Ann-Margret Reveals Classic Movie Left Her Permanently Scarred

Ann-Margret Reveals Classic Movie Left Her Permanently Scarred,Ann-Margret's performance in Tommy introduced her to a whole new audience of moviegoers who may have missed her in Viva Las Vegas or Bye Bye Birdie, but it came at a physical cost. The 1975 film was filmmaker Ken Russell's elaborate film adaptation of The Who's seminal 1969 rock opera. In a May [...]

Ann-Margret Reveals Classic Movie Left Her Permanently Scarred

Ann-Margret’s performance in Tommy introduced her to a whole new audience of moviegoers who may have missed her in Viva Las Vegas or Bye Bye Birdie, but it came at a physical cost. The 1975 film was filmmaker Ken Russell’s elaborate film adaptation of The Who’s seminal 1969 rock opera. In a May 18 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ann-Margret recalled how the film left her permanently scarred on her left hand.

Tommy features a famous scene where Ann-Margret dreams about playing in detergent foam, baked beans and chocolate. At one point, she throws a bottle of champagne into a television set. “When I threw the champagne bottle into the television set, there was all this jagged glass,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “And all of the soap bubbles were coming up. And I came forward, whipping my hand back and forth. Whoopsie daisy! The redness of the blood was really scary.”

It took more than a day to film the entire sequence. “It was on a Saturday, actually, and then we had to come back there on Monday. The smell of all the beans [was everywhere],” Ann-Margret, 82, explained. “And I noticed that the crew was wearing hip boots because of all the stuff that was on the ground. It was quite interesting. I was the only one with no hip boots.”

This was not the first time Ann-Margret told this story. She mentioned it in her tribute to Russell, who died in November 2011 at 84. At that time, she recalled how Russell and his team threw towels on her after they noticed the soap suds turning red because of her cut. “Here I come into the hospital, looking like a drowned person in this silver knit shrinking catsuit with blood all over. There were 27 stitches,” she said in 2011. “I’ve never done a movie like that before or since. But the whole experience was wonderful.”

Tommy starred The Who frontman Roger Daltrey as the titular “deaf, dumb, and blind boy” who can play a mean pinball. Ann-Margret starred as his mother Nora, who is obsessed with leading a luxurious life. The role earned Ann-Margret a Best Actress Oscar nomination, but she had the misfortune of competing in the same year as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest star Louise Fletcher. Ann-Margret also earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination in 1972 for Carnal Knowledge.

Ann-Margret, born Ann-Margret Olsson, hasn’t stopped working. She recently starred in Going in Style, Ray Donovan, Papa, The Kominsky Method, Happy!, Queen Bees, and the Hallmark Channel Christmas movie A Holiday Spectacular. She hosts An Evening With Ann-Margret on TCM Tuesday, introducing Viva Las Vegas and Once a Thief, as well as Coming Home. Proceeds from her new Ann-Margret perfume will go to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

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