Adrienne Barbeau says being known for her looks was never the goal of her acting career. The 81-year-old star became famous through television and horror films, but she wanted people to notice her talent first. Her early success brought attention to her appearance, leaving her wishing audiences would focus more on her performances. Now, Barbeau is opening up about how she felt about her sex-symbol reputation.
Adrienne Barbeau explains why her sex-symbol reputation never matched how she viewed herself
In an interview with People, Barbeau recalled the night her sitcom Maude first aired in 1972. Friends called to praise her looks, but she wanted to know what they thought of her acting.
“I don’t care how I looked. How was the acting?” she remembered thinking. The role of Carol Traynor helped launch her career, but the attention she received did not always match what mattered most to her.
Barbeau later earned a reputation as both a sex symbol and a scream queen through horror and thriller films. Still, she said she never tried to use her looks to build her career.
“It was never anything that I chose to capitalize on,” she told the outlet. She added that, apart from her role in Cannonball Run, much of her work was not especially revealing.
The actress also recalled having only one on-screen kiss before appearing in The Swamp Thing. She played Paul Michael Glaser’s mistress in a television movie about Houdini, which included a scene with a sexy tone.
However, Barbeau said that was not how she viewed herself. “I’d carry my books around and I wanted to be loved for my mind,” she explained, recalling how she felt even in high school.
Barbeau continues to work in horror and is now promoting Oddities, directed by Tyler Savage. The film also stars Lovie Simone and Lilimar, and Barbeau said she loved both the project and its director.
She first worked with Savage on a short film of the same name during the pandemic. The story follows two troubled best friends who accidentally kill their drug dealer, flee town and stop at an antique shop run by a woman who may not be as kind as she seems.
