Janeane Garofalo

Publish date: 2024-05-09

Janeane Garofalo was a big star - she was in movies (Reality Bites), tv (Seinfeld, Two And A Half Men, etc.) plus she starred on stage (stand-up.)

According to her IMDB she has made a lot of films in the last 20 years but they all appear to be "straight-to-video" caliber. Why? She was so edgey and smart. Why has her stardom diminished?

by Anonymousreply 71January 11, 2024 11:59 PM

I dunno. Perhaps refer to this exact thread in previous iterations: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018.......

by Anonymousreply 1June 22, 2023 11:38 PM

She's 4' 11" to start with.

by Anonymousreply 2June 22, 2023 11:45 PM

Janeane gets points for not going trans. In fact, she seems authentically whatever she is.

by Anonymousreply 3June 22, 2023 11:48 PM

She lost weight and covered herself in hideous tattoos. She had been a cute chubby Italian-American girl. She stopped being recognizable in the 2000s.

by Anonymousreply 4June 22, 2023 11:52 PM

[quote] Janeane gets points for not going trans.

Honest to god, you people are mentally ill.

by Anonymousreply 5June 22, 2023 11:52 PM

She needs better representation.

by Anonymousreply 6June 22, 2023 11:56 PM

She went off the deep end a bit. Quite a bit off. The plethora of hideous tatts are just the tip of the iceberg.

No computer, no social media, no this no that, blahblahblah. She's smart but not as smart as she thinks she is and she could use some real psychiatric help. Of course psychiatry is out to get her just like the gubamint and all that jazz.

I thought she always had a nice quality but she turned into a loudmouth, paranoid, political burnout. I wish she'd level out and be funny and smart again.

by Anonymousreply 7June 23, 2023 12:05 AM

I liked her very much until she turned into a humorless twat waffle.

by Anonymousreply 8June 23, 2023 12:11 AM

She asked if I knew where to get pills once. Otherwise, perfectly charming and fun. I didn’t know where, btw.

by Anonymousreply 9June 23, 2023 12:12 AM

I sat next to her on a TWA flight once in the early 90s. She read a book the entire flight.

by Anonymousreply 10June 23, 2023 12:19 AM

As a longtime fan I saw her standup act about 8 years ago and it was depressing. She was still (sort of) funny but looked old and exhausted. And instead of her previous, bright sarcastic self, she came off as self-involved and fed up. Not exactly conducive to laughs. I felt bad for her.

by Anonymousreply 11June 23, 2023 12:35 AM

Being latinx probably held her back. She was never a big star. She was portrayed as super fug in The Truth about Cats and Dogs. LOL. A big star would never be dissed so harsh like dat.

by Anonymousreply 12June 23, 2023 1:04 AM

You're on crack, r12. She was never perceived as being latinx, she was never thought of as ugly either. Oh maybe by stupid teen girls and boys but not by normal people.

What held Janeane back was Janeane and her big mouth. Plus all the drugs and the paranoia didn't help.

by Anonymousreply 13June 23, 2023 2:05 AM

The low effort you put into this racebait, r12, is more offensive than the actual racebait.

by Anonymousreply 14June 23, 2023 2:33 AM

Her brother is a really nice pediatric oncologist at a major hospital,very cute gay guy.

by Anonymousreply 16June 23, 2023 3:17 AM

What kind of wigs does she wear?

by Anonymousreply 17June 23, 2023 3:19 AM

She kind of lost her sanity for a bit and seemed quite diminished after.

Was she a big Bernie Sanders supporter or am I thinking of Sarah (also looney) Silverman?

by Anonymousreply 18June 23, 2023 3:22 AM

I've always liked her but never considered her a 'big star' as OP describes. She was more of a niche comedian.

by Anonymousreply 19June 23, 2023 4:07 AM

R13 Fuck off with yo racist crap, mama. Janeane was very proud of being latinx.

by Anonymousreply 20June 23, 2023 1:48 PM

She seems very much like a relic of the 90s. Never really got with the times.

by Anonymousreply 22June 23, 2023 2:05 PM

She should transition and write an autobiography

by Anonymousreply 24June 25, 2023 2:17 AM

Does it really need to be pointed out that she's Italian American on her father's side?

by Anonymousreply 25June 25, 2023 2:28 AM

R25, why is this triggering you??

by Anonymousreply 26June 25, 2023 2:31 AM

Because she's the quintessential "alternative" Gen-Xer and her shtick barley evolved out of the 90s. That's why.

by Anonymousreply 28June 25, 2023 3:05 AM

I was just thinking about her the other day and how weird it was that Hollywood tried so hard to make her happen in the 90s.

