Mirror Mirror: The Astrology of Famous People and the Actors Who Portrayed Them

by Alex Trenoweth

Julia Child and Meryll Streep
Sources: Child 1978: Lynn Gilbert, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Streep 2008: User:PhotoTakeReality, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

In the summer of 2009, during a visit to my family in Michigan, I persuaded my mother to watch Julie & Julia with me. As a kid, I was fascinated with Julia Child and as a six-year-old I’d faithfully watch her on television. I didn’t understand what she was doing but I loved the way she did what she did with such passion. As I grew older, I found other interests but I liked to check in on what Julia was doing every now and again. By the time she died, just a few days before her 92nd birthday, I still hadn’t understood her unique contributions to fine cuisine. Julie & Julia changed all that. I watched the movie completely enthralled by Meryl Streep’s performance, marveling at how the average-sized actress could fill the 6'2" frame of Julia Child.

Reflecting on the film, I realized that I had been so completely absorbed by the actress’ performance that I actually forgot she really wasn’t Julia Child. Curious, I thought I’d have a look at the real life Child’s astrology chart and compare it to Streep’s. What I discovered was something that would keep me busy for several years.

Was there something about the astrology that made it easy for the actor to step into the role of a real life person? As I watched more and more biographical films and investigated the astrology, I became very convinced that yes, the astrology tells the story. By the end of 2019, I had watched nearly 200 biopics and set myself the task of writing about these connections for this book.

Some of the films I loved so much that I wanted to write about them in more depth. I was particularly impressed with the actors who learned new skills for their roles such Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon who sang as Johnny and June Carter Cash in Walk the Line or Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody or Taron Egerton as Elton John in Rocketman (also my very favorite film). There was Margot Robbie who spent four hours per day for five days a week learning how to ice skate for her role as Tonya Harding in I, Tonya. And I can’t leave out Daniel Day-Lewis who prepared for his role as Christy Brown in My Left Foot by spending most of his time in a wheelchair and learning how to put a record on a turntable with his toes during filming.

Observing how films change through history was also interesting to me. The early biopics of the 1930s – 1950s tended to feature roles of biblical characters which meant the lack of a birth date made them unsuitable for astrological scrutiny. It was from the 1970s that biopics became more popular and films such as Diana Ross as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues, Gary Busey as Buddy Holly and Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn in Coalminer’s Daughter helped to make the genre more popular.

Despite enjoying the majority of the biopics in this book, there were a few I really didn’t like and we decided to leave them out. They Died With Their Boots On was so historically inaccurate that it put me in a bad mood for a week and By the Light of the Moon about the serial killer Ed Gein was never going to go over well with someone who dislikes the horror genre. 127 Hours I could only watch by peeking out of a blanket but it is included it in the collection nonetheless. Speaking of inclusions, the pared down list to about 100 films came about because the ones that were weeded out were relatively unknown or unpopular not because the astrology wasn’t working. In every single film, the astrology revealed a layer of enhanced meaning and for an astrologer that only heightened the enjoyment.

Once the bulk of the writing was done, I had to think about how I wanted to order the case studies of the films. Chronologically seemed the most obvious but my publisher suggested something more thematic. Would it be possible to categorize them by the planet that showed the strongest synastry between character and actor? I spent a few weeks mulling this over and procrastinating on this re-structure. I shouldn’t have worried. In just a few short hours, the job was easily done. There are a few stretches with films that didn’t seem to fit in any one category but it was surprisingly easy to find a planetary theme for most of the films.

In terms of methodology, I wanted to keep to a simple few rules. Firstly the films had to be about a real-life person. Secondly, I wanted to keep the orbs of the aspects down to one or two degrees unless otherwise stated. I could have easily spent a lot of space writing about every minutiae of astrological connection but I thought that would take the fun away.

