In the mid-'90s Fairuza Balk was the talk of the town, thanks to her menacing turns
in The Craft and as the girlfriend to Edward Norton's American History persona.
She also hit the mainstream with roles in Adam Sandler's The Waterboy and the disastrous
adaptation of The Island of Doctor Moreau.
But somewhere around the turn of the millennium, the actress disappeared from the spotlight.
So what happened to the actress who'd thrilled and chilled on the big screen?
Here's why we don't hear much from Fairuza Balk anymore.
Always the gloom girl
What people might not know about Balk is that she actually started out as a child actress.
She starred in the moody 1985 Wizard of Oz sequel, titled Return to Oz, at just 11 years
old and went on to lead the TV movie The Worst Witch, too.
That spooky, gloomy on-screen personality would follow her career all the way through
— mostly because she was so good at it.
And she solidified her status as the go-to goth girl when she played lead wiccan outcast
Nancy Downs in The Craft.
That off-kilter persona has since been hard to shake.
And while goth chic was all the rage in the late '90s, that wild style has hardly held
up since.
At this point, Balk is kinda sick of being typecast in witchy roles as well.
She told Shockya, quote: "People have tended to see me as an actress who has played edgier,
darker roles.
That's something that as much as I've enjoyed exploring, isn't necessarily the one thing
I want to do."
End quote.
Of course, her actions tell another story …
Oddball antics
If Balk ever really wanted to change the public's perception of her as the freaky femme fatale
sort, her off-screen activities weren't helping much.
"You girls watch out for those weirdos."
"We are the weirdos mister."
Some fans of The Craft have cooked up conspiracy theories about Balk joining the occult in
real-life after doing so on-screen.
And co-star Robin Tunney added fuel to that speculation fire.
She told The Guardian, quote: "My memory is that Fairuza Balk, who plays Nancy, was actually
into witchcraft.
She seemed to know a lot about it, and there's an authenticity to her performance."
End quote.
In 2013, when Balk was a guest on the Bio Channel's "Haunting Of" series, even her ghost-hunter,
who didn't know of her career past, reported getting witchy vibes off of Balk right away,
too.
So yeah.
Maybe there was a reason she was so adept at invoking the spirit of Manol after all.
Box office bummers
Even when dark threads and scary sensuality were still in vogue, Balk couldn't quite capitalize
on her burgeoning fame.
Although her appearances in The Craft and movies like Almost Famous nearly earned her
household name status, her follow-up films totally tanked with critics and audiences
alike.
Chances are, you've never even heard of films like Deuces Wild and Dose of Reality.
And that's because those Balk-starring pics were panned, box office blunders that did
no favors to Fairuza Balk's future in the biz.
She did start getting an uptick in her Rotten Tomatoes score thanks to supporting roles
in indies like Wild Tigers I Have Known and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.
Her most significant return to screen presence happened in 2015, when she nabbed a recurring
role on Showtime's crime drama series Ray Donovan.
But her work has still been nowhere near the mainstream in recent years.
Other avenues of artwork
Although she has been acting since grade school, Balk has also been quietly working on other
forms of creative expression, including music, performance, and drawn art pieces.
Not only is she a talented jazz and rock singer, but she's also been releasing her drawings
for sale on her website.
She also designs and paints clothing parcels and intends to record and release an album.
Abstaining from the fame game
In the 2014 film documentary Lost Soul, Balk revealed that she didn't subscribe to the
same professional philosophies of some of her peers, saying:
"There are no morals.
There are no...there's no integrity.
At all.
they'd sell their child down the river for money."
So, understandably, her approach to the movie business has been a bit different than most.
She told Dread Central that she feels a need to be interested by a potential acting project's
merit, rather than the bottom line of any given opportunity, saying, quote:
"I never just want to work for the sake of working.
There has to be 'something' there for me so that I can grow from the experience.
… I struggled a lot with being pushed too hard in my 20's, with people telling me that
I had to keep taking more and more movies because that's really only when I'd be relevant.
… There's no satisfaction in working like that, at least for me."
End quote.
Time for a turnaround?
Even though Balk's public profile has taken a dip in recent years, it's clear she's still
willing to work if the right opportunity presents itself.
And she's got one project she's just itching to brush the dust off of.
Her indie pic August Falls, which she's described as her most happy set experience of all time,
is still pending release.
And she told Fangoria that she hopes to find something completely surprising for her next
big role, saying, quote:
"For me it's all about continuing to explore where I can go with acting as well as music,
as well as art.
I hope the next time I get the chance to play a role that no one expects.
I have explored the dark, heavy duty parts in depth… maybe I'll try a more subtle character
in the future."
End quote
Until then, there's always plenty of solid throwback material to mine through.
"I'm flying."
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