Guinevere Jane Turner is an American actress, screenwriter, and film director. She has written such films as ''

American Psycho ''American Psycho'' is a novel by Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the first person by Patrick Bateman, a serial killer and Manhattan investment banker. Alison Kelly of '' The Observer'' notes that while "some coun ...

'' and '' The Notorious Bettie Page'' and played the lead role of the

dominatrix A dominatrix (; ) or femdom is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily limit the genders of her submissive partners. Dominatrices are known for inflic ...

Tanya Cheex in '' Preaching to the Perverted''.

Early life

Turner was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- m ...

, and is the oldest of six children. Her paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Hobbs Turner, was a member of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

in 1944 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Turner spent the first eleven years of her life as part of the Lyman Family, raised in various communes around the U.S. with over 100 members who were devotees of Mel Lyman and who believed they would eventually live on

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

. Though Turner acknowledged that the Lyman Family had been portrayed as a cult she argued against using the word to describe them. In accordance with the customs of the Lyman Family, Turner was not raised by her mother, but she and her younger sister were eventually ejected from the Family after their mother chose to leave. Turner considered rejoining the group when she was 18, but eventually chose to attend college.

Career

Turner emerged on the scene with the film '' Go Fish'', which she co-wrote and co-produced with her then-girlfriend, Rose Troche. Turner also starred in the film, portraying a young woman named Max whose friends help her find a new girlfriend, Ely, portrayed by VS Brodie. Director

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film ''Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co ...

was a fan of the movie, particularly a scene in it wherein, in an imagined sequence, some of a character's friends chastise her for "selling out" and sleeping with a man, and used it as an inspiration for his own take on a similar theme in his own film ''

Chasing Amy ''Chasing Amy'' is a 1997 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jason Lee. The film is about a male comic artist (Affleck) who falls in love with a lesbian woman ...

''. Turner has cameos in both ''Chasing Amy'' and Smith's later film ''

Dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam o ...

''. Smith also named

Joey Lauren Adams Joey Lauren Adams (born January 9, 1968) is an American actress and director. Adams starred in '' Chasing Amy'', for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and played smaller rol ...

' character in Smith's ''

Mallrats ''Mallrats'' is a 1995 American buddy comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Jason Lee, Jeremy London, Shannen Doherty, Claire Forlani, Ben Affleck, Jason Mewes, Joey Lauren Adams, Michael Rooker, and Smith as Silent Bob ...

'' after Turner. Another early film appearance was in Cheryl Dunye's 1996 independent film '' The Watermelon Woman''. Turner and ''

I Shot Andy Warhol ''I Shot Andy Warhol'' is a 1996 biographical drama film about the life of Valerie Solanas and her relationship with the artist Andy Warhol. The film marked the feature film directorial debut of Canadian director Mary Harron. The film stars Li ...

'' director

Mary Harron Mary Harron (born January 12, 1953) is a Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter, and former entertainment critic. She gained recognition for her role in writing and directing several independent films, including '' I Shot Andy Warhol'' (1996), ''Am ...

wrote the screenplay for the film version of

Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964) is an American author, screenwriter, short-story writer, and director. Ellis was first regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack and is a self-proclaimed satirist whose trademark technique, as a ...

' ''

'', which Harron directed. Turner has a brief cameo in the film, in which she delivers the in-joke, "I'm not a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with fe ...

!". There is also a line about attending

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sarah Lawrence scholarship, particularly i ...

, Turner's real-life alma mater. A writer and story editor for the first two seasons of ''

The L Word ''The L Word'' is a television drama that aired on Showtime from January 18, 2004 to March 8, 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated with Ilene C ...

