ROBIN TUNNEY (Annie Garrett) has quickly become one of the most sought after young leading ladies in Hollywood. She was recently seen in End of Days, with Arnold Swarzenegger and Gabriel Byrne and will soon be seen in Alan Rudolph’s Investigating Sex opposite Nick Nolte and Neve Campbell.
Tunney was attracted to the character of Annie because “she’s incredibly individual. A lot of times when you’re looking for roles in film as a woman, you’re the girlfriend, or the wife, or the daughter, or the appendage. This woman is very independent and that’s hard to come by.
“In the three years since her father's death, she has become a famous climber. She has thrown herself into the sport that her father loved, and she also loved, and I guess that’s her way of grieving.”
Director Martin Campbell was a major factor in her accepting the role. “He’s amazing. He’s incredibly good at the technical aspect of film making, but he really pays attention to the actors and he’ll keep going until you get it right. He knows exactly the film he wants to make in his mind - every single second of it.
“There’s also the fact that he’s put together such a good group of people. Everybody in the cast is so nice and there’s always somebody to make you smile. It’s easy to be on set because nobody’s pulling any strange attitude about how uncomfortable they are or how important they are.”
Tunney relished the opportunity to learn to climb and quickly became adept on the mountain. “Even though we’re only at 10,000 feet and we’re supposed to be at 26,000 feet in the movie, it’s challenging. This is a very extreme way to make a movie.”
Tunney began her career in her home town Chicago, where she studied at the Chicago Academy for the Performing Arts. She moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18 and moved into television and film.
She starred in Bob Gosse's critically acclaimed independent film NiagaraNiagara and received the Best Actress-Cuppa Volpe at the 1997 Venice Film Festival and a nomination for Best Actress at the 1999 Independent Spirit Awards.
Tunney starred in Andrew Fleming's box-office smash The Craft, for which she and co-star Fairuza Balk won an MTV Award. Her film credits also include Encino Man opposite Brendan Fraser and "Empire Records."
For television, Tunney starred in the ABC mini-series "JFK Reckless Youth" opposite Patrick Dempsey, and TNT's "Riders of the Purple Sage" opposite Ed Harris and Amy Madigan.
