If someone were to introduce themselves with the last name of “Hemingway,” I would assume they would have a relatively charmed life, purely based on their name (or that they were using a romantic sounding stage name). The last place I would expect to find them is in an extremely low-budget independent film, boasting little advertising and even less theater play.
Yet that is exactly how Dree Hemingway, the 24-year-old great-granddaughter of the prolific novelist Ernest Hemingway, has decided to make her mark on the world.
In Starlet, a film based in the outskirts of the sun-soaked San Fernando Valley, Hemingway plays Jane, a character whose bubbly nature and incandescent smiles far outshine her vacuous counterparts. Jane’s gregarious nature leads her to develop an unconventional friendship with a much older, and seemingly much more lonely, Sadie.
As Jane flits about the Valley, spending her days in a monotonous routine of smoking pot, playing video games and aimlessly walking about with her pet Chihuahua, Starlet, her vacant stares, flighty personality and school girl giggles make the audience wonder if Hemingway is acting at all, or if her personality is the same as the one instinctively given to a girl of her appearance.
This only begs the question: who exactly is the newest branch of the Hemingway family tree?
Dree Hemingway was born in Ketchum, Idaho — the same town in which her great-grandfather spent a great deal of his later life. The daughter of Mariel Hemingway, a film actress of her own merit, Hemingway had no trouble finding inspiration from the frequent set visits she paid her mother, citing her focus of acting to mirror her mother’s. Yet, despite going to an elementary school named after her famous family, Dree remained rather oblivious to the legacy that surrounded her name.
When her family moved to Westlake Village of California’s North Ranch at the beginning of her middle school years, Hemingway opted to model with the understanding that her name would not get her very far in the ever-capricious industry.
However, at a waif-like 5’9’’ stature, complemented with blond hair, blue eyes and porcelain skin, there was no struggle to find an interested eye. After moving to New York, Hemingway began to take ballet classes at the School of American Ballet, a passion she had pursued since age five, and model for names ranging from Abercrombie & Fitch to Nicole Miller. However, it wasn’t until she had made it in the modeling world herself as Dree Crisman (her father’s last name), that she began to use her illustrious last name in 2007.
Between 2009-2010 alone, Hemingway walked for Givenchy, Calvin Klein, Topshop and Chanel, just to name a few. Following her successful year, Hemingway became the face of the Gianfranco Ferré advertising campaign and was featured in magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, W and Vogue.
For such a seemingly well-established model, it seems odd that Dree would choose to pursue a career in acting, especially in such a small film.
However, after attending classes at the Royal Academy in London, and landing a few bit parts in other movies, Dree realized she wanted to pursue an acting career like her mother.
Indeed, Starlet takes a much less flattering look into the lives of young adults freshly in the real world, providing a raw character analysis of the hidden connections between seeming opposites.
As the film opens, Jane is moving into a new apartment with her painfully empty friend Melissa and her equally ridiculous boyfriend Mikey. When Jane decides to take on interior decorating, she stumbles across a thermos at the elderly and ill-tempered Sadie’s yard sale.
When Jane later finds that the thermos contains ten thousand dollars of which she believes Sadie never knew about, she finds herself at odds of whether to keep the money for her own benefit or to give it back to her grumpy new acquaintance. While Jane’s material interest takes over as she goes on a mini shopping spree for herself and her dog, her selfless side kicks in, motivating her to be Sadie’s new companion, whether Sadie likes it or not.
As Jane “accidently” runs into her at her Bingo nights, becomes her personal taxi service, and even goes as far as to plan a trip for the two of them to Paris, Sadie’s favorite city, we see Jane emotionally grow apart from her surrounding emptiness, including her hidden venture into the porn industry.
As Hemingway encompasses the effortless free spirit of Jane, she brings life to an otherwise vacuous environment, creating a magical relationship between her equally talented and inexperienced costar Besedka Johnson, the 87-year-old woman who plays Sadie.
While it’s unclear what the future holds for this young starlet, Hemingway’s talent and drive guarantee a bright one. She is determined to make a name for herself the old-fashioned way: with hard work and sheer talent. While she admits that her name may have gotten her opportunities, she’s made it clear she can hold her own in the industry.
