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Stephanie - bad character or just bad casting?

posted 12 years ago by ThiefOfStars
62 replies | jump to latest

I'm almost sure that Stephanie wasn't meant to be such a dislikable character , but I see a lot of negativity in regards to her and the actress that plays her - even some going as far as to say that Tony was wrong to reject Annette and should've ended up with her instead - even though it's made pretty clear that Tony wants more out of life where Annette is content to make do. And according to her "it's only dancing" when to Tony it's clearly more than that.

So, enter Stephanie, who is supposed to be a kindred spirit sort of figure for Tony. She too wants to make something of herself and uses disco dancing as an escape from her everyday drudgery - okay, so she has a haughty demeanour and a backhanded way of "bettering herself", but I'm fairly certain it was the intention of the film makers to make her a pitiful character, rather than an actively disliked one - especially when it becomes obvious that she isn't as sophisticated as she pretends.

Aside from her snotty attitude, I see a lot of the problems people have with Stephanie include Karen Lynn Gorney's voice and the fact that she isn't that great of a dancer. So my question is: was Stephanie supposed to be an unsympathetic character or would she have been more likeable if she was played by another actress?

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[–] moosefeathers 12 years ago

It is my opinion that the character of that woman was supposed to be unlikeable. She was on her "road to find out" as well, but only steps ahead of him. that is why in the end the agreed to become friends and help each other.

I think the disdain she has for Tony is really the disdain for the lifestyle of the neighborhood and she cringes whenever she is back there. So, she takes it out on Tony because all she sees is her "past" in him, where she came from.

Swing away, Merrill....Merrill, swing away...

[–] preppy-3 12 years ago

I think Gorney's acting was the fault. She came across as an obnoxious witch and I don't think that was the point. I never could stand her and couldn't wonder why Travolta was after her. She simply can't act or dance that well.

[–] MyDarkStar 11 years ago

I think you summed it up perfectly moosefeathers.

To tellya the truth, I think the problem people may have is that Gorney made us dislike the character a little TOO much. :-)

[–] [deleted] 4 months ago

I completely agree. She sees herself as too good for Tony perhaps, like she's risen above her background. Being with Tony seems like a step back in her mind.

She comes off as a social climber, kind of cold blooded, but she's supposed to. I thought the acting was fine.

[–] Jack_Rabbit_Slims91 12 years ago

I get the part that Stephanie wasn't supposed to be a likeable character, but then again she was so wooden and old looking, her and Tony just didn't match. They should have cast Amy Irving in the part instead, Karen Lynn Gorney happened to go out with the director for a couple of years after, you go figure how she got the part...

Streep has another 20 years to win another 2 Oscars, go bitch go.

[–] antonasmodeus 12 years ago

Stephanie's character was needed to show Tony's development but who ever cast Gorney for that role was an idiot, hence why she literally fell off the face of the planet in the years since.

[–] Lovetvshows 12 years ago

I think that the reason Tony was interested in Stephanie was because she was unobtainable. I don't think it had anything to do with her physical appearance. Annette was constantly after Tony and he wasn't interested in her even though she was more attractive than Stephanie. Stephanie posed a challenge for Tony. This challenge made her more attractive to Tony.

[–] rascal67 12 years ago

Gorney's casting has pros and cons for me and the aspect that frustrates me the most is that Amy Irving and Jessica Lange were apparently considered for the role of Stephanie. I cant help but wonder what the film would have been like with one of them in the role. However, a more attractive actress with stronger acting abilities may have taken too much away from Tony's character as he was meant to be the focal point and it was basically a star vehicle for Travolta.

Having seen the film several times now, I am used to watching her and enjoy her acting in the scene with Tony in the cafe. She does have a lot of sass and attitude about her which makes her character spunky. Her casting may have been deliberate as she is meant to be a Plain Jane Brooklynite who is reaching for something more—just like Tony. It is the tenacity of Stephanie's character that has helped her achieve and overcome her drab existence and I feel that Gorney does manage to put this across.

Maybe we give her performance less credit than is due as she does appear to hold her own quite well with Travolta even though he has more charisma. I would rate Donna Pescow's performance as Annette over Karen Lynn Gorney's though and feel that Pescow would have been worthy of a supporting actress Oscar nod.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] !!!deleted!!! (156688) 12 years ago

I do think the scene where she kept saying "He helps me..he helps man" was pretty good!

She was very convincing in that scene...

[–] YankeeDood 10 years ago

Agree there. That scene softened my heart for Stephanie.
Tony was also convincing in that scene, imo.