I wanted to stick to conjunctions and oppositions and leave more in- depth analyses to the reader who might even be inspired to write an article for one of the fine astrology magazines currently available. For the charts, I used tri-wheels with the real-life person in the center, the actor in the middle and the event chart (set for noon) for the movie’s release. Unfortunately, not all of the precise times of birth were available and in these cases, it is indicated that a noon chart was used with no references to the Moon or angles which would be significantly affected by the time of day.

Here are a few examples:

EDDIE THE EAGLE

“Eddie the Eagle” (Michael Edwards): 5 December 1963, no time, Cheltenham, England. Source: Wikipedia
Taron Egerton: 10 November 1989, no time, Merseyside, England. Source: Wikipedia
Release date: 12 December 2015, Austin, Texas.

Eddie the Eagle and Taron Egerton
Sources: Eddie 2017: Orville Barlow, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Egerton 2019: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Like many children, Michael “Eddie” Edwards dreams of competing in the Olympics. He was never terribly athletic and wears thick glasses. Whilst his mother indulges and encourages him, his father does the opposite. While still a teenager, Eddie decides he wants to participate in the Winter Games and takes up skiing. Rejected by the British Olympic officials for his lack of athletic professionalism, he realises there is one sport that has not had any British participants for six decades: ski jumping. With no other competitors in that sport, Eddie sees his opportunity; he goes to Germany to train and is continuously picked on by more seasoned jumpers.

Eddie is initially self-trained but then manages to find a coach of sorts in an alcoholic snow groomer, Bronson Peary. After Eddie severely injures himself, Peary tells him to give up. However the two form a bond of shared ostracism and Peary ends up employing all manner of unorthodox methods to improve Eddie’s form. Eddie eventually qualifies even though Olympic officials decide to change the rules to prevent him from competing. Peary realises that Eddie is going to make a fool of himself and his country if he represents the British team. Undeterred, Eddie says that he only wants to compete in the Olympics, not win medals.

Eddie is picked on by the other Olympic athletes for his obvious lack of ability but his over the top celebrations for setting a British record (but still coming in last in the competition) are a crowd pleaser and the media embrace him as “Eddie the Eagle”. Peary continues to criticise Eddie over the phone for not taking the sport seriously. After apologising to the press for his lack of professionalism, Eddie decides to enter the competition for a jump length he has never attempted before. Admiring Eddie’s determination and courage, Peary has a change of heart and goes to the games to encourage him. After an uplifting conversation with a fellow competitor who he idolises, Eddie fails miserably at the jump.

Although he scores last in the competition, crowds from around the world cheer for him and the press refer to him as “Eddie the Eagle”. Eddie is even included in the closing speech of the Olympic Games: “You have broken world records. You have established many of your own personal bests and some of you have even soared like an Eagle”.

Eddie the Eagle returns to his hometown as a record-breaking hero. His mother warmly embraces him and his father’s T-shirt proudly proclaims: “I’m Eddie’s Dad”.

Tri-Wheel Eddie the Eagle, Taron Egerton and release date of the film

Even with an untimed chart, Eddie has the Moon in Leo, an indication that he would enjoy the spotlight. Both he and Egerton have a stellium of planets in Capricorn which pretty much ensures a strong work ethic and a determination to succeed. Additionally, Egerton has three planets within two degrees of Eddie’s Neptune in Scorpio so the actor was well attuned to the dream mind-set of a champion athlete. The film was in production talks when transiting Pluto was on their stelliums in Capricorn and then finally released as transiting Saturn was within four degrees of Eddie’s Sun in Sagittarius.

The film was generally well received and had nominations for minor awards.

RAGING BULL

Jake LaMotta, July 10, 1922, no time, The Bronx, New York. Source: Wikipedia
Robert DeNiro: 17 August 1943, 03:00, Brooklyn, New York. A: RR
Release date: 14 November 1980 (New York City)

Jake LaMotta and Robert DeNiro
Sources: LaMotta: Postcard photo of boxer Jake LaMotta written and signed by him in 1952, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
DeNiro 1988: Roland GodefroyModifié par: Arad (Dust removed), CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Jake LaMotta, an overweight Italian-American, rehearses his comedy act while the story of his career as a professional boxer is told in flashback. Robert DeNiro famously piled on 60 pounds of weight for this role.

