Mary Sean Young (born November 20, 1959) is an American actress.
Best known for her roles in movies in such '80s films as Blade Runner and No Way Out (1987), Young has also gained notoriety for some of her bizarre offscreen antics, such as being sued by James Woods for sexual harassment — although Woods later recanted the charges, blaming his then-wife for a misunderstanding — and for trying to land the role of Catwoman in Batman Returns by wearing a homemade costume to impress the makers of the film. She has since appeared in many reality TV shows recently including on Celebrity Rehab for her treatment for alcohol addiction.
Young married actor Robert Lujan in 1990; the couple divorced in 2002, but remarried in 2011. They have two sons.
Selected filmography
- Stripes (1981) as Louise Cooper
- Blade Runner (1982) as Rachael
- Young Doctors in Love (1982) as Stephanie Brody
- Dune (1984) as Chani
- Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (1985) as Susan Matthews-Loomis
- No Way Out (1987) as Susan Atwell
- Wall Street (1987) as Kate Gekko
- Fire Birds (1990) as Billie Lee Guthrie
- A Kiss Before Dying (1991) as Dorothy/Ellen Carlsson
- Once Upon a Crime (1992) as Pheobe
- Fatal Instinct (1993) as Lola Cain
- Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) as Lois Einhorn
- Dr. Jekyll & Ms. Hyde (1995) as Helen Hyde
- Exception to the Rule (1997) as Angela Bayer
- Blade Runner PC game (1997), voice and likeness for Rachael
- Sugar & Spice (2001) as Mrs. Hill
- Boston Public (2003) as Candy Sobell
- Reno 911! (2004) as New Wiegel
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2006) as Dusty
- ER (2006) as Anna Hayes
- One Tree Hill (2007) as Hope Brown
- Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2007) as Sybil Martin
- The Man Who Came Back (2008) as Kate
- The Young and the Restless (2010-2011) Meggie McClaine
- Star Trek: Renegades (2013) as Dr. Lucien
- Blade Runner 2049 (2017), likeness as Rachael
- The Alienist (2018) as Mrs. Van Bergen
Tropes related to Sean Young's career:
- Casting Gag: Appears in Dune (1984) and Planet Dune, a mockbuster of Dune (2021).
- Creator Breakdown: She was blackballed at just thirty years old and had some well-publicized drug and alcohol issues. She has since appeared in several reality TV shows related to her alcoholism, including Celebrity Rehab.
- Digital De-Aging: Lent her likeness in Blade Runner 2049 towards a younger actress playing a recreation of Rachel.
- Hollywood Hype Machine: As one article analyzing her career made clear
, poor role choices made her never really take off as a leading lady, and Hollywood also turned on her for less than savory off-screen behavior (most infamously, she showed up at Warner Bros. studios in a homemade Catwoman costume downright demanding to get the role in Batman Returns). It ultimately led to her Creator Breakdown. - Hostility on the Set:
- Harrison Ford and Ridley Scott did not get along with Young on Blade Runner due to her inexperience, making the already-harsh working conditions even more miserable.
- Her unpredictability eventually led her to being blacklisted in the industry, not helped by the fact she revealed one of the people who blacklisted her was the now-infamous Harvey Weinstein after he sexually harassed her.
- Leslie Nielsen Syndrome: Her turn in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective can turn some heads due to her otherwise serious body of work.
- What Could Have Been: Tested for the role of Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark, back when Tom Selleck was considered for the lead. She was also initially cast to play Vicki Vale in Batman (1989) before a collarbone injury while riding on horseback forced her to abdicate the role to Kim Basinger.