[–] tgemberl 8 years ago

Stephanie isn't a "plain Jane"--she's obviously stunningly pretty. But she is also obviously not much of an intellect. I knew somebody like Stephanie once and felt compassion for her. She was very pretty but had low self esteem because she wasn't real smart and also had emotional problems.

Tony and Stephanie are both trying to be "social climbers," to rise above where they come from. Tony wants Stephanie over Annette because with her looks and ambition, she will also help him rise. Both of them have the dancing skill that helps them rise, and from what she says, Stephanie has also tried to get jobs that increase her status. She works in Manhattan, a higher status place, though she's probably barely able to make it there. She might while her looks last.

Like the lady I knew, there are people who move to high-status, expensive places (in her case San Francisco) and may be doomed to spend their lives on the social margins in those places. If they're lucky enough to find a loving partner like Tony, they might be able to achieve happiness though without high status. If the couple is sensible, they will probably move to some less expensive place.

"Extremism in the pursuit of moderation is no vice."

[–] Crystal (534) 5 years ago

I agree about Donna's performance.

[–] redwood-1 11 years ago

Watch the "Saturday Night Fever" episode of "Behind The Music". Gorney had a chance meeting with the nephew of the film's producer, Robert Stigwood, who was also the Bee Gees' manager at the time.

[–] PretoriaDZ 11 years ago

Absolutely right. I happened to know one of the Paramount producers for the film and he said flat out that Karen Lynn Gorney gobbed onto John Badham from the get-go and that's why she got the part. She was an AWFUL dancer! And I should know because I dance as badly as she does!

[–] MyDarkStar 12 years ago

I think she's unlikable both because of the way the character is written AND the casting.

There's parts of her that wouldn't have changed no matter who played her. The way she totally blows off Tony all the time (not bothering to show up to the disco when she could see it meant a lot to him, and she indicated she "might" be there) ; and then showing up late to rehearsal and not bothering to apologize, and getting mad a him for bringing it up. Those are things that have nothing whatsoever to do with the actress. Those are written right into the script.

But I think the casting definitely makes her a much more unlikable character. The character is very faltered in so many different ways, but I think the right actress could have brought her across as somebody who is striving to be more than she is - and likable. But Gorney's performance makes her come across as just a self-centered and snotty b**ch. Stephanie didn't really have to be like that.

It's the little things that could have been done different which would have made her much less of b**tch :

- She obnoxiously laughs out loud when Tony orders "lemon with tea" for her at the cafe (instead of "tea with lemon"). Another actress could have played that off in a nicer way

- Tony asks her if he can walk her home and she says no. And then as she's walking away she says "You shouldn't have asked. You should have just did it." A different actress with a little charm could have said that in a more charming way.

There's just so many other examples. They're all just little things here and there, but they add up so by the end of the movie you could have had a much better impression of her, and would have made the audience like her more for trying to be more in her life.

[–] tgemberl 8 years ago

Yes, she's no saint. Because of her looks she's used to being catered to by men. If she makes fun of the way Tony ordered tea, that shows her own social insecurity, part of her "social climbing" which I discussed above. But I think that's part of the dynamic of the story. Stephanie and Tony are both flawed people who are drawn to each other because they both want to rise above where they come from in Brooklyn. As someone (you in an earlier post?) said, if Stephanie was more perfect, it would detract from Tony's character. This movie is mostly about Tony, not Stephanie.

"Extremism in the pursuit of moderation is no vice."

[–] jefgg 11 years ago

Bad character or bad casting? BOTH!

[–] linop90 11 years ago

Good acting, the makes tony think and change.
Without her he would have continued along the same unhappy loserish path.

Eat the Neocons.

[–] IloveMuggy 11 years ago

She was too old for the part.

[–] cliff_niblr031 11 years ago

Having receently learned that Amy Irving and Jessica Lange were also considered for the role I'm still not convinced that their talents would have necessarily made the film better. The film is fine as is.

The reason I say this is, and not to get off topic, Sean Connery was considered for the role of Gandalf in Lord of the Rings. Now, Sean is a great actor. There are very few older male actors who are on his level. However, Ian seemed better suited for the role.

Same can be said for many other films that originally had very different actors in mind prior to final casting. Beverley Hills Cop was supposed to star Sylvestor Stallone until Eddie Murphy got the part and turned it from your basic, forgetable, formulaic buddy cop film into a smash action/comedy with sequels.

Going back to the Stephanie character, I agree with others who have posted that she wasn't a very likeable character. And maybe that was the point.

