Over the course of her life, Elisabeth Shue has been many things.
“I just really enjoy the work that I do,” she toldPop Entertainment.
“I find things.
Every year, I seem to find one movie.
I still work with people I really respect.
As long as I can do that, that’s really the point.”
That state of acceptance, however, took a while to settle into.
“We’ve always just grown up with this sense of idealism about politics.”
Unfortunately, it seems that Shue’s home life was not always a happy one.
As a teenager, Elisabeth began dipping her toe into the world of entertainment.
She picked up roles in a number of commercials.
One ad even put Elisabeth Shue on screen with fellow stars-to-be Lea Thompson and Sarah Michelle Gellar!
“Ralph was a big star compared to the rest of us,” she said.
“We were all like: Woah, he has a manager.”
“I’m sure I would’ve been much better if I had trained …
I could’ve kicked his ass.”
Furthermore, Shue said she wasn’t sure the movie would be a hit.
“I was worried,” she confessed.
“I thought it sounded a little strange.
‘The Karate Kid’?
“All my kids have watched it,” she said.
“There’s so much that’s good about it.”
The movie was mostly a critical success.
Nowadays, the film represents an important part of Shue’s early career.
After all, it was Shue’s first time as a leading lady.
The following year, Shue was paired withTom Cruisein “Cocktail.”
While filming the flair-bartending romance, Shue and Cruise shot a scene involving a helicopter.
“He lunged after her, but only was able grab her legs, tackling her to the ground.
Thankfully, she realized that Cruise had just saved her life.
He died from his injuries.
“[My brother’s] death stripped away the dishonesty in my life,” she said.
“What happened to Will taught me that human beings are fragile.
His death taught me not to be afraid anymore of who I was.”
Shue said the incident put her in therapy, which wound up being beneficial.
Also around this time, Shue met and fell in love with documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim.
At the time, she was still struggling with William’s loss.
You cannot approach life without seeing there’s a wonderful, horrible duality to things.”
Guggenheim acknowledged that the shocking event may have provided an unexpected gift for his now-wife’s career.
The movie was very well received.
As she toldThe Virginian-Pilot, “I knew what the outcome would be.
I wasn’t surprised.
I was glad for Susan [Sarandon, who won the Oscar instead].
I felt she deserved it.”
She had attended Wellesley College and Harvard University but kept having to leave to manage her acting career.
It’s kind of chopped up,” she told UPI.
“I’ve been going to college for six years now.”
She went back to Harvard in 2000, this time determined to finish.
“My brain was starting to dry up,” she told Movieline.
She toldPeoplethat she saw Portman around campus many times but never introduced herself.
This time, she stuck with it, graduating with a degree in political science.
It was also inspired, in big part, by Elisabeth’s relationship with William.
Furthermore, they wanted her to play a version of her mother.
“At that point, I didn’t have any choice,” Shue toldThe Traveler Watchman.
“Looking back, I’m glad that they did get me involved.”
The filming experience was an emotional one.
The biggest hurdle, she said, was filming the older brother character’s death scene.
The entire town was our backyard."
The movie was ultimately a mild critical success.
Still, the experience of turning their pain into art was a cathartic one.
“I just, you know, got kind of sick of the business, you know?
Shue told Pop Entertainment that she was flattered by Dana’s joy.
“It’s so entertaining and over the top.
You feel so much love and appreciation.”
Furthermore, Shue wasn’t offended by the film’s joke that her career in Hollywood was over.
A few years after the film’s release, Shue toldRadioFree.comshe wished it had done better.
“But it is sad when something so worthy [doesn’t find an audience].”
After her Oscar nomination, she told The Virginian-Pilot, “The celebrity thing is bad news.
It’s a reality I never had to face before.
I wasn’t prepared.”
Shue has, however, shared that she is a mother three times over.
She and Davis Guggenheim have a son named Miles and daughters named Stella and Agnes.
Having children made Shue reconsider her priorities.
“And that choice was so easy when I thought about each film.
It’s an amazing experience, but it ends up just being a video, in the end.”
In 2012, however, Shue’s career entered yet another new phase: television star.
“I’m very grateful to be working.
I’m always grateful,” she toldThe Columbus Dispatch.
“And the older you get, you get more grateful and appreciative.”
Shue would ultimately spend four seasons on the show, filming 71 episodes.
After complimenting the show’s writing, Shue toldJoBlo, “I loved my character.
Though (spoilers!)
In 2022, she voiced Stillwell in the animated spinoff “The Boys: Diabolical.”
When that character was written off, I would’ve picked up the phone.”
It was always from my perspective.”
The stars got along great when they found themselves back on set together.
“Like none at all.”
She likes getting older
When she was younger, Elisabeth Shue was nervous about getting older.
Over two decades later, Shue’s outlook on life seems to have changed.
I do believe that.
Nowadays, Shue has made peace with both her insides and outsides.
