Well Cast: My Top Portrayals

This week, I feel entitled to list eleven, just to partially make up for John's lack of picks. Let's revisit this topic in a few years, after John has adapted Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle to the big screen.

11. Brooke Smith as Sonya (Vanya on 42nd Street). You know this actress, even if you don't watch Grey's Anatomy (which I do not). She's the Senator's daughter that Buffalo Bill kidnaps, and she's a helluvan actress. Perfecly suited to muted Russian drama, Louis Malle was dead-on when he cast her as the solid-but-lovesick Sonya.

10. Sally Field as Sybil. This was the role that kick-started her career, and boy, was it a doozy. All sixteen personalities were played with verve and gusto.

9. Kenneth Branagh as Iago (Othello). A role that has been eluding actors since codpiece-days, Iago comes alive in the hands of the brilliant Shakesperean. He is at once the shameless kiss-ass and the ruthless villain. My favorite soliloquy is delivered in the act of coitus.

8. Kate Winslet as Ophelia (Hamlet). While we're on the subject, Kate Winslet is a perfect Ophelia (where she was directed by the above, incidentally). Her scene in the mirrored room is chilling.

7. Leonardo diCaprio as Howard Hughes (The Aviator). You dudes might want to disqualify this one, since I've never actually seen Howard Hughes and thus have no basis to say that Leo's portrayal was particularly apt. (I can say, however, that Cate Blanchett convinced me that, if given the chance, I would punch Katherine Hepburn in the face. After viewing the film, I promptly threw out my copy of Me). But back to Leo. I really enjoyed his fingernails.

6. Thora Birch as Enid (Ghost World). She actually fades as the book ends. By the end of the movie, Thora seems to have shrunk. I love this movie for so many reasons, but particularly for this jewel of a grown-up child actor. Good job, Terry Zwigoff. (And by the way, when are you gonna make the companion piece to Crumb, starring Crumb's wife, "The Bunch"?)

5. Maria de Medeiros as Anais Nin (Henry and June). Aside from looking just like her, Maria perfectly captures the delicate sensuality of my favorite diarist.

4. Helen Mirren as Ayn Rand (The Passion of Ayn Rand). This is truly an uncanny depiction of the in(famous) philosopher. From girlishly getting swept up by "tiddly-wink"music, to very matter-of-factly holding a meeting where she tells her husband about her plan to have an affair, Helen plays the part perfectly.

3. Megan Follows as Anne of Green Gables. Lucy Maude Montgomery couldn't have cast it better herself. Anne comes to life with this amazing Canadienne.

2. Glenda Jackson as Hedda Gabler. This is one of my favorite characters, and one that I believe is often mis-acted. Glenda nails it.

1. Judy Davis as Judy Garland (Me and My Shadows). The incomparable Judy Davis in a nearly impossible role. She brings to life a modern legend without just doing an impression. A heart-ripping and raw portrayal.


P.S. If I may, I would like to give a negative shout-out to the upcoming remake of the Maysles Bros. classic Grey Gardens, wherein Little Edie is played by Drew Barrymore. Don't get me wrong: I like Drew Barrymore... but as Little Edie? I think not! Unless she can get rid of that weird speech impediment, and age herself about 20 years, not to mention convince an audience to forget that she's fricking Drew Barrymore. It can come to no good, and as a die-hard fan of the original, I feel preemptively gypped. I'll still see it. I don't know. Maybe she can pull it off.