I can't find a good photo of Joan Hackett for this post.
Various descriptions of "The Last of Sheila" paint Joan Hackett as a Plain Jane (via Wikipedia, she is called a "homely wife"). I found that incomprehensible -- I thought she was the loveliest of the three women. She isn't a flashy beauty like Raquel Welch, but she had a certain class and breeding to her. As such it seemed improbable that Lee would tell Christine she was "trying to hold on to a husband" or that said husband wanted to murder her. Or that the other two women would slight her every chance they got.
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A lot of American movies and TV shows have a premise that a beautiful woman is supposed to be homely. I've never been able to figure out why.
Especially on TV, I notice that people cast as "extras" -- who are supposed to be "normal" or "average" -- are actually quite attractive. They never have braces or acne, and they don't need to lose 10 pounds, not unless they're in a quirky character role. Casting directors must have a fear that audiences don't want to look at ordinary people, that it takes away from the escapism.
That's one of the things I love about foreign films like Amelie. All of the people have such interesting faces. Actors in American movies tend to have rather boring good looks.
Here's a good picture of her, although not from "Sheila."
She didn't have that over-the-top Hollywood look, and I guess the alternative is "homely."
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