If you’re scrolling through old IMDb credits or catching a late-night cable rerun, you might stumble onto a movie from 2004 called The Door in the Floor. It’s a heavy, atmospheric piece based on the first third of John Irving’s novel A Widow for One Year. Most people remember it for Jeff Bridges playing a boozy, brilliant, and deeply broken children’s book author, or maybe for Kim Basinger’s haunting, grief-stricken performance. But honestly? The real shock to the system in that movie—the performance that stays with you because it’s so raw and strangely funny and desperate—is Mimi Rogers.
She plays Evelyn Vaughn. She’s not the lead. She’s technically the "other woman," but that label is way too simple for what she actually does on screen.
Why Mimi Rogers in The Door in the Floor is a Masterclass in Vulnerability
Most actors would have played Evelyn as a simple plot device. She’s the neighbor Ted Cole (Bridges) uses to pass the time while his marriage is disintegrating. But Rogers does something different. She makes Evelyn feel like a real person who has been pushed to the edge of her sanity by a man who treats her like a sketchbook entry rather than a human being.
You’ve got to remember where Mimi Rogers was in her career at this point. She’d done the big blockbusters like Lost in Space and was already a legend for The Rapture. She didn't have to take a role that required her to be so... exposed. And I’m not just talking about the nudity, though that was a big talking point when the film came out. I’m talking about the emotional nakedness.
There’s this scene—and if you’ve seen the movie, you know the one—where she realizes Ted is basically done with her. She isn't just sad. She’s erratic. She tries to run him over in her SUV. It’s sort of slapstick, but it’s also terrifying because you can see the genuine hurt under the rage. Rogers plays it with this "I've had enough" energy that makes you root for her, even though she’s technically trying to commit vehicular manslaughter.
Breaking Down the Evelyn Vaughn Character
Evelyn is a model. Well, she’s a local woman who poses for Ted’s "drawings." Ted claims he needs these nude sketches for his children’s books—a premise that is as ridiculous as it sounds—and Evelyn goes along with it because she’s lonely.
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What makes the Mimi Rogers The Door in the Floor performance so sticky in your brain is the power dynamic.
- The Power Shift: In the beginning, she seems like she's in control of her sexuality.
- The Realization: By the middle of the film, it’s clear she’s just another tool in Ted’s arsenal of distractions.
- The Break: The moment she snaps isn't just about Ted; it’s about the indignity of being "the neighbor" while a much larger tragedy (the death of the Coles' sons) looms over everyone else.
Roger Ebert, who was usually pretty tough on supporting roles that felt "thankless," actually pointed out how Bridges’ character treats her with a level of cruelty that borders on sadism. And yet, Rogers doesn't play a victim. She plays a woman who is loud, messy, and refuses to be ignored. It's a vibe.
The Nudity Conversation and Why It Mattered
We have to talk about the "full frontal" aspect because, back in 2004, the media was obsessed with it. Rogers was in her late 40s at the time. In Hollywood years, that’s practically ancient for a woman being asked to take her clothes off on camera.
She was incredibly candid about it in interviews. She called it "scary" but necessary. It wasn't about being "sexy" in the traditional sense; it was about the vulnerability of the character. When you see her in those scenes, she isn't posed like a pin-up. She looks like a woman being observed by a man who is looking for lines and shadows, not her soul.
That distinction is everything. It’s why the Mimi Rogers The Door in the Floor role stands out as a "brave" performance that actually earns that overused adjective. She wasn't playing a "hot neighbor." She was playing a woman who was letting herself be seen by someone who refused to actually see her.
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How Tod Williams Used Rogers to Anchor the Subplot
Director Tod Williams (who also wrote the screenplay) took a huge risk by focusing on this specific part of Irving's book. The book is sprawling. The movie is a pressure cooker.
By casting Rogers, Williams ensured that the scenes outside the main house had just as much tension as the ones inside. When Ted hires Eddie (Jon Foster) to be his "assistant"—basically a chauffeur to drive him to Evelyn’s house because Ted’s license is suspended—the movie becomes a weird, dark coming-of-age story.
Eddie is watching this train wreck. He's seeing how Ted treats Evelyn, and he's seeing Evelyn's reaction. It’s the education of a young writer, and Rogers provides the most painful lesson: people aren't just characters in your story. They have teeth.
The Lasting Impact of the Performance
If you look at Mimi Rogers’ career now—her work in Bosch as Honey Chandler, for instance—you can see the seeds of that steely, "don't mess with me" resolve that she perfected in this film. She’s an actress who knows how to hold the screen with a look.
The Door in the Floor didn't set the box office on fire. It was an indie drama that dealt with the kind of grief that makes people uncomfortable. But it’s a movie that rewards people who actually pay attention to the fringes.
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What You Should Do Next
If you haven't seen the film in a while, or if you've only seen clips, it’s worth a full rewatch. Focus on the way Rogers uses her voice. She has this way of sounding like she’s about to laugh and cry at the same time. It’s brilliant.
- Watch the SUV scene again. Look at her face through the windshield. It’s a masterclass in "unhinged but justified."
- Compare it to her role in The Rapture. You'll see the through-line of an actress who isn't afraid of the dark side of the female experience.
- Read the first 100 pages of John Irving's "A Widow for One Year." Seeing how much Rogers added to the character of Evelyn compared to the page is eye-opening.
Honestly, Mimi Rogers in The Door in the Floor is a reminder that there are no small roles. There are only actors who aren't willing to go as deep as she did. She took a character that could have been a footnote and made her the most human part of a very stylized tragedy.
Next time you're looking for a performance that feels like a gut punch, skip the new releases and go back to this one. It's still as sharp as it was two decades ago.
To truly appreciate the nuance, pay close attention to the framing of the scenes where she is being sketched. The distance between the easel and the model tells the whole story of their relationship before a single word is even spoken.