Darren Aronofsky's landmark film Requiem For A Dream is a haunting depiction of substance abuse and addiction from four different yet interconnected perspectives. With emotional performances and cutting-edge visual style, the drama delved into several psychological aspects of drug use incorporating the filmmaker's usual disturbingly raw and real touch.
The cast, of course, pulled off a great job in adding life to the complex characters. Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly channel a certain sense of helplessness and desperation in their performances, along with Marlon Wayans who breaks his typecast of funny roles. Ellen Burstyn as the amphetamine-addicted widow pulls off one of her most moving performances and was nominated for an Academy Award.
Sean Gullette As Arnold
Marion (Jennifer Connelly) is compulsively drawn to heroin, but, when she and her boyfriend run out of their stash and money, she is prompted to extreme measures like selling herself. Her psychiatrist, Arnold, meets her at a dinner and then engages in intercourse with her despite her discomfort.
The role is pretty small, but it contributes to some of the disturbing elements of the film, as Sean Gullette channels Arnold's glumness as he loudly chews his food on the dinner table. There's something ominous about his mannerisms that foreshadows what he does to Marion later on. Overall, he succeeds in making the character, smug, and emotionless.
Marcia Jean Kurtz As Rae
As Rae, Marcia Jean Kurtz plays a character who is a know-it-all. As the aging widow Sara Goldfarb harbors hopes to appear in a reality show, she starts following a diet to lessen her body weight. Rae sassily—and probably sarcastically—comments on Sara's dieting while giving her health tips.
It's a very believable performance with no ounce of fake melodrama attached to it. Hence, a role like this is suited for the character actor that Kurtz is. Rae easily acts and appears like a nosy neighbor next door who seems to have an opinion on anything and everything. Marcia Jean Kurtz went on to have such small character roles in other films by Darren Aronofsky, like The Wrestler, Mother, and Black Swan.
Christopher McDonald As Tappy Tibbons
Tappy Tibbons is an enthusiastic game show host, brimming with the generic charisma and over-the-top bravado of such people in showbiz. Most of his scenes are shown from the lens of Sara Goldfarb's television set. She is hooked to the show with the host's charm and wishes to join him in front of a cheering audience.
Christopher McDonald effortlessly plays the character with his clear oratory and confident personality, adding some 'scripted realism' to his part. He easily seems like a man who is very well-acquainted with the spotlight. The film, in fact, ends with him warmly welcoming Sara to his show , which turns out to be one of Sara's hallucinations. His performance is indeed a hallucinatory breakaway from the otherwise grounded and gloomy characters in Requiem For A Dream.
Marlon Wayans As Tyrone C Love
Tyrone is one of Harry Goldfarb's (Jared Leto) friends who usually engages in doing drugs with him. While Marlon Wayans was known for his comedic roles—most notably in the Scary Movie franchise— he pulls off the role of an emotionally-fragile individual. The role was initially offered to comedian Dave Chappelle, who rejected it. As for Wayans, he had read the original novel three times and auditioned five times before finally bagging the role.
In the start, his character seems pretty stable as he cheerily engages in his addictive habits. But, when the addiction gets overbearing, Tyrone starts getting distant memories of his past as he remembers his younger self cuddled next to his mother. This scene, in particular, is where Marlon Wayans shines. His tears, his cries for help, and his frustration, all of it seems to be pretty genuine. His desperation grows with time as he engages in crime to buy the self-destructive drugs he's drawn to.
Jennifer Connelly As Marion Silver
Jennifer Connelly doesn't have that many loud monologues as compared to the other major characters in the film. But still, she succeeds at 'underacting' as a Marion Silver. She plays an addict who suffers not only from her addiction, but also from a toxic relationship, as her boyfriend mentally pressurizes her to earn money to support their drug habit.
Connelly expresses this pressure through subtle mannerisms. Even in scenes that don't require much talking, her eyes and expressions convey her weak and vulnerable state. As Connelly herself sums up the character in an interview with the BBC, 'It was draining, sad, and uncomfortable'.
Jared Leto As Harry Goldfarb
Harry Golbfarb is quite a grey character, making it easily one of the most demanding characters in Jared Leto's versatile acting career. Leto starts off as a helpless man struggling with the drugs. However, he's not a selfish person, as he dutifully takes care of her mother and wishes that she gave up the crash diet she was hooked to. As the film progresses, the audiences see his transformation to a desperate individual losing his will to live before he gets his usual dose. He is then willing to stoop down to any extent, losing all purpose in life.
Leto, much like his co-star Jennifer Connelly, adds emotions in the silent sequences too. The aforementioned pier scene is probably the only part where both actors appear the calmest in an otherwise-turbulent narrative. Then, of course, when his character ends up losing his arms, the pain on his face is too hard to watch.
Ellen Burstyn As Sara Goldfarb
As Sara Goldfarb, Oscar-nominee Ellen Burstyn arguably gave one of the most disturbing acting performances in cinematic history. In her monologue in which she explains to her son why she wishes to lose weight and wear a red dress at the game show, Burstyn gives her all to express an emotional cause that drives the rest of her actions.
Like the rest of the main cast, she too lets out cries of helplessness, but what makes her act hauntingly beautiful is that she appears to smile through her pain. Her saddened eyes and her frightening smile is what makes Requiem For A Dream almost a horror film. Even though she ruins her body and mental state, she still harbors optimism for a future in which she can appear on TV, a fantasy she carries on till the very end...