You wouldn't see that now.

by Anonymousreply 29June 25, 2023 3:36 AM

I was just thinking about her the other day and how weird it was that Hollywood tried so hard to make her happen in the 90s.

You wouldn't see that now.

by Anonymousreply 30June 25, 2023 3:36 AM

I like Janeane but she was never a 'big star.'

by Anonymousreply 31June 25, 2023 4:02 AM

I suspect that her unbathed, pastey-white looks and 2000s-style jet-black-dyed hair went out of style with her fans and the general public, eventually.

by Anonymousreply 32June 25, 2023 4:27 AM

R9 what kind of pills? She just came up to you and asked where to get pills? Lmao.

by Anonymousreply 33June 25, 2023 4:38 AM

How many times can we have the same thread on this bitch?

by Anonymousreply 35June 25, 2023 5:12 AM

Got political. Last I saw. She should just tell stories. I think she can always be used as an elder now in a film or tv show. A sassy older woman type. She needs to fix her hair and stop dressing like Oscar Madison.

by Anonymousreply 36June 25, 2023 5:31 AM

Poor Janeane went totally over the edge when George Bush was elected. It was a shame. She even tried to become a political pundit and hit all the cable news network argument shows. I think her Air America program was their lowest rated.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 37June 25, 2023 6:14 AM

She was never a big star. They tried to make her a star. They tried that several times.

Her dry wit was good when she was an edgy Gen-X siren, giving voice to the aimless bitching of the MTV Generation and their overlooked-genius complex. Generation X outgrew that attitude, but JG never did. You know how Alanis Morissette sold a billion records with her 28 year-old angst, but then she grew up and found happiness, and now her music sounds entirely different? Garofalo never had that. She's stuck on her debut album, if you will. And people have long since stopped listening.

To make matters worse, she got increasingly shrill in her politics. People stopped buying tickets to her shows and movies, so she tried a Franken-esque pivot to political commentary. Sadly, she couldn't match Al Franken (or even Dennis Miller) in the commentary department, so she wound up on Air America as Rachel Maddow's uneducated cousin.

"Lisa Lampanelli is an unfunny, overweight, female comic. She's seven shitty movies away from being Janeane Garofalo. And you might ask 'Why slam Janeane when she isn't here to defend herself?' And the truth is, I've met Janeane Garofalo, and she's a fucking cunt!" - Artie Lange

by Anonymousreply 38June 25, 2023 6:24 AM

I'm not certain being criticized by Artie Lange ( or anybody else in the Howard Stern orbit ) really reflects badly on Janeane but nonetheless she self destructed like the tape on Mission Impossible. I genuinely wish she could have held it together.

by Anonymousreply 39June 25, 2023 6:33 AM

[quote] She's 4' 11" to start with.

Just like Armond Rizzo.

by Anonymousreply 40June 25, 2023 6:46 AM

And please stop saying Latinx. It's an insult.

by Anonymousreply 41June 25, 2023 6:48 AM

She's actually stated that she has sabotaged her own career many many times over.

She only made it 1 season on that Bravo show - which was a fucking shame. They replaced her - and supposedly for good reason.

She's hard to work with - all the time. It's really unfortunate - but she readily admits it herself.

by Anonymousreply 42June 25, 2023 7:42 AM

She confirmed she wasn’t Daria. Dumb cunt. She shoulda went with it.

by Anonymousreply 43June 25, 2023 8:13 AM

Her official website is pretty sad and was abandoned in 2016.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 44June 25, 2023 8:23 AM

She's as associated with the '90s as the Bee-Gees are with disco.

by Anonymousreply 45June 25, 2023 11:05 AM

How does she support herself?

by Anonymousreply 46June 25, 2023 12:02 PM

[quote] She shoulda went with it.