Her acting aside, which didn't really bother me as much as her voice. There was a point in the film where I just couldn't tolerate hearing her voice with the thick Brooklyn accent anymore. Worse than nails on a chalkboard to me. I cringe every time she had to speak. I usually just mute her and have closed captioning on so I can read the dialog without having to suffer through the agony of her voice.

[–] jefgg 11 years ago

I like to hear what actors were considered for movie roles but did not get the part. Is that called alternate casting? Is there a site for that?

[–] cliff_niblr031 11 years ago

jefgg wrote "Is there a site for that?"

I'm pretty sure there are many sites dedicated to listing actors that were originally considered for certain roles but ended up not being cast for whatever reason.

After a brief search I found these websites. Enjoy.

http://www.toplessrobot.com/2011/10/11_alternate_nerdy_casting_decisions_that_almost_h.php

http://alternatehistoryweeklyupdate.blogspot.com/2012/05/alternate-movie-casting-choices.html

[–] jefgg 11 years ago

That's awesome. Thanks.

[–] ItsEddieHaskellBeyotch 9 years ago

"She was too old for the part"

^THIS. From the first time I watched the movie, I thought she looked too old. Stephanie is only supposed to be about a year older than Tony, yet Karen looks about ten to fifteen years older.

When theres no more room in Hollywood, remakes shall walk the Earth.

[–] JumeirahSun 11 years ago

I wish a better dancer than Gorney had been cast (she has terrible posture, for one thing--the scene where she is at the ballet barre is laughable) because then her talent would have made her more attractive. The characters in the movie say she is a good dancer but we can see that she's not.

Stephanie is socially ambitious and insecure about herself, so she bullies the Brooklynites she wants to leave behind. Tony likes her because she's different, even though she is kind of a bitch to him. She isn't trying to have sex with him like the girls at 2001, she doesn't flatter him, and she has interests outside of Brooklyn.

[–] l4d 11 years ago

Stephanie is SUPPOSED to be bad at the barre. She's a working-class Brooklyn girl putting on airs. The director was giving the audience a giant stinking clue about how this woman was pretending to being something she wasn't. It's too bad that you missed it.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Winter23 11 years ago

I hate to say it but for picking a lead actress with John Travolta, I would have thought they would have put a little more effort in the decision making. I have to give her credit for the attitude, though. At that age (20), every girl has an attitude. At least, the ones who are confident...and she's native New Yorker. Any other actress of that era would not have been able to pull that off. But, overall...poor choice for casting Stephanie.

"Madness in great ones must not unwatched go."

[–] poserpro 11 years ago

In reality, she is 9 yours senior to John Travolta, so I would say bad casting, but OK performance.

[–] mama21 11 years ago

I know many people feel Gorney's performance was lacking but I disagree. The character of Stephanie is a woman trying to better herself, to climb out of her predicted life. She is out for herself and this is why she isnt likable. Yet, Tony likes her for this reason, he sees in her a kindred spirit and also, her standoff-ish behavior is what keeps him sexually interested. She is a strong contrast to the character of Annette who is always available and over eager. Annette also represents Tony's current life situation, unsatisfying.

While I think Amy Irving would have brought a softer femininity to the role that might have been more likable, I dont disagree with the choice of karen Lynn Gorney. I liked her voice (many didn't) her accent wason the money and the scene when she & Tony are moving her things into her new apartment in the city and her ex humiliates her in front of Tony is touching. You cant help but feel sorry and uncomfortable for her. Her selfish, tough persona disappears and you see how vunerable she is, something that wouldnt have been such a contrast had Amy Irving played Stephanie.

[–] mytravelbug1 10 years ago

Bad acting and bad dancing, the only reason Tony falls for her in the first place is because he thinks she's a good dancer but we can clearly see that she isn't. They should at least have cast someone who could dance. Karen Lynn Gorney was the worst thing about this movie. I would like to know who was the hairdresser for this movie, all the women's hair styles are terrible, in the scene where Tony is angry at her in her new apartment it looks like a bowl on her head.

[–] Redart27 10 years ago

I thought Gorney was a good fit for the role, except for the dancing. WHY DIDN'T THEY TRAIN HER TO DANCE? They train those goofs on DWTS. Also, Travolta had 2 left feet before working extensively with pro Danny Terrio for this role.

I don't think Stephanie was suppose to be "world class dancer". The Hispanic couple at the end were world class dancers and they were the ones that wowed Tony the most. Tony noticed Stephanie because she was better than Annette and the regular local gals at the 2001. The only girl who could dance in that place was the stripper. Tony's world was narrow - he never went to Manhattan discos. Stephanie did, and showed off a few of those Manhattan moves on the Brooklyn dance floor. That and her confidence was what caught Tony's eye.

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