In 2000, Alicia Witt had starring roles on the television shows Ally McBeal and The Sopranos; the lead role in the comedy Playing Mona Lisa, an instant-classic turn as an anal porn star in John Waters' Cecil B. Demented, and her stage debut in Robbie Fox's musical The Gift at the now-closed Tiffany Theater in Los Angeles, in which she played a high-priced stripper with a disease. In the years following, Witt's acting career slowed down. She had a small part in Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky, which was intended as a reference to her roles in Dune and Liebestraum. She also played a college graduate who discussed losing her virginity in the experimental Ten Tiny Love Stories and the trailer-trash girl Barbie in American Girl, which was released to video in 2005.