A close, necessary look at Louise Linton's filmography

From "Cabin Fever" (the reboot) to "Rules Don't Apply," a study of her extensive body of work

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published August 22, 2017 4:13PM (EDT)

Louise Linton as Deputy Winston in "Cabin Fever" (IFC Midnight)
Louise Linton as Deputy Winston in "Cabin Fever" (IFC Midnight)

Louise Linton, wife of Steven Mnuchin, became the household name du jour on Tuesday after sneering at online critics who called her out for bragging about her wealth and her access to government aircraft.

But this is far from Linton's first turn in front of the cameras. Indeed, she has 19 IMDb acting credits to her name, though — unfortunately for her — they are little to brag about.

Perhaps most notable in Linton's body of work was her attempt to fill Giuseppe Andrews' shoes in the role of Deputy Winston in the 2016 "Cabin Fever" remake. He was charismatic and funny, she was bland and forgettable.

Alas, the other titles in her filmography fail to stand out as well. She collaborated quite frequently with director Travis Z on movies that came and left without leaving a mark, including the aforementioned "Cabin Fever" remake as well as the thrillers "Scavengers," "Intruder" and "The Midnight Man."

"The Midnight Man" is perhaps most notable for the man who produced it — Linton's future husband, and America's future Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin. They also worked together on another film, "Rules Don't Apply."

Aside from these entries, the most recognizable titles on her IMDb page are "Lions for Lambs" (in which she played "Skin Care Consultant") and one-off appearances on the TV shows "Cold Case" and "CSI: New York." In another non-filmic stab at acting, she cast herself as a white savior in Zambia in her now-infamous 2016 "In Congo’s Shadow."

None of this is to say that Linton — like many aspiring thespians before and after her — should be ashamed that her career stalled in the B movie doldrums. There are many incredibly talented people who never got their big break and many incredibly untalented people who did, often for reasons beyond anyone's reasoning.

That said, considering that Linton has now made headlines twice due to her condescending attitude toward other people, it's fair to look at her career achievements to see how they stack up.

They don't.

 

 


By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer at Salon. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012 and was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022.

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