Actor(s) of the day: Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger

With a niche specification

I’ll start by admitting that I couldn’t finish the Movie Snake on Sunday. It was a blow to the ego.

Sunday’s puzzle: Heath Ledger or Julia Stiles. Seems easy enough for any millennial, but I was defeated by Heath Ledger or Julia Stiles x Double letter word in title.

Looking at their filmographies now, there is one answer that I have no excuse for missing, but everything else is pretty unremarkable or forgettable.

Let’s look at what options exist, this can’t happen again.

Julia Stiles x Double letter word in title

Last week we learned a fantastic Julia movie, Misconduct (2016), a new go-to and used in this specific Movie Snake game, but digging into her double letter titles-

Orphan: First Kill (2022)

A prequel to Orphan (2009). Did they market this movie at all? Or did it slip into the straight to streaming fate? Looking at production images, Julia is indeed in it and the only notable cast member.

The God Committee (2021)

So many questions about why and how this movie was made, but I hold everyone accountable except Colman Domingo. Any original cast member of The Scottsboro Boys can do no wrong. It is about the ethics and impact of organ donation and based on a play.

Also starring: Kelsey Grammar, Janeane Garofalo, and Dan Hedaya

Plus Beth Malone, who is of no consequence to this game but should be honored as the original older Alison in Fun Home. Two of my very favorite musicals represented in a movie I will never see.

The Great Gilly Hopkins (2015)

I was definitely not the target demographic for this movie, but I see its Moviegrid potential now. This story is about a misunderstood teenage girl who causes trouble, as you can see from the movie poster. It’s based on a novel by Katherine Paterson, also the author of Bridge from Terabithia. I somehow made it through middle school without reading that book. Probably cause I was too busy reading From Here to Eternity and John Grisham.

Moviegrid cast members: Glenn Close, Kathy Bates, Octavia Spencer, Bill Cobbs, and Billy Magnussen

Heath Ledger x Double letter word in title

Monster’s Ball (2001)

I am embarrassed that I couldn’t pull this! Seems so obvious now. What a cultural impact this movie had at the time because of its subject matter and the Halle Berry / Adrien Brody kiss at the Oscars.

Cast includes: Halle Berry, Billy Bob Thornton, Sean Combs, and Peter Boyle

Ned Kelly (2003)

I’m aware of this movie but don’t think it really stands out in Heath’s filmography. There are several different versions of the Ned Kelly story, who was an Australian outlaw. (Including the very Australian aesthetic designed True History of the Kelly Gang (2019), with Russell Crowe, Nicholas Hoult, Charlie Hunnam, and Thomasin McKenzie.)

Moviegrid co-stars: Orlando Bloom, Naomi Watts, Geoffrey Rush, Joel Edgerton, Rachel Griffiths

The Brothers Grimm (2005)

This was very much in the hot guy movie universe back in 2005, but I never think of it for Heath or Matt. Maybe I would watch it on a plane now?

Moviegrid stretches: Lena Headey, Jonathan Pryce

Hopefully this was a fun reminder of what we all cared about in the early 2000s. Julia and Heath don’t come up too often, but it’s shame to not flex the extremely limited lived experience advantages we have as millennials.