By Anne Billson
10. The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984)
Looking as though she has strayed from another genre, Hannah plays Mickey Rourke’s girlfriend, a leggy aerobics instructor who keeps getting undressed. At least she’s more fun than Rourke and an insanely posturing Eric Roberts as deadbeat cousins ripping off the mob: roles originally written for Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.
Mickey Rourke, Daryl Hannah and Eric Roberts. Photograph: Mgm/Ua/Kobal/Shutterstock
9. At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991)
Hannah acquits herself well as one of a group of American missionaries who cross paths with mercenary Tom Berenger while attempting to convert an Amazonian tribe. Of course it all ends in tears in this plodding epic-length adaptation of Peter Matthiessen’s novel, directed by Héctor Babenco.
8. Steel Magnolias (1989)
As a timid hairdresser in a fearsome, mostly female ensemble cast wielding Louisiana accents, Hannah holds her own against the likes of Sally Field and Shirley MacLaine, helped by unflattering specs, droopy cardigans and the film’s most diverting character arc, involving pregnancy and unsuitable men. Off-screen, meanwhile, Hannah would shortly be moving on from her nine-year relationship with Jackson Browne to a romantic entanglement with John F Kennedy Jr.
Southern belle … as Annelle Dupuy Desoto. Photograph: Tristar Pictures/Allstar
7. The Clan of the Cave Bear (1986)
In the Paleolithic era, Hannah plays a tall, blond Cro-Magnon woman raised by a Neanderthal tribe. John Sayles’ proto-feminist screenplay, adapted from Jean M Auel’s bestseller, is of course preposterous, but its star looks stunning in pelts, and also emerges intact from a gory fight with Bart the Bear and non-consensual sex with the actor who played Windows in The Thing.
Proto-feminist … Hannah in The Clan of the Cave Bear. Photograph: Warner Bros/Allstar
6. Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)
Embodying the sort of tall, blond stunner of every schlub’s dreams, Hannah fleshes out what could have been a boring girlfriend role in a sci-fi thriller more fun than its reputation suggests, adapted from HF Saint’s terrific novel. Chevy Chase mercifully dials down the smarm in the title role, Sam Neill enjoys himself channelling James Mason in North By Northwest, and the early digital effects still look astonishing.
5. The Real Blonde (1997)
Hannah has a ball playing a soap-opera diva who gleefully belittles her preening male co-star in Tom DiCillo’s charming but underseen satire about the spiritual superficiality of Manhattan’s arts and media. Meanwhile, the marvellous Catherine Keener, as a makeup artist, ensures the film itself isn’t as shallow as its milieu.
In Roxanne with Steve Martin. Photograph: Columbia/Allstar
4. Roxanne (1987)
Hannah beefs up her blond-girlfriend persona with rocket-scientist smarts (she’s an astronomer) and impeccable comic timing opposite Steve Martin in this adorable reworking of Cyrano de Bergerac, transposed to small-town America. She thinks she prefers handsome but dim Rick Rossovich. But no, she and the fire chief with the enormous proboscis are made for each other.
3. Splash (1984)
Always a bit ethereal and otherworldly, Hannah is perfectly cast in Ron Howard’s fairytale romcom about a New Yorker (Tom Hanks) who falls in love with a mermaid who calls herself Madison, after the avenue. It’s darker than you might remember, and John Candy is downright skeezy as Hanks’ brother, but Hannah’s sense of innocent wonder is infectious.
Infectious innocent wonder …Hannah as Madison in Splash. Photograph: Disney/Allstar
2. Blade Runner (1982)
In only a handful of scenes, Hannah makes an indelible mark on sci-fi cinema as Pris, the “basic pleasure model” who comes to a deeply upsetting end when she takes on Harrison Ford’s replicant-hunter. With her shock of hair, spray-on punk eye makeup and sex-doll athleticism, she’s a vital part of Ridley Scott’s groundbreaking vision.
Makes an indelible mark … Hannah as Pris in Blade Runner.Photograph: THA/Shutterstock
1. Kill Bill: Vol 1 (2003) and 2 (2004)
Hannah serves up a delicious double-helping of pure malice in Quentin Tarantino’s martial arts pastiche as one-eyed Elle Driver, member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Whether whistling the theme from Twisted Nerve or clobbering Uma Thurman, she is mean and magnificent. We can only lament it didn’t lead to a career renaissance as an action star, though she has since kept busy with TV work, going public with her autism, environmental activism – and Neil Young, whom she married in 2018.