Lisa Bonet’s casting as the sexually uninhibited Epiphany Proudfoot created an immediate collision between two radically different screen images. At the time, Bonet was widely known as Denise Huxtable on The Cosby Show, one of American television’s most wholesome and successful family sitcoms. Angel Heart placed her in an explicitly adult horror film containing graphic violence, occult imagery, nudity, and a highly controversial sex scene with Mickey Rourke. The casting became a major publicity issue because audiences associated Bonet with the carefully controlled Cosby television persona, even though director Alan Parker said he had chosen her solely because of the strength of her audition and claimed he had not watched the sitcom. Before accepting the role, Bonet discussed the decision with Bill Cosby, who encouraged her to proceed. Bonet later described using meditation, self-examination, and voodoo research to strip away her public image and inhabit Epiphany. The role marked a deliberate break from her television identity and demonstrated how precarious the transition from child- or family-oriented television fame to adult cinema could be.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1980s
The Cosby Show Star Who Shocked Family Television Audiences
Lisa Bonet in Angel Heart / 1980s
Lisa Bonet’s casting as the sexually uninhibited Epiphany Proudfoot created an immediate collision between two radically different screen images. At the time, Bonet was widely known as Denise Huxtable on The Cosby Show, one of American television’s most wholesome and successful family sitcoms. Angel Heart placed her in an explicitly adult horror film containing graphic violence, occult imagery, nudity, and a highly controversial sex scene with Mickey Rourke. The casting became a major publicity issue because audiences associated Bonet with the carefully controlled Cosby television persona, even though director Alan Parker said he had chosen her solely because of the strength of her audition and claimed he had not watched the sitcom. Before accepting the role, Bonet discussed the decision with Bill Cosby, who encouraged her to proceed. Bonet later described using meditation, self-examination, and voodoo research to strip away her public image and inhabit Epiphany. The role marked a deliberate break from her television identity and demonstrated how precarious the transition from child- or family-oriented television fame to adult cinema could be.
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