As a boxer, Jake suffers his first loss in a fixed fight against Jimmy Reeves. Jake’s brother (and fight organiser) Joey reassures him that Salvy, one of his Mafia connections, can help Jake win the middleweight title.

A short time later, Jake spots Vickie, a fifteen-year-old girl in the neighbourhood swimming pool. Despite already being married, he seduces and eventually marries her. In the meantime, he defeats Sugar Ray Robinson but in the re-match a few weeks later, he loses the bout by decision from the judges.

Jake constantly worries about his new wife having an affair with other men and regularly has violent fights in and out of the ring with men he suspects have their eye on her. In particular, Jake suspects Salvy is trying to seduce Vickie, as well as attempting to tie him to the Mafia. At a subsequent match, Joey tells Jake that in order to win a championship he will have to deliberately lose a fight. After he is found out for doing so, Jake is suspended by the boxing board; however, he is eventually reinstated and goes on to win the middleweight championship.

Jake’s jealousy leads to him asking Joey if he has had an affair with Vickie. Joey refuses to answer him. Jake then questions his wife and she sarcastically tells him she has slept with the whole neighbourhood, including his brother and several associates. Jake goes to his brother’s house and beats him up in front of his wife and children then returns home and knocks his wife unconscious.

After winning a gruelling fifteen-round bout a few years later, Jake tries to make amends with his brother by telephone. However, he wrongly assumes the person on the other end of the telephone is Salvy rather than his own brother; Jake hurls insults down the line at the person he thinks is Salvy until eventually Joey silently hangs up the phone. From there, Jake’s career takes a downturn and he retires.

Jake and his family move away but on one occasion he stays out all night; Vickie asks for a divorce and leaves him, taking the children with her. Jake is arrested for bringing underage girls to a club and tries to use the jewels from his championship belt to bribe the police. He is sent to jail and upon release tracks down his brother, and again asks for forgiveness.

The movie ends with Jake reciting “I could have been a contender” from “On the Waterfront” then shadowboxing, saying “I am the boss”.

Tri-Wheel Jake LaMotta, Robert DeNiro and release date of the film

Within a two degree orb, LaMotta’s Sun in Cancer is conjunct DeNiro’s ascendant. Within one degree, DeNiro’s Moon in Pisces is conjunct the boxer’s Uranus and his Neptune in Libra is conjunct LaMotta’s Saturn. Additionally, the actor’s North Node in Leo is conjunct the boxer’s Neptune, which strengthens the karmic connection between the actor and the role he played.

Natally, LaMotta had a Saturn, North Node and Jupiter conjunction in Libra. When the film was released both Jupiter and Saturn in Libra had transited this conjunction. It was hoped, as the title mentions a bull, that the charts involved would show plenty of action in the sign of Taurus. Chiron, the Wounded Healer, was in Taurus and was in a square aspect to DeNiro’s Nodes and LaMotta’s Neptune in Leo. This is a film about an aging boxer remembering all the pain he suffered in his career.

DeNiro has Mars in Taurus conjunct the fixed star Algol (which rages very well on its own) and Uranus was in opposition in Scorpio when the film was released. DeNiro’s Sun was conjunct LaMotta’s Venus in Leo, both in a square aspect to the Mars/Algol conjunction. This was a disturbingly violent film befitting of its connections to the most malefic star in the heavens.

Despite its violence, the film was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards and Robert DeNiro won Best Actor.

