Why Hollywood Won't Cast Kate Bosworth Anymore
When Blue Crush hit theaters in 2002, many expected yet another mindless surfer movie with teenage girls in bikinis. Instead, they found an empowering story of three working-class hotel maids fighting poverty and class distinction while trying to realize their dreams of becoming professional surfers at Hawaii's famous North Shore. Audiences and critics also discovered who was next in line to be crowned Hollywood's bright "star in the making" — Kate Bosworth.
Although her next film, 2004's Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, was a critical and box office failure, Bosworth's turned in a solid performance as small-town girl Rosalee Futch. Famed critic Roger Ebert said Bosworth held the formulaic comedy together "with a sweetness that is beyond calculation."
With two critically acclaimed roles out of the gate, there was no question Bosworth was poised to grace the silver screen for decades to come, but flash forward more than 15 years later, and that prophecy has yet to be fulfilled.
From high-profile breakups to a string of flops and outspoken activism, Bosworth's personal and professional life has endured a few wipeouts since she surfed her way into our hearts. Let's take a deep dive to find out why Hollywood won't cast Kate Bosworth anymore.
Critics dissed her in Superman Returns
Bryan Singer's 2006 Superman Returns was supposed to be the Man of Steel's triumphant return (get it?) to the big screen after an almost 20-year hiatus. Warner Bros. expected its inevitable success to relaunch the iconic superhero with a tent-pole franchise for the new millennium.
It didn't go as planned. The film was only a modest hit with critics, and it barely recouping it's $270 million production budget with audiences. Most of the criticism about the severely flawed project was leveled at the two stars: Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth.
Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle argued that the then 22-year-old Bosworth was too young to portray the fearless and cynical award-winning journalist, Lois Lane, summing up her performance as a "younger person's naive conception of strength."
Even though her first role in a mega-budget movie soured her prospects to star in another one, Bosworth has eventually grown to accept and even agree with the criticism of her turn as Lois Lane. "I was just a kid. I don't know how interesting I was at 22, or how interesting any 22-year-old is!" she told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2017. "I mean, I'm 34, I'm still young, but the more time you have on this planet, the more confident you become, the more experience you've had to fill you out."
Director Singer, on the other hand, blamed women for not flocking to the theater. Sure thing, buddy.
It was one movie wipeout after another
Bosworth's star immediately started trending downward after Superman Returns, and what followed was a seemingly endless procession of either critically-savaged studio offerings, independent misfires, or foreign-financed bombs.
First came 2008's 21, Bosworth's last gasp with a major Hollywood studio. Although the tale of MIT and Harvard students counting cards to rob casinos blind was a box-office smash, it was a critical disaster, and a whitewashing controversy didn't help the film age well.
Next up was 2010's The Warrior's Way, a "samurai-gangster-spaghetti western" that made back less than half of its production budget.
2011, however, was the year Bosworth would probably love to do over. Little Birds was a "Sundance hit" that failed to translate its buzz into commercial success and only became mainstream news when it's director (and former gang member) was sent to prison for extortion. The Chicago Tribune called Straw Dogs, a remake of Sam Peckinpah's 1971 psychological thriller, "miscast, barely functional in terms of technique, stupid and unnecessary." Then came Another Happy Day, an ensemble black comedy that made $8,464 domestically.
Let's not even discuss 2013's Movie 43. We're still not sure what all those stars were thinking with that one. Yikes.
Her love life upstaged her work life
You might not be able to name two Kate Bosworth movies off the top of your head, but we're confident you'll be able to remember at least one of her famous exes.
Her two-year relationship with Orlando Bloom ended in 2005 much to the feigned concern of tabloids everywhere. In a 2011 interview with Sunday Times Style (per Us Weekly), Bosworth opened up about her breakup with The Lord of The Rings star. "You know when you put all your chips into something, then it disappears?" she recalled. "[The break-up] sent me into such pain, I think I had actual vertigo. I was like, 'Is this my new reality? Will anything be normal again?'"
