Ashley Judd, Actress & Humanitarian
Ashley Judd came to mind for my choice of advent heroine when I was trying to think of a woman who I thought particularly heroic. She played the lead role of Libby in the movie Double Jeopardy alongside the wonderful Tommy Lee Jones who was the perfect complementary character for her in the film.
The movie is about a woman framed for her husband's murder but she discovers he is still alive. As she has already been tried for the crime, she cannot be re-prosecuted if she finds and kills him. Of course, said husband is a real nasty and over the course of a fast and action-packed movie, there is nothing that Libby won't do to seek justice and reclaim her son after her years of imprisonment.
Ashley also starred earlier this year in the TV series Missing. Again, familiar scenario. Her character, Rebecca Winstone, has a teenage son who goes missing under suspicious circumstances while on holidays in Europe. Rebecca and her husband were CIA agents and use their knowledge and skills to trace him. Again, the mother tiger comes out and she will do whatever it takes to find him. Lots of twists and fast action over the course of the series.
In her personal life, it seems Ashley is opting out of acting to become a genuine dedicated humanitarian and supports many worthy causes. Her ancestors sailed on the Mayflower, she is the daughter and sister of country music royalty, is married and lives in Tennessee and Scotland. Her autobiography, All That Is Bitter And Sweet, looks wonderful, and is drawn from her diaries kept while visiting grass roots programes in 13 countries [and counting]. Her website gives much more information about the person, and her life and work.
Hi Noelene, a worthy and interesting heroine. I love that film, and Ashley looks really beautiful in it. The character in it is great, feisty, resourceful, determined and she succeeds in changing Tommy Lee's perception of her. Ashley is definitely a heroine for our times, someone who has used her fame to make life better for others. By the way, as a matter of interest, the double jeopardy rule in the UK has been amended after 800 years partly due to the Stephen Lawrence case. One of those acquitted for his murder was retried and sentenced following the discovery many years after the murder of a jacket with irrefutable biological evidence that the suspect was present at the time of Stephen's murder. It IS now possible for someone to be tried twice for serious cases such as murder if substantial new evidence is uncovered. I think however that it is only possible to try someone two times otherwise cases could endlessly be rehashed!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info re the beautiful Ashley Judd.
ReplyDeleteAlso thank you, Cara, for the update on the double jeopardy rule.