Annette Bening, on the verge of becoming a major actress before she got sucked into Warren Beatty's orbit, burned up on entry.
Annette Bening was not a major actress before meeting Warren Beatty.
Both of them were so absorbed by what they were doing that Tubacca and what might be going on there had no more immediate meaning than the words in the books which had ridden to the Stronghold in Drew's saddlebags.