WILDE

Oscar Wilde: 16 October 1854, 03:00, Dublin, Ireland. C: RR
Stephen Fry: 24 August 1957, 06:00, London. B: Scholfield
Lord Alfred Douglas: 22 October 1870, 19:42, Worcester, England. A: RR
Jude Law: 29 December 1972, 06:00, Lewisham, England. C: deJabrum
Release date: 15 October 1997

Oscar Wilde and Stephen Fry
Sources: Wilde 1882: Napoleon Sarony, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Fry 2009: vpjayant, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The film begins with Wilde’s lecture tour of the United States, where he successfully entertains silver miners with stories about a legendary Renaissance silversmith called Benvenuto Cellini. Wilde returns to London, marries Constance Lloyd and the couple have two sons in close succession. Throughout the film, parts of the children’s story, The Selfish Giant, is part of the narrative with Wilde recounting it to his children.

Wilde is seduced by a young male guest who has been staying with them, and later at the opening night of his play, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Wilde is re-acquainted with an aristocratic young poet, Lord Alfred Douglas, and they fall in love. Douglas often hires rent boys to have sexual relations with, while Wilde watches in secret.

The poet’s father publically objects to his son’s relationship with Wilde and denounces him at the theatre opening of The Importance of Being Earnest. Wilde sues for criminal libel but with his homosexuality exposed, he is tried and convicted of gross indecency. Sentenced to two years’ hard labour, he is visited by his wife who tells him she is taking her children to Germany and that he is welcome to visit provided he never sees Douglas again. When Wilde is released, he goes into exile in Europe, where despite warnings and objections, he continues to see Douglas.

The film ends with Wilde narrating the end of The Selfish Giant.

Tri-Wheel Eddie the Eagle, Taron Egerton and release date of the film

Remarkably, Wilde and Fry both have Venus in rulership in Libra only two degrees apart. Their Leo Moons are within three degrees and square Wilde’s Mercury (in Scorpio) opposition to Uranus, also conjunct Fry’s nodal axis. It has been called the role that Fry was born to perform. Law’s Pluto in Libra is conjunct Douglas’ Moon.

When the film was released, transiting Pluto was conjunct Law’s natal Neptune and transiting Neptune opposed Douglas’ natal Uranus in Cancer.

Fry won a Golden Globe for Best Actor.

GORILLAS IN THE MIST

Dian Fossey: 16 January 1932, 11:17, San Francisco, California. AA: Viktor
Sigourney Weaver: 8 October 1949, 18:15, Manhattan, New York, AA: RR
Release date: 23 September 1988

Gorillas in the Congo and Sigourney Weaver
Unfortunately, there is no Public Domain image of Dian Fossey available. To see a photo consult Wikipedia.
Sources: Gorillas: Cai Tjeenk Willink, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Weaver 2008: David Shankbone, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Dian Fossey’s efforts have prevented the extinction of mountain gorillas. The film shows how, inspired by anthropologist Louis Leakey, Dian Fossey writes several letters to him asking for a job studying rare mountain gorillas in Africa. She attends one of Leakey’s lectures in Kentucky and manages to prove her devotion to the project.

They travel to the Congo together and Leakey arranges for her to make contact with the gorillas and meet local trackers. The Congo Cri- sis disrupts their research and they are forced to leave their research site. Fossey’s expression of concern for the gorillas leads to her being accused of spying and causing trouble.

With a new host’s encouragement, Fossey manages to establish a new research site in Rwanda where she discovers several traps set by poachers who have bribed law enforcers to turn a blind eye to their activities. In spite of this, she and her team carry out ground-breaking research which impresses Leakey. Eventually they attract the attention of National Geographic, who send photographer Bob Campbell to record their progress; they also agree to fund her project.

Fossey falls in love with the married photographer and eventually he offers to divorce his wife to marry her. Unable to bear the thought of spending time away from the gorillas, Fossey declines the proposal and ends their relationship. Devoting herself to her work, she forms strong bonds with Digit, one of the gorillas, and works towards stopping traders from exporting the animals.

