ATLANTA MAGAZINE March 1999

20 Most Intriguing People

Movies
ELAINE HENDRIX
Hollywood’s Next Funny Lady

Other young actresses - especially with Hendrix’s cool ice blond gaze and dancer’s willowy walk - have been proclaimed the next “it” girl for kissing Hollywood hunks. Hendrix made her mark kissing a lizard.
As the evil stepmom wannabe in last year’s remake of The Parent Trap, Hendrix gamely sucked face with a reptile – a move that has seared her into the pop culture consciousness of a generation. “That is one of those moments that is instant movie magic,” says Atlanta Journal-Constitution film critic Steve Murray. “Kids are going to watch that over and over again. It will be a classic scene.”

Hendrix herself is amazed by the scene; she’s snuck into theaters to watch audiences watch her big scene. “People flip out,” she says. “I’m the one who did it, but when I see it on the screen, I can’t believe it.”

Taking that kind of risk – “letting go” – is what Hendrix is willing to do, and what sets her apart from the current crop of up-and-coming ingenues. A graduate of Northside High School’s performing arts program, Hendrix evokes the spirit of old Hollywood – a combination of grace, wit and nerves of steel. One of her heroes is Lucille Ball: “She was so beautiful, but she wasn’t afraid to be funny.”

After a breakout part in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and kissing the lizard, Hendrix is on a roll. She’s co-starring in the summer flick Superstar with Saturday Night Live’s Molly Shannon.

What’s it like a the crest of superstardom?

“It’s a little scary, it’s fun… it’s nerve-racking,” she says. – Rebecca Poynor Burns