Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Chloe Sevigny is undeniably one of the coolest people on the planet, a feat she has celebrated this week by releasing a book, aptly titled Chloe Sevigny, that serves as a retrospective of the 40-year-old actor’s personal life, film and television career, and experience as a fashion icon.
While you’re waiting for your copy to arrive in the mail (or need to kill time before heading out to your local independently owned bookstore, bless your heart), why not refresh yourself with her acting chops by streaming one of her stunning roles? Sadly, her breakthrough performance in Larry Clark’s Kids is not currently available to stream online, nor is her notorious and controversial turn in Vincent Gallo’s The Brown Bunny. But these five roles offer a small glimpse at the Academy Award nominee’s range — from indie film to forward-thinking TV.
'The Last Days of Disco' (1998)
Whit Stillman’s ode to an end of an era features his trademark biting wit as well as a rousing ’70s soundtrack. But, perhaps more importantly, it features Sevigny in the seductive and subdued role as Alice Kinnon, a cold Ivy League graduate turned club-hopping Manhattanite. The film sees Alice attempt to fit into a post-graduate world with her snotty friends and uninterested men, all set amid the dazzling and fleeting disco age. [Where to stream The Last Days of Disco]
'Julien Donkey-Boy' (1999)
Sevigny re-teamed with Kids and Gummo scribe Harmony Korine for his second directorial effort, produced within the Dogme 95 constraints and co-starring famed German auteur Werner Herzog. Sevigny plays Pearl, the pregnant sister of the schizophrenic titular character in this quiet and polarizing film that has earned a cult following since its release 16 years ago. [Where to stream Julien Donkey-Boy]
'Big Love' (2006-2011)
One might balk at the notion of being the second wife in a polygamous Mormon marriage as “cool,” but Sevigny’s Nicolette Grant was one of the shining lights of the HBO comic drama. The daughter of a fundamentalist sect leader who leaves the compound behind for a shot at life in the “real world” (albeit in an illegal union hidden from her neighbors), Nicki struggles with her own deeply competitive and rebellious nature, and Sevigny creates a character that you love to hate — and a woman you root for nonetheless. [Where to stream Big Love]
'Hit & Miss' (2012)
Sevigny gives a surprise turn in this UK series, portraying a pre-op transgender woman named Mia who happens to be a contract killer. Her already unconventional life turns even more upside-down, however, when she discovers that her ex-girlfriend Wendy is recently deceased — and has left Mia as the guardian of her four children, one of whom is Mia’s. [Where to stream Hit & Miss]
'Bloodline' (2015)
As Chelsea O’Bannon, Sevigny shines as one of the few genuine characters of the new Netflix Original series where protagonists are all but amiss. Her relationship with Danny Rayburn (Ben Mendelsohn) is complicated, but her unflinching sincerity grounds him in a way that wasn’t possible with anyone else in his life. [Where to stream Bloodline]
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