That melancholy interview occurred the same year that her love life made headlines once again. Her split with Straw Dogs co-star, Alexander Skarsgard, overshadowed their wildly underperforming film.
Luckily, Bosworth found low-profile love in 2013 when she married film director Michael Polish. Bosworth and Bloom even managed to enjoy a friendly "reunion" at the Dior Homme Cocktail Reception in 2015. Who says you can't have it all?
She's fashion famous, but not movie famous
Kate Bosworth has managed to remain a massive star in the eyes of the fashion industry. Gracing more fashion magazine covers than your favorite model, Bosworth is seemingly entrenched in the industry as a "quintessential style star."
"You'll still find Bosworth in plenty of magazines even when she's not on the cover, because the star is a staple of fashion campaigns," reported Racked. "She's served as an ambassador for beauty brands like Revlon and SK-II; posed for Calvin Klein Jeans, Tory Burch, and Shopbop; and even (literally) sung the praises of cotton, to name a few. Considering how much such endorsements can pay, it's no surprise that Bosworth doesn't need to lean on film work to make ends meet."
She's apparently helping publishers make ends meet too. According to the Alliance for Audited Media (via Racked), an Elle Canada issue starring Bosworth was the publication's second-highest seller of 2015.
So while Hollywood casting agents may not be beating down her door, it seems fashion execs are still very interested in Bosworth.
She's been called a 'mocktress'
In a 2013 Pret-a-Reporter article, the writer lambasted the rise of the "mocktress" — "a certain lanky, large-eyed genre of B-list-and-lower actresses" who have "added 'model' to their business-savvy hyphenate titles." Ouch. Even worse, the writer dropped names, including Kate Bosworth's.
Bosworth wasn't the only target. Jessica Alba, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Camilla Belle, Ashley Greene, and Rachel Bilson also appeared on the list, while Elle Fanning and Hailee Steinfeld were referred to as "mocktresses-in-training."
The article claimed Bosworth "earned $100,000 per public appearance." We don't know about you, but if someone would like to pay us to grace a red carpet or sit in the front row during Fashion Week, we'd gladly accept.
She's battling 'acceptable sexism'
Bosworth lent her voice to the #MeToo movement with a single tweet that said simply, "#MeToo."
Like many women in the industry, she felt empowered by the #MeToo movement and determined to battle the rampant sexism that has plagued Hollywood for decades. "I feel that because of them and because of other people speaking out, there is an opportunity to demand the required change in our industry," she told InStyle. "I call it acceptable sexism. You know, comments, things that men in power say that are demeaning and humiliating and demoralizing. It's countless, countless times that this has happened to me."
In an interview with People, Bosworth also called out the seemingly benign sexism that infects major filmmaking decisions. "The one thing I heard on every single film — and I'm telling you there isn't an exception — whenever I'm up for a role, really no matter how big or small, the answer that I always get from anyone who's casting me [is], 'We have to cast the guy first.'"
"Every single one, there is no exception," she said. "Unless I'm producing it."
With the recent revelations that Harvey Weinstein allegedly blacklisted actresses as Mira Sorvino, Annabella Sciorra, and Rose McGowan, it's very possible that Bosworth's career also has suffered due to Hollywood's rampant sexism and misogyny.
Reminder: she's done some great work
Now seems like a good time to remind you that Bosworth has, indeed, participated in some very good work, but who knew it would take Jason Statham and Sylvester Stallone to give her career a much-needed boost. Starring the English action star and written by Rocky himself, 2013's Homefront allowed Bosworth to sink her teeth into the role of a backwoods meth head hellbent on revenge. Was it a standard, paint-by-numbers action flick? Absolutely. Was it a box-office hit? Absolutely.
