Penelope Ann Miller is one of the most fascinating of current actresses because she is a chameleon. She can go from plain to gorgeous, from dumb to brilliant, from comedy to drama to action movie, and, most importantly, you never catch her acting. She always appears natural in whatever disguise she is in.

The first movie I remember seeing her in was "Adventures in Babysitting" where she played a geeky, dumb teenager, who runs away, loses her glasses, and ends up having adventures in the bus station culminating in rescuing a "poor little kitty", who turns out to be a rat. I really began to take note of her in "Awakenings" where she played Robert Di Nero’s love interest and "Kindergarten Cop" where she played a young wife on the run from her dangerous, fugitive husband.

It was in "Other People’s Money" that I believe that she came into her own, as a smart sexy lawyer, who "saves" the town from Danny DeVito’s miscegenations (and manages to fall in love with him on the way, too). She followed it up with a charming, under-rated film, "Year of the Comet" where her search finds a priceless bottle of wine and love with Tim Daly. I also enjoyed her in "The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag", where she played the quiet housewife librarian who gets involved with killers when she confesses to a murder she didn’t commit.

In "Carilto’s Way" she played Al Pacino’s stripper girlfriend in her sexiest role. Her performance rewarded her with a Golden Globe nomination. She did a nice turn as Margot Lane in the costume story based on the old radio show, "The Shadow" with Alec Baldwin. In "The Relic" she plays a biologist who has to fight a mysterious assailant in a horror film. (I was amused when leaving the theater to hear the comment, "How come no-one else could get away from it, but all she had to do was take off her high heels, and run bare foot to get away?")  She attempted a sit com in 1998, starring Tom Selleck, titled, "The Closer", but it was a pretty unfunny failure that only lasted a few episodes.  She recently gave a touching performance on the USA channel playing the infamous Mary Kay Letourneau in "The Mary Kay Letourneau Story: All-American Girl."

Penelope was born in 1964 and her father is actor Mark Miller, best known for TV’s "Please Don’t Eat the Daisies". She started on Broadway with a turn in "Biloxi Blues" (which part she also did in the movie) and followed up with a Tony-nominated performance in "Our Town". Other performances in movies I have seen and appreciated are: "The Freshman" (as Marlon Brando’s charmingly conniving daughter) and "Chaplin" playing silent movie star, Edna Purviance.

In an on-line interview she answered questions with: "The rewarding part is getting to play great characters and discovering about your by playing different roles. I like the process of it all" and "I look to longevity. I just consider myself an actress and getting good roles. If being a ‘superstar’ gets me good roles, then that’s a positive thing. But my goal isn’t just to be a superstar. It’s to act for a long time."

Penelope became the mother of Eloisa May in December, 2000.

Her career in the last ten years has certainly shown not only versatility, but talent. There have been times, especially before I became familiar with her work, when I have had to watch her in a movie for a while to be sure it was her in a role. With only a change in hair color and attitude she becomes the character she plays. I believe that she will indeed have the long career she desires, based on the quality of what she has produced so far in her career.

To see her various faces - please click HERE

To see more Movie Chameleons - please click HERE