Increasingly disturbed by the poaching of gorillas for their hides, hands and heads, Fossey eventually complains directly to the Rwandan government and although she is dismissed, a government official agrees to assemble an anti-poaching squad. However, Digit is found beheaded, and a devastated Fossey begins leading her own anti-poaching campaigns, burning down poaching camps and staging a mock execution of one of the offenders. Her determination to stop poaching alienates her from her research assistants and threatens the burgeoning industry of gorilla tourism.

On December 27, 1985, Dian Fossey was murdered in her home and her assailant was never caught. She was buried in the same cemetery as Digit and other gorillas. The graves of Fossey and Digit were linked by stones, a symbol that they rest in peace together.

Tri-Wheel Dian Fossey, Sigourney Weaver and release date of the film

Incredibly, Fossey and Weaver both have their Moon at five degrees of Taurus, conjunct Weaver’s ascendant. If that wasn’t enough, Fossey’s three-planet stellium in Capricorn is conjunct Weaver’s MC and Fossey’s Jupiter in Leo is on Weaver’s Pluto/Mars conjunction. Transiting Venus was on this conjunction and Pluto opposed their Moons within a four- degree orb when the movie was released, indicating their united passion. Weaver continues to support the Dian Fossey Foundation to this day.

Weaver was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and won a Golden Globe. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Film.

ERIN BROCKOVICH

Erin Brockovich: 22 June 1960, no time, Lawrence, Kansas. Source: Wikipedia
Julia Roberts: 28 October 1967, 00:16, Atlanta, Georgia. AA: RR
Release date: 17 March 2000

Erin Brockovich and Julia Roberts
Sources: Brockovich 2019: Sroeck, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Roberts 2016: Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Single mothers are often treated with derision, even in the modern world. So when single mother Erin Brockovich – who was acting as an unqualified researcher and assistant attorney – almost singlehandedly brought down the Pacific Gas and Electricity Company (PG&E) for a cool $333 million, the world just may have started looking at things a little differently.

After being injured in a car accident, the character Erin Brockovich tries to sue the other driver. In court, however, she lashes out aggressively when the crossexaminer expresses shock that none of her children had the same father. Subsequently, solely due to her reaction to the affront rather than any sense of legal justice, she loses the case. It is this sense of outraged unfairness that establishes the theme of Erin Brockovich.

Scorpio is the sign of the zodiac associated with hidden treasures. Pluto, the modern ruler of Scorpio, lived in the Underworld where his assets were well hidden from the world of the living. The character Erin Brockovich counts what is left in her bank account and evades the cockroaches of her infested home by spending the last of her precious dollars taking her children to the safety of a local restaurant. By the time the film was made, the real Erin Brokovich had escaped the hell that must have been her desperate situation as a single mother. She makes a cameo appearance as the waitress, asking Roberts (who is in character) if she would like to order anything for herself.

The stereotype of the single mother may be the soft, desperate, unkempt sort – to which neither Roberts nor the real life Brockovich conform. Backed into a corner, Brockovich comes out fighting – with miniskirts, low cut tops and immaculately filed fingernails. She is a very different sort of heroine. She browbeats her lawyer into giving her a job and even persuades him to give her a cash advance for the weekend.

The other women who work in her office seem to despise Brockovich out of jealousy. And why not? They are qualified to do their jobs whereas Brockovich appears to have arrived at her job solely through sexy good looks that have somehow charmed their boss.

Whilst looking through some files, Brockovich discovers the illegal activity of PG&E. The company have been contaminating the groundwater of Hinckley, California with carcinogenic hexavalent chromium. Local people were being diagnosed with various forms of rare cancers and PG&E had been paying their medical expenses, presumably to offset any subsequent legal claims.

Brockovich returns to the law office with this news only to discover that her female colleagues have removed her possessions from her desk, and gleefully inform her that she has been fired because she didn’t show up for work.

It would seem Brockovich is back to square one as an unemployed single mother with no job prospects. However, her boss visits her at home to ask for the papers she has discovered and the ever resourceful Brockovich not only gets her job back, but is also given a pay raise and benefits.

