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There's no doubt that Jennifer Connelly would have been a bigger star had she not turned down one star-making role. However, that's not to say that she hasn't had a respectable career. In fact, Jennifer has been part of a few of the most unique and beloved films of all time, including A Beautiful Mind and Requiem For A Dream. Her touching relationship with the MCU's Paul Bettany has also earned her a lot of attention. Still, she remains away from the spotlight, free to raise her kids and continue acting without the hassle of the paparazzi or the tabloids.
Despite Jennifer's relatively quiet life, there's no doubt that her level of celebrity has changed over the past two years. During the pandemic, new fans started paying attention to Jennifer. It wasn't because of her excellent role in Snowpeircer nor the excitement for her return to the Top Gun franchise later this year. It was one of her very first roles that caught the internet's attention. Specifically shots of an 18-year-old Jennifer riding a mechanical horse and skating around a Target after closing time while falling in love with Frank Whaley's Jim. The images from the 1991 film Career Oppurnitites paired with Mr. Kitty's ethereal and moody, synthpop hit "After Dark" have absolutely blown up her internet stardom. Here's why...
A Fan-Made Music Video For Mr. Kitty's "After Dark" With Jennifer Connelly Has Become An Absolute Sensation
Austin, Texas-based musician Forrest LeMaire started releasing mini-albums of his epic synthpop tuns back in 2008. By 2012, he gained a lot of attention among synthpop fans for the song "Destroy Me", which seemed to encapsulate what the musician, who is best-known as Echo Strobe or Mr. Kitty (in the mainstream), describes as his "self-destructive" tone. But perhaps no song of his has done a better job at that as "After Dark". While it was originally released in 2014, "After Dark" found its way out of the underground scene and into the mainstream thanks to a fan video released in 2019.
The video, which was made by "Diana Darkangel", is, at the time of this writing, sitting at over 46 million views on Youtube. And according to Spotify's "Artist Wrapped" list, the song became an absolute sensation in 2020 and rode through the entirety of the pandemic so far. No doubt, in part, because of the video which featured a compilation of dreamy, highly romantic, and ultimately nostalgic clips from Bryan Gordon and John Hughes' Career Opportunities... Specifically shots of Jennifer Connelly being put on a pedestal as the ultimate adolescent crush.
While the movie did fairly well when it was released in 1991, there's no doubt that the Google searches for it have skyrocketed thanks to it being paired with Mr. Kitty's "After Dark". Of course, the "Diana Darkangel" video isn't the only "After Dark" music video made by fans. One with footage from Silver Linings Playbook and one with footage from Drive also made a splash. But not compared to the one with clips from Career Opportunities. Not only has it propelled Mr. Kitty's sensational hit, but it has fans all over Youtube and Reddit obsessed with Jennifer Connelly.
How Jennifer Connelly Became The Internet's Muse And What Mr. Kitty Thinks About It
While Jennifer Connelly is one of two actors featured in the fan-made Mr. Kitty "After Dark" music video, she is the focus. Jennifer's connection to music isn't specific to Mr. Kitty's "After Dark". After all, she once released a Japanese song without even knowing Japanese. More importantly, her work in Career Opportunities has been repurposed for many fan-made music videos.
But "After Dark" is what got Reddit and YouTube users trying to figure out who Jennifer is. Those who did know are now obsessed. They've suddenly found a muse, editing her early film work into their own fan-made music videos of other songs that speak of young romance and dream girls.
Despite there being numerous modern mainstream beauties for synthpop fans to become obsessed with, it's a young Jennifer Connelly who has captured their imaginations. One user on YouTube even wrote that Jennifer encapsulates the "young romance we all wanted".
While there's definitely a level of sex appeal inspired by both the "After Dark" song and the shot of her riding a mechanical horse, it's clearly Jennifer's confident yet innocent youthful appearance that has snagged the hearts of fans. Even Mr. Kitty himself, who is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, is obsessed with Jennifer. Although, according to 3rd Lamar, he hates Career Oppurntities, calling it a "horrible movie". He also stated that he doesn't like the implication that it takes a fan-made music video to get star-power like Jennifer Connelly involved with his work.
"It’s cool to see Jennifer Connelly, but it’s like now I possibly have the budget to say, ‘Hey, I could actually get Jennifer Connelly to be in my video.'"
Should Mr. Kitty want to take his already impressive career to new heights, he'd be smart to find a way to work with Jennifer. And given how much more notoriety his song has brought her, she'd be smart to do the same.