2003). When I spoke to Helgeland in 2001, he was very excited about this film, and I imagine that his original conception and the final product are not very close neighbors. But I still like it; it has a lot of atmosphere and style, not to mention presence.

I didn't see Sossamon for a few years, until Wristcutters: A Love Story (2007, Goran Dukic) turned up a bit late. This seemed like an almost deliberate attempt at a cult classic, but it's so unique and so funny that it worked for me. Sossamon also had small parts in the wonderful Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005, Shane Black), and -- improbably -- as Jack Black's girlfriend in the even more improbable The Holiday (2006, Nancy Meyers). Then came One Missed Call (2008), a universally hated remake of a classic Japanese horror film; it's not good by any stretch, but I liked its quiet tone.

There were some titles that must have gone direct-to-video, I guess, but now Sossamon is back in a new movie by Monte Hellman -- a genuine cult auteur -- and it's arguably her best work and a must-see. In Road to Nowhere, she plays a mysterious actress, hired due to her indefinable allure, and damned if she doesn't pull it off. She's striking, and startling, so much so that her every move has the power to hypnotize and enchant. And yet she's adorable... and human. If it were in a big, mainstream movie, this role would make her a big star.

Today I'd swap her career for Jolie's any old day. Jolie has tread such a stagnant, safe path that she has practically become frozen, while Sossamon remains warm and elastic. She's a beautiful mutt with an amazing grab-bag of heritages. I have never met her, but she strikes me as a genuine oddball, a girl who doesn't mind getting a bad haircut just to see how it looks, and keeps some low-top Converse in the closet. She probably mixes and matches expensive designer tops with vintage, rummage-sale bottoms (and vice versa). I see her as low-maintenance on Sundays and, on every other day, she's trouble. But it's the best kind.