Tri-Wheel Erin Brockovich, Julia Roberts and release date of the film

Julia Roberts, of course, makes the title role her own with her sassy, uncompromising style and overtly sexual manner. Natally, she is a Scorpio Sun with the Neptune of the real life Brockovich conjunct to its position within 2 degrees. Roberts effortlessly tapped into the glamour of the character – no doubt a factor of the movie’s appeal. Brockovich is a “fallen” beauty queen but used her good looks to her advantage in order to uncover information.

Roberts’ Venus in Virgo is conjunct Brockovich’s North Node so there is real sense of destiny in the exchange. The keywords of Virgo are “service” and “dedication” and it doesn’t take too long to see the extent to which Brockovich would go to ensure her family is taken care of. After all, the ruling planet of Virgo is Mercury and Brockovich’s Mercury is conjunct Roberts’ ascendant in Cancer.

The sign of Virgo also represents health. The Jupiter/Pluto conjunction in Virgo between actress and character also represents the higher knowledge acquired by the lawyers and the depths to which Brockovich is prepared to go in order to secure justice. She begins forming relationships with the local people and so gains their trust. She knows their personal histories, their diseases and other confidential data. Brockovich has the talent to talk to the local people in a way out of town lawyers, who are later hired to assist with the case, cannot. She asks the lawyers who put a price tag on their health to put the terms of compensation into perspective.

Chiron in Pisces of the real-life Brockovich opposes this conjunction of Jupiter/Pluto. Chiron is the “wounded healer” and though it is most unfortunate that the water has made the local people so ill, a payout is unlikely to be of much comfort. However, because of her hard work, empathy for the situation and persistence, the people of Hinckley receive one of the highest legal payouts in US history. And of course, in the process, Brockovich is transformed from a single, destitute mother into a very wealthy one.

On the night of the film’s premiere, transiting Mercury was on this Chiron and Jupiter/Pluto opposition. Perhaps more than the financial gain, Erin Brockovich would be remembered as the underdog who bit back.

Roberts won an Academy Award, a BAFTA, a Critics’ Choice Movie Award, a Golden Globe Award, a National Board of Review, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best actress, becoming the first actress to win so many awards for a single performance.

Notes:
With the global pandemic, the future of live international astrology conferences is in a state a flux. As "Constellation News" is based on the research of the speakers for the "Institute of Vedic Culture’s conference", it has been decided to suspend future publications until the world is back on its feet. Editor Alex Trenoweth has started a new subscription-based magazine, TimeLords, with Julija Simas’ Cosmic Intelligence Agencywhich will continue to support IVC’s speakers as well as welcome new contributors. Constellation News is grateful for all the support Astrodienst has provided and wishes TimeLords all the very best for its future endeavours.
The extract is taken from ʺMirror Mirror: The Astrology of Famous People and the Actors Who Have Portrayed Themʺ. The book contains over 100 examples of the great synastry and contains a foreword by the legendary Julia Parker. The book is available in softcover and Kindle and can be purchased on Amazon. Personally signed copies are available from the author’s website.

Published at: ivcconference.com/constellation-news/, 2021.

Author:
Alex Trenoweth, MA (CAA), DFAstrolS, CIA Agent 144 is an astrological researcher and professional schoolteacher in London UK. In 2015, she was awarded “International Astrologer of the Year” by the Krishnamurti Institute of Astrology (KIA) for her ground-breaking and innovative research on Astrology and Education based on her book “Growing Pains” (The Wessex Astrologer). Since then she has spoken at astrology conferences around the world and has contributed to major astrological magazines and publications. She has also recently authored “The Adolescent Astrology Report” which was created to help parents and teachers understand the children they care for. Alex is now President of the board for Certified Astrological Professionals for the International Society of Astrological Research (CAPISAR) and has recently started her own astrology school, Rohini Academy of Astrology. Her website is www.alextrenoweth.co.uk

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