Portraits of Isabella Rossellini on the Set of Her First Film ‘White Nights’ (1984)

Before Isabella Rossellini starred in one of her most recognizable roles as the tortured, sexual nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens alongside Kyle MacLachlan in Blue Velvet, she appeared in the thriller White Nights, her first American movie. See her looking gorgeous and youthful in 1984, decades before she appeared as Jack Donaghy’s ex-wife who proclaimed her love for “big beef and cheddar.” Check out these portraits to catch her tugging at her collar and looking wide-eyed and pensive for Taylor Hackford’s film.

Isabella Rossellini (born June 18, 1952) is an Italian actress and model. The daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Italian film director Roberto Rossellini, she is noted for her successful tenure as a Lancôme model and an established career in American cinema.

Rossellini made her film debut with a brief appearance as a nun opposite her mother in the 1976 film A Matter of Time. Her first role was the 1979 film Il Prato, and then in 1980 she appeared in Renzo Arbore’s film Il pap’occhio with Martin Scorsese.

Following her mother’s death in 1982, Rossellini was cast in her first American film, White Nights (1985). This was followed by her notable role as the tortured nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens in the David Lynch film Blue Velvet, in which she also contributed her own singing. Other significant film roles during this period include her work in Cousins (1989), Death Becomes Her (1992), Fearless (1993), and Immortal Beloved (1994). In 1996, she appeared as herself in an episode of the TV series Friends called “The One with Frank Jr.”