Former model and dancer Sean Young’s acting heyday came in the 1980s, when she essayed memorable femme fatales in hits like “Blade Runner” (1982) and “No Way Out” (1987). Her impeccable dark-haired beauty and chilly onscreen persona served her well, particularly in the latter film, when her make-out session with Kevin Costner in the back of a limo became one of the most talked about film scenes of the decade. However, her success was quickly overshadowed by reports of personality clashes with her co-stars and directors – including a bizarre stalking charge from co-star James Woods in 1989 – and bizarre publicity stunts, including trying to win the part of Catwoman by appearing in costume uninvited to the set of “Batman Returns” (1992). After a comic tongue-in-cheek performance as the he-she villain in “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” (1994), Young saw her Hollywood fortunes fade to the point that, by the mid 1990s, she seemed marooned in a string of low-budget genre films.
Born Mary Sean Young in Louisville, KY on Nov. 20, 1959, Young and her siblings –brother Donald Jr. and sister Cathleen, who later became a producer – were raised in Ohio. After attending Cleveland Heights High School, she trained as a dancer at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Northern Michigan and at the School of American Ballet in New York City. Young settled in NYC after graduation and immediately landed a small role in the Merchant/Ivory film “Jane Austen in New York” (1980). Brassy and unafraid to speak her mind, both on and off the screen, she showed a knack for comedy in her next role – that of Harold Ramis’ Army sweetheart in “Stripes” (1981), and again as the female lead in Garry Marshall’s soap opera parody “Young Doctors in Love” (1982). That same year, Young’s cooler side was put to excellent use as detective Harrison Ford’s android lover in Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner.” Though she was widely praised for her performance, reports of conflict between Young and Scott and Ford made the publicity rounds, and set what would become a precedent in media coverage of her career.
Young smoldered in several high-profile television productions during this period; she was an aspiring starlet who falls for a psychologist (Peter Strauss) in 1985’s “Tender is the Night” and dallied with detective Kris Kristofferson in 1986’s “Blood and Orchids.” The following year, she landed another major hit with the hot-blooded neo-noir “No Way Out,” in which she played a military mistress who makes trouble for Navy man Kevin Costner – beginning with some sexy business in the back of a limo. Unfortunately, the picture proved to be one of her last substantial hits; clashes with director Oliver Stone led to a significant cut in her role as Michael Douglas’ wife in “Wall Street” (1987) – he reportedly, unbeknownst to her, stuck a piece of paper on her back with a not-so-nice name printed on it – and her turn with James Woods as husband-and-wife cocaine addicts in “The Boost” (1988) was undermined by bizarre stories of her stalking Woods and leaving disfigured dolls on his doorstep. Woods’ then fiancé was reportedly extremely upset – both with the knowledge of his infidelity and with dealing with Young’s scary tactics. Young admitted to amorous feelings for her co-star, who brought a lawsuit against her. The case was later settled out of court.
Young’s troubles did not stop with the “Boost” debacle. In 1989, she was cast as Vicki Vale, romantic interest for The Caped Crusader in Tim Burton’s film version of “Batman,” but she was forced to give up the role after a fall from a horse broke her arm. In 1990, Young was fired from the role of Tess Trueheart, Dick Tracy’s longtime love, in Warren Beatty’s big-budget adaptation of the classic comic strip. Never one to let a slight go unchallenged, Young told the press that she had been let go after refusing Beatty’s amorous advances (he responded by stating that Young showed no maternal warmth towards the film’s juvenile lead, Charlie Korsmo). And in 1992, Young raised eyebrows by attempting to storm the set of “Batman Returns” in a homemade Catwoman costume in order to influence Warner Bros. studio executives to cast her in the role. Not only did the ploy fail (Michelle Pfeiffer got the part), but her subsequent appearance on a daytime talk show in the costume to denounce the studio’s decision did much to establish the idea that Young was not only abrasive but unstable.
Young would later claim that these incidents blackballed her in the industry, and the string of disastrous encounters, flops and forgotten projects that followed in its wake certainly suggested that the allegation had some merit. There were a few quality projects in the 1990s, most notably “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” in which she played Jim Carrey’s hard-boiled superior who harbored a crude secret, and a leading role opposite Jeanne Moreau in Merchant/Ivory’s “The Proprietor” (1996). She also earned positive reviews for her return to fatale-dom in Carl Reiner’s broad spoof “Fatal Instinct” (1993) and an unbridled turn as a lunatic heiress in the campy indie “Hold Me, Kiss Me, Thrill Me” (1993). But for the most part, Young was stranded in dull actioners – “Fire Birds” (1990), with Nicolas Cage; unnecessary remakes (she played good and evil twins in “A Kiss Before Dying” (1991); and low-budget schlock (she was the “monster” in “Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde” (1995). Adding insult to injury was a ceaseless assault on her acting by critics, most notably the Razzie Awards, which nominated her seven times (and awarded her twice) for Worst Actress or Supporting Actress between 1992 and 1995. During this period, Young departed Hollywood for the relative calm of Sedona, AZ, and in 1990 married actor Robert Lujan, with whom she had two sons (in 1994 and 1998). The couple later divorced in 2002.
Young’s stint in independent and low-budget features continued through the 1990s and into the 21st century, though she began re-surfacing in mainstream work with some frequency after the new millennium. There were supporting turns in comedies like “Sugar and Spice” (2002); guest shots on “Third Watch” (NBC, 1999-2005) and “Boston Public” (Fox, 2000-2004); and several starring roles in TV-movies like “Before I Say Goodbye” (2003) and “The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay” (2003). Young even traveled to Russia twice to appear in miniseries there, once as famed dancer Isadora Duncan in 2005’s “Esenin.”
Her employment took a step up in 2007, with guest shots on “CSI” (CBS, 2000- ), “ER” (NBC, 1994- ), “One Tree Hill” (CW, 2003- ), and a supporting turn in one of Tom Selleck’s popular “Jesse Stone” TV movies, “Jesse Stone: Sea Change” (2007) all coming that year. Unfortunately, Young’s personal profile took another downward turn in 2008 when she was ejected from the Directors Guild of America awards ceremony for heckling “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (2007) director Julian Schnabel during his acceptance speech. The following day – in the midst of widespread blog mockery – Young checked into a rehabilitation program to deal with an alcohol abuse problem.