Mathilda May is 62 years old today. She was born on 8 February 1965.
I know what you’re thinking. “Why is Frank talking about an actor who was only in one psychotronic film?!
Well, first, it isn’t true that she was only in one psychotronic film. And second, it isn’t just one psychotronic film. And third, she walked around naked in it, draining the life force out of humans!
I know very little about May. She’s a French actor. And most of her roles are in French films. I actually learned of her initially for the film Isabelle Eberhardt. I was shocked when I found out the naked lady in Lifeforce was played by the same woman!
But back to psychotronic films. Lifeforce was one of her first films. Sadly, I can’t find much information about her casting. The film is a classic. But people don’t tend to report on financially unsuccessful films — at least until they’ve been cult classics for many decades. Tom Weaver has really been slacking! (That was a joke. He’s still pounding out great books!)
But since Lifeforce, Mathilda May has made a few psychotronic films. She starred in the thriller The Cry of the Owl (1987). There are two other later versions, so be careful. David Cronenberg could have directed this film!
She made Scream of Stone with Werner Herzog. She was also in The Tit and the Moon, which is another Cronenberg-like film. And she was in the English-language thriller The Jackal.
Not that I care much about any of those films. She’s an excellent actor. But mostly, producers cast her because she’s beautiful. And that’s true for her even at 62! But I do wish I saw her more in the movies. Her whole career, she’s been limited to films that play at art houses. And there are few of those still around!
But there was never any doubt what film we were going to watch. Lifeforce is great! And far too many people have seen it. That’s especially true in these days when boring “sexy vampires” films are the norm.
Image cropped from Mathilda May by Georges Biard under CC BY-SA 3.0.