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Jennifer Connelly

© Stephanie Faris

Once every generation, an actress comes along who is blessed with a beauty so classic, so mesmerizing, she reminds moviegoers of a time long past. A time when movie stars looked like...well, movie stars. These actresses rewrite Hollywood's rules and, for a few years at least, remind us what moviemaking is all about.

Jennifer Ann Connelly seemed born for the task. From the time she began appearing in Seventeen magazine, Jennifer stood out as an above-average beauty. Modeling quickly led to TV commercials which led to a casting director recommending her for the role of a young dancer in the gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America. Soon after she took roles in the Italian film Phenomena and the American film Seven Minutes in Heaven. But it wasn't until Jim Henson cast her in the David Bowie fantasy Labyrinth that Jennifer gained true notice.

It was after the filming of that movie, however, that Jennifer appeared to take a break from acting. She focused on her studies, attending Yale and later Stanford before dropping out in her final year. She returned to the screen with 1991's sleeper hit Career Opportunities, where a whole new generation of teenage boys discovered her finer assets.

Jennifer signed on to The Rocketeer in 1991. Her co-star was a young actor named Bill Campbell, currently starring on the hit ABC prime-time drama Once and Again. The two began a five-year relationship during filming and, according to reports, came close to marrying. In recent years the actress has denied the engagement, saying they never had any real intentions to marry.

Prior to The Rocketeer, Jennifer chose less flashy roles, showcasing her acting ability in such films as The Heart of Justice, Of Love and Shadows, and Higher Learning. 1996's Mulholland Falls certainly received a hype similar to her earlier films, but it proved to be a critical and box office disappointment.

It wasn't enough to deter Jennifer, however. She attempted the big-bucks box office again with the 1997 ensemble piece Inventing the Abbotts, but by the time the film's lackluster performance was evident, Jennifer and her boyfriend, photographer Dave Dougan, had more important things on their minds. Two months later she gave birth to a baby boy.

Now the mother of two children, Jennifer currently lives in Illinois. She is working more than ever, having signed on to the cast of Ed Harris' Pollock, the film about the life of artist Jackson Pollock. As the artist's last lover before his death, Connelly joins Harris, who stars, and Val Kilmer. She also recently wrapped Darren Aronofsky's Requiem For a Dream for Artisan, and will appear in Gramercy Pictures' Waking the Dead opposite Billy Crudup, set for release in March 2000. Perhaps one of these films will prove the breakthrough that has always loomed just around the corner from the actress. Or perhaps not. Jennifer, for one, seems quite content for things to stay exactly as they are. UPDATE!!!