Krige Creates Another Terrifying Matriarch

Alice Krige (The Borg Queen, Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Voyager) earned rave reviews for her performance as a terrifying stage mother in the television biopic The Mystery of Natalie Wood, which airs tonight at 8 p.m. EST.

Though the production itself, a dramatization of Wood's life and mysterious last hours, garnered a mixed critical reception, Krige's performance as Wood's mother Maria Gurdin, which The New York Times described as "floridly evil", was highly praised.

"Alice Krige, who, among many roles has played Star Trek's Borg queen, plays Wood's mother, a stage mom from hell who micromanages Wood's early entry into films," explained The Houston Chronicle.

"It has become an unspoken rule that Hollywood biopics should include a demented witch with bad hair to rival the Joan Crawford of 'Mommie Dearest'," chimed in The Boston Globe. "Mommie severest, sans wire hangers but with tragically tacky bangs, pull[s] apart a butterfly to scare her child-star daughter into tears for a movie role...and with a stiff Russian accent and juicy lines such as, 'God made her; I invented her,' she's great TV."

The Globe also said that thanks in large part to Krige's "memorable" turn in the role, the film "is a step above most of TV's biopics."

The New York Daily News, which gave the drama only one and a half stars, did note that Krige "generates the proper terror as Wood's domineering stage mother, Maria."

And the Cleveland Plain Dealer claimed that "the real film-stealing performance here is supplied by Alice Krige, who manages to make Wood's cold-blooded stage mother seem more monstrous than the Borg queen she played in 'Star Trek: First Contact.'"

The Mystery of Natalie Wood premieres Monday, March 1st on ABC.

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