As in Went with the Wind.

Oh, dear.

by Anonymousreply 48June 25, 2023 11:10 PM

She never should've left Larry Sanders for SNL.

by Anonymousreply 49June 26, 2023 3:08 AM

She’s Italian-Irish according omniscient Wikipedia. That explains half of the alcoholism.

by Anonymousreply 50June 26, 2023 3:15 AM

I think she had a fairly typical career arc. She got fairly big, if not a mega-star. Last thing I saw her in was episodes of Broad City. I usually enjoyed her. She's essentially 90s canon. I think I read on one of the numerous other JG threads that she doesn't do much social media posting, and that's one reason why if you're not affirmatively trying to seek her out, she's basically disappeared.

by Anonymousreply 52September 29, 2023 8:54 PM

She hit her no-longer-cute years. that's what. A pretty young woman with a give-no-fucks smart mouth and a stinging sense of humor is unusual enough to get a lot of attention, but there's a bazillion middle-aged women like that, and nobody writes movie roles for them.

And yes, Jeannene, you've always been a looker. Pretty rather than a stunner, but you were never right for those plain-Jane roles you played when you were young.

by Anonymousreply 53September 29, 2023 9:07 PM

I think she did well with the plain Jane roles. We're talking Hollywood plain Jane, not everyday plain Jane.

by Anonymousreply 55September 30, 2023 2:21 AM

Haven’t thought of her in years but loved her in Romy and Michelle.

by Anonymousreply 56September 30, 2023 2:29 AM

She was good in Copland with Stallone and DeNiro. I'm too lazy to Google but wasn't she in a Sopranos episode with Sandra Bernhardt?

by Anonymousreply 57September 30, 2023 4:17 AM

Oh gawd please don’t summon the Janeane lover troll.

by Anonymousreply 58September 30, 2023 4:37 AM

r57 Yes..playing an actress making a movie in a Christopher episode.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 60September 30, 2023 5:08 AM

Brand new interview with Janeane Garofalo on David Cross's "Senses Working Overtime".

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 62January 11, 2024 11:09 PM

I always liked her. She was smart to leave SNL during a dismal era but Michael’s may have blacklisted her. She made mediocre movies.

by Anonymousreply 63January 11, 2024 11:13 PM

Is "Why has her stardom diminished?" the new "Straight down the shitter"?

by Anonymousreply 64January 11, 2024 11:21 PM

She was the lead character in The Matchmaker (1997) which seemed an odd choice for a film very much of it's time - as nearly all of her films were. A sort of parallel to Parker Posey but whinier and less charming.

She became very political at about the time her she stopped doing so many films. Instead she was appear as a commentator or an interview subject or, more rarely it seemed, as a comedian of a sort more than an actress. She seemed a bit unstable and walking a very narrow edge for a while.

I didn't dislike her, but she was part to like in her political phase (even if I agreed with her) and after that she was not seen so often.

by Anonymousreply 65January 11, 2024 11:23 PM

Hilarious as the foul mouthed weird girl in Romy and Michelle.

by Anonymousreply 66January 11, 2024 11:30 PM

R9, she has or had a substantial amphetamine addiction. This was about 15 years ago so things change.

by Anonymousreply 67January 11, 2024 11:32 PM

The funniest bit she ever did was the Lady Fair cigarette thing in Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 68January 11, 2024 11:37 PM

I smoke and almost every time I light up I think of that scene and Garofalo R68. I'm a quick smoker so that's why I think of "twice the taste in half the time for the girl on the go"...

I'm a gay man though.

by Anonymousreply 69January 11, 2024 11:51 PM

R69, I'm a former smoker who loved sucking down a loosely packed cigarette, too.

by Anonymousreply 70January 11, 2024 11:56 PM

So it wasn't just me R70/R68! Love it!

by Anonymousreply 71January 11, 2024 11:59 PM

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3TmqOorZ6csm%2BvzqZmraCimq6le5JsaGprZGV9brbAp5yappVitKK%2Bzp%2BYpac%3D