In 2014, Bosworth moved back to indie dramas with Still Alice, playing the adult daughter of a professor who slowly deteriorates from early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Julianne Moore, in the titular role, took home the Academy Award for best actress, and the film enjoyed great commercial success.
2018 saw Bosworth trying her hand in horror with Netflix's Before I Wake. Originally shot in 2013, and set to be released theatrically in 2015, the film was delayed when its distributor, Relativity, filed for bankruptcy. The dark fantasy-horror tale about a child who can physically manifest his dreams and nightmares is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the best-reviewed films of Bosworth's career.
She shifted from the big screen to the small screen.
While Bosworth hasn't sustained much success on the big screen, she has done better on the small screen by diving into diverse roles both in the States and across the pond. It may feel like Hollywood won't cast Bosworth, but she's been plenty busy, and her projects are worth watching.
On Crackle's The Art of More, a drama which "explores the underbelly and surprisingly cutthroat high-stakes world of New York auction houses," Bosworth stars as Roxanna Whitman, the "daughter of the CEO of one of the two warring auction houses." At the time of this writing, the show is entering its third season.
On BBC One's SS-GB, Bosworth plays American journalist Barbara Barga in alternate history Nazi-occupied London where "the Germans won the Battle of Britain." The five-part miniseries, described as "a dark and intricate story of moral ambiguity" most definitely sounds like a binge watch.
In 2017, Bosworth played Gina Denomy, wife of Capt. Troy Denomy, in National Geographic's The Long Road Home. Based on the 2007 book by Martha Raddatz, the eight-part miniseries chronicles the day a small group of Army soldiers were pinned down in Sadr City, Iraq. Portraying Denomy was "an incredibly emotional experience," Bosworth told InStyle. "She is someone that I was able to speak with if not daily, every other day. And if I wasn't speaking to her, we were texting every day. And it made a tremendous difference in my experience and in my performance."
She's calling the shots
Perhaps Hollywood writ large isn't calling on Kate Bosworth anymore because she doesn't need to cater to anyone else. She and her husband, film director Michael Polish, have become industry influencers in their own right.
Since marrying in 2013, Bosworth and Polish have collaborated on three projects to date: a film adaptation of Jack Kerouac's Big Sur, the Christian drama 90 Minutes in Heaven, and Nona, a film tackling the sex trafficking industry in Honduras. Bosworth once called their marriage a "24-hour, seven day a week creative love-fest."
The pair also formed its own production company, Make Pictures Productions, where Polish serves as director and Bosworth handles producing duties. Maybe they're not the Jay-Z and Beyoncé of the independent film world, but Bosworth and Polish seem to be doing perfectly fine flying under the radar and telling stories that are important to them. Hashtag couple goals?
We'd also like to point out that the "effortlessly chic" couple starred in the 2018 Rag & Bone sunglasses campaign. We're willing to bet Polish has his wifey to thank for that one.
Will we see more from her in the future?
Considering the production company she runs with her husband, Kate Bosworth now sits firmly in the driver's seat when it comes to her career.
According to a March 2018 piece in Harper's Bazaar, Bosworth will star as Sharon Tate, one of serial killer Charles Manson's victims, in an ambitious film titled TATE. Husband Michael Polish is directing, and Sharon's sister, Debra Tate, is a producer.
Other films have tackled this same subject, including The Haunting of Sharon Tate, starring Hilary Duff, and Quentin Tarantino's Tate, but Debra says Bosworth's version is the only one her family supports. "At long last I have found filmmakers who are interested in the life story of my sister Sharon," Debra told Deadline. "Other projects have been a real source of pain in their insensitivity and gross exploitation of my sister. I am proud to join this very accomplished team to bring the story of the profoundly unique woman known as Sharon Tate."
"This movie will only celebrate her life," Bosworth shared in an Instagram post. "We will not violate her or exploit her death. For too long this beautiful woman made of light has had to endure tragedy. It is time to take away the microphone from the maniac. It's her time."
We can hear Oscar picking up the phone now.