TW: Portrayals of Abuse and Sexual Assault

Forty years after David Lynch’s Blue Velvet graced the silver screen, lead Italian actress Isabella Rossellini recalls her performance as abuse victim Dorothy Vallens and critics’ reactions to her performance. The late movie critic Roger Ebert claimed that Rossellini was exploited in her role due to everything she does, which Rossellini has constantly refuted.

In Blue Velvet, Dorothy is a rape and abuse victim of terrifying gangster Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper), who holds her under his thumb by threatening her husband and son. Throughout the film, Dorothy is beaten, sexually assaulted, and more. One example Ebert highlights is a scene where “she’s publicly embarrassed by being dumped naked on the lawn of the police detective.” Ebert thus decried the film for forcing Rossellini “to portray emotions that I imagine most actresses would rather not touch.” He then went even further to state that any director who would force actresses to perform this way “should keep [their] side of the bargain by putting her in an important film.”

However, Rossellini countered this claim and stated that she had chosen to perform the role on her terms, “I was 31 or 32. I chose to play the character,” she reminisced. Rossellini was excited to work on a character with what she considered a nuanced portrayal of an abuse victim. She showed vulnerability in scenes where she was attacked while also “camouflage[ing] herself behind what she was asked to be, which was sexy and beautiful and singing.” Even to this day, Rossellini has proclaimed her love for this film and Lynch’s ability to write and develop a multifaceted character.