Molly Jennings

**Molly Jennings** was the wife of Dr. Ross Jennings and the mother of their children, Tommy and Shelly Jennings. She was a successful stock broker in San Francisco, California before the family elected to relocate to the small town of Canaima, California, in 1990. At the time of their arrival, they were met by an invasion deadly South American spiders and their offspring. The infestation culminated in a swarm of spiders in their family residence, which led Molly to flee the home with her two children. The spiders were ultimately destroyed, and the family returned to San Francisco.

## Behind the scenes

Molly Jennings was portrayed by Harley Jane Kozak in the 1990 film *Arachnophobia*. At that time, Kozak's career was taking off with roles in the 1989 films *When Harry Met Sally...* and *Parenthood*. The actress met with director Frank Marshall to discuss the role, who informed her that it would involve live spiders. Marshall would later give her the job without requiring her to audition. At that point, she knew little about the film besides that it was to be produced by Steven Spielberg's film company Amblin Entertainment, for which she was eager to work, saying, "I knew that at the very least it would be a really happy set with well-paid people and lots of excitement."

When Kozak met with director Frank Marshall to discuss the role, he asked her whether she could work with spiders. Kozak responded, "Yeah, I think so, you know, I haven't spent a lot of time with spiders." She later said that she would not have admitted to any distaste for the creatures, given that the role was a big deal. The actress had previously worked with rattlesnakes and rats on some of her other roles, the rats in particular being a source of revulsion, so spiders were acceptable by comparison. Along with other cast members, she was given tutorials on how to handle the *Delena cancerides* spiders used to portray the smaller spiders in the film, so that she would be acclimated to interact with them. "Your basic garden-variety actors, we're all used to sharing the scene with somebody," she told *The New York Times*, and added, "after all, they are the title character; the movie's not called 'Molliephobia.'"

Kozak had already met her co-star Jeff Daniels by the time filming began, but she met John Goodman and Julian Sands while on set. The actress remained on set for probably around six weeks before completing principal photography, but she was later brought in to film the epilogue in San Francisco, which was written to cushion the film's conclusion. To promote the film, she appeared on *The Tonight Show* and was given a feature in *People* magazine, the latter of which involved a photoshoot with live tarantulas. Kozak has said that she enjoys *Arachnophobia* and has no problem revisiting it and rewatching it when it airs on television.

## Appearances

1. ARACHNOPHOBIA (first appearance)
2. ARACHNOPHOBIA novel
3. ARACHNOPHOBIA: Official Movie Adaptation

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11  Harley Jane Kozak - Arachnophobia Interview 1990 on YouTube
2. ↑ *Thrills, Chills & Spiders: The Making of* Arachnophobia ( Available on YouTube on YouTube)
3. ↑ Turan, Kenneth. Film; Don't Look Now, But the Spiders Are Coming! April 15, 1990. The New York Times.
4. ↑ Beresford, Jack. How Arachnophobia Became the Perfect Creepy Crawly Horror Comedy. *Den of Geek.* October 11, 2020.