TV - Movies
Why Hollywood
Won't Cast
Kim Basinger
Anymore
By PHIL ARCHBOLD AND BRIAN BOONE
Being a sex symbol in Hollywood can take a career to new heights, which is precisely what happened to Kim Basinger when she agreed to a full-frontal nude photoshoot with Playboy. When she played Domino Petachi in “Never Say Never Again,” it cemented her sex symbol status, but unfortunately, it was also hard to drop.
Sex Symbol
In 2000, Basinger's big-screen adaptation of Kuki Gallmann's memoir “I Dreamed of Africa” was released, and even though it was a life-changing experience for her, the movie was panned by critics. It has a dire 10 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was criticized for failing to move and entertain.
Passion Project Tanked
Reuniting with director Curtis Hanson to play Eminem's mother in "8 Mile" was a good move for Basinger's career in some ways but it came with an unwanted side effect. As the 2000s ticked on, Basinger realized that she'd been consigned to a brand new pigeonhole — the wife and/or mother.
Wife And Mom
According to Basinger, if you want to get ahead in Hollywood then you have to be willing to network, something she's admittedly terrible at. In 2016, she stated in an interview that she had struggled with social anxiety for a number of years and that those anxieties limited her ability to further her career.
Spotlight Shy
It isn't quite as debilitating as it once was, but Basinger still has the odd onset of anxiety today. Rubbing shoulders with Hollywood bigwigs has never been her style, but she's made a concerted effort to get over her social anxieties for the sake of her career — nobody wants to hire an actor who can't handle being around other people.
Anxiety