'The Karate Kid' Star Is 'Behaving Badly' in Her New Movie
Eighties sweetheart Elisabeth Shue looked as radiant as ever at last night’s premiere of Behaving Badly in Los Angeles. The actress, who got her big break in 1984’s The Karate Kid playing Daniel LaRusso’s love interest, walked the red carpet in a sunny blue cocktail dress to promote the coming-of-age comedy that’s out Aug. 1.
Shue plays a Mrs. Robinson-type seductress in Behaving Badly, based on the satirical coming-of-age novel While I’m Dead…Feed the Dog by music producer Ric Browde. The object of her onscreen affections is Rick (Nat Wolff from The Fault in Our Stars), an awkward teenager who goes to absurd lengths to win over his beautiful classmate Nina (Selena Gomez). Along the way, he has to deal with his best friend’s randy mother (Shue) who’s eager to teach him the sexual ropes.
The movie also features performances from Dylan McDermott, Heather Graham, Gary Busey, and Mary-Louise Parker (who plays both Rick’s mother and a heavenly hallucination, as seen in this clip). There’s also a quick cameo by Gomez’s then-boyfriend Justin Bieber, which leaked online in June following an advance screening. “It’s really fun. It’s raunchy like Superbad meets Risky Business kind of,” Shue told Vulture about the film (called Feed the Dog at the time of the interview). “It was nice to get out of my comfort zone, and do a comedy, push myself.” Among her more outrageous moments: Her character almost beds McDermott’s skeezy strip club owner who she briefly mistakes for the teenaged Rick.
Known for ‘80s blockbusters like Adventures in Babysitting, Cocktail, and the Back to the Future films, Elisabeth Shue began to take on more challenging roles in the ‘90s, including her Oscar-nominated performance as a prostitute in Leaving Las Vegas (1995). In 2012, she joined the cast of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, but still makes occasional big-screen appearances in films like the horror flick The House at the End of the Street (in which she plays Jennifer Lawrence’s mother) and the surfer drama Chasing Mavericks.
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