'', Turner also made several guest appearances on the show as Alice Pieszecki's screenwriter ex-girlfriend, Gabby. In 2005, Turner wrote the script for '' BloodRayne''. It was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screenplay in 2006. In the documentary ''Tales from the Script'', she stated in an interview that director

Uwe Boll Uwe Boll (; born June 22, 1965) is a German filmmaker. He came to prominence during the 2000s for his adaptations of video game franchises which often starred international stars like Jason Statham, Burt Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Christian Slater, ...

only used about 25% of her screenplay. In 2005, she co-wrote the script for '' The Notorious Bettie Page'' with Mary Harron, who directed the film. Turner and Harron collaborated again as screenwriter and director, respectively, on the 2018 film '' Charlie Says''. Turner's first foray into web television was the 2008 online drama series, ''FEED'', directed by Mel Robertson, launched on AfterEllen.com. In 2014 she appeared alongside Nayo Wallace,

Candis Cayne Candis Cayne (born August 29, 1971) is an American actress and performance artist. Cayne performed in New York City nightclubs in drag since the 1990s, and came out as transgender in 1996; Cayne came to national attention in 2007 for portraying ...

and Cathy DeBuono in Jane Clark's horror comedy film '' Crazy Bitches''. Turner has directed several short films, such as ''The Hummer'' and ''Hung'', which have appeared in many international film festivals.

Personal life

Turner is openly lesbian.

Filmography

Film

*1994: '' Go Fish'' (writer, actress) *1996: '' The Watermelon Woman'' (actress) *1997: ''

'' (actress) *1997: '' Latin Boys Go to Hell'' (actress) *1997: '' Preaching to the Perverted'' (actress) *1998: '' Dante's View'' (actress) *1999: ''

'' (actress) *2000: ''

'' (writer, actress) *2001: '' The Fluffer'' (actress) *2001: ''Spare Me'' (short film, writer-director) *2002: '' Pipe Dream'' (actress) *2002: ''

Stray Dogs A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging dogs include street dogs, village dogs, stray dogs, feral dogs, etc., and may be owned or unowned. The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million, of w ...

'' (actress) *2004: ''Hummer'' (Short film, writer-director-actress) *2005: ''Dani and Alice'' (actress) *2005: '' BloodRayne'' (writer) *2005: ''Hung'' (short film, writer-director-actress) *2005: '' The Notorious Bettie Page'' (writer) *2005: ''Beyond Lovely'' (short film, actress) *2006: ''A Lez in Wonderland'' (''Broute-minou à Palm Springs'') (short film, actress) *2007: '' Itty Bitty Titty Committee'' (actress) *2008: ''Late'' (short film, writer-director) *2008: ''Little Mutinies'' (short film, actress) *2008: ''Quiet Please'' (short film, director) *2008: ''She Likes Girls 3'' (video, director) *2010: ''The Owls'' (short film, actress) *2012: '' Breaking the Girls'' (writer) *2013: '' Who's Afraid of Vagina Wolf?'' (actress) *2014: '' Crazy Bitches'' (actress) *2016: '' Superpowerless'' (actress) *2017: ''Post-Apocalyptic Potluck'' (short film, writer-director) *2018: '' Charlie Says'' (writer) *2020: '' I Am Fear'' (actress) *2022: ''

Candy Land ''Candy Land'' (also ''Candyland'') is a simple racing board game published by Hasbro. The game requires no reading and minimal counting skills, making it suitable for young children. No strategy is involved as players are never required to ma ...

'' (actress) *TBA: ''Saint Clare'' (writer)

Television

*2004–2005: ''

'' (TV series, writer) *2016: ''Sugar'' (web series, director, episode: Chapter 5)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Guinevere Living people American film actresses American television actresses American television writers American women film directors American lesbian actresses Lesbian artists American lesbian writers LGBT film directors LGBT screenwriters American women television writers LGBT people from Massachusetts Screenwriters from Massachusetts Actresses from Boston Actresses from Massachusetts Writers from Boston Sarah Lawrence College alumni MacDowell Colony fellows Lambda Literary Award for Drama winners 21st-century American women Year of birth missing (living people)