Best Limited or Cameo Role. The Women
Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 6:00PM In the imaginary awards ceremony we hold for the Film Bitch Awards each year (when: January through March; where: Nathaniel's brain and on this website) Missi Pyle as "Ellen Abbott" announces the nominees for the limited or cameo role categories. With three or four sharp scenes in Gone Girl she's too big for this category but she's good TV, you must agree. Getting the balance right for this category is tricky. Which roles are too big to fit? Many of the people who immediately popped to mind this year as "cameos" were really were more than that. Oprah Winfrey is great in that crucial opening expose about voter suppression in Selma but she also marches, gets arrested and her throughline doubles as the whole narrative arc of the movie, so we couldn't really include her. Lindsay Duncan in Birdman, was another close call, but we opted to include due to only two scenes even though she's the focus.
We take this seriously y'all. As proof look at all these fine actresses we were considering...
Top left to right by row: Karin Myrenberg (Force Majeure), Charlotte Rampling (Young & Beautiful), Lesley Manville (Mr Turner); Jena Malone (Inherent Vice); Alison Pill (Snowpiercer); Lindsay Duncan (Birdman); Hong Chau (Inherent Vice); Sela Ward (Gone Girl); Anamaria Marinca (Fury); Menna Trusslar (Pride); Tilda Swinton (Grand Budapest Hotel); Annie Funke (A Most Violent Year); Uma Thurman (Nymphomaniac Vol. 1); Casey Rose Wilson (Gone Girl); Kathleen Rose Perkins (Gone Girl); Karina Fernandez (Pride)
And here are the nominees, wrapping up nominations in all categories for the 15th annual Film Bitch Awards. The nomination stats are at the bottom of the "best scenes" page if you're interested. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in all categories will be handed out this weekend.
Reader Comments (23)
Lindsay Duncan in "Birdman." YES, YES!! All kinds of yes!
Annie Fluke is such an inspired choice. I love Lindsay Duncan and Uma and I adored Menna Trusslar and Monica Dolan as the homphobic mother in Pride. I kind of prefer Karina Fernández in Mr. Turner though. I want to see her in more pictures.
If these nominations are anything to go on, I feel like you liked Gone Girl waaaaay more than you've let on. It's okay. ONE OF US. ONE OF US.
I'm a big fan of Swinton in, well, everything. But I really wasn't impressed with her "old acting" in GBH.
Rahul --- yeah. I just watched it for a fourth time last week. lol. probably an error on my part that it wasn't in my top ten list.
Jen-pac motherfuckers!!!!!!
Hong Chaou in Inherent Vice was a comic gem. She took a potentially silly character and gave her spine and sympathy. Let's see more of her, Hollywood!
I'd also throw a lifeline to Lorraine Toussaint in Selma. I loved her moment giving advice to Carmen Ejogo. But I may be biased because I'm such a fan of her terrifying performance in Orange is the New Black.
Plus counting everything that got mentioned only in finalists or semi-finalists (including Child's Pose), you shed some sort of positivity toward aspects of 18 movies on top of ones that got at least one ballot citation.
Understand Polly Draper having too large a role to qualify, but still very happy to see her mentioned. She was A+ in Obvious Child.
Lindsey Duncan is everything. Her scenes are my favorite from any film of the year and I have never seen her give anything but wonderful to perfect performances, stage or screen. She is also pretty cool in person.
I don't remember some of those women from Gone Girl (a film I disliked for a variety of reasons, credibility top of the list).
Loved Tilda in GBH but thought her more supporting. I would point out the other women though. The three sisters, Lea........
And Claire from Snowpiercer.
Love the list! Thank you, Nathaniel
I might be misremembering, but Polly Draper was nominated in this category last year, correct?
Annie Fluke is a great choice. She only has a few credits; I hope to see her more.
As always, Vanessa Redgrave made a huge impression on me in her few moments in Foxcatcher.
I don't think Missi Pyle was really in Gone Girl that much. Her scenes are so short. But I'd had also considered Sherri Shephard and Gabrielle Union in Top Five.
Hong Chaou in Inherent Vice was a comic gem. She took a potentially silly character and gave her spine and sympathy. Let's see more of her, Hollywood!
You won't. But television has plenty of space.
Steve-- yes, she was. for a similar sized role but i'm trying to get back to what it was intended for.
Duncan, Pill and Wilson are all standouts for me
The first thing I did after seeing Inherent Vice was to google Hong Chaou. She did a super job of making a comedic device a real character, and to me she is the clear victor here among the many talented folks you mention. That said, I'd have no strong argument against Allison Pill who was electric in an even smaller role.
Nathaniel: First off I just want to thank you for the hard work you put into these choices. I love looking at the list and seeing so many cameo roles that added to the films I liked.
And welcome to the "Gone Girl" fan club - Amazing Amy is too much fun to resist.
My choice for is for Menna Trusslar (Pride). When she gets off the bus she says, "where are my Lesbians..." She's brings that down to earth grandmotherly vibe that brings joy to my heart in every scene she is in. She's real life.
I love Lyndsay Duncan, and it's a showier part, but I don't buy this caricature of a critic.
Pencil me in as another who was all about Hong Chau in Inherent Vice. I thought she was the clear highlight of that movie and I wished her character had accompanied Phoenix on his whole journey and not just the beginning of it. And her voice and inflections! She takes it for me in this category. I really wish PTA had realized to expand her role when he saw her performance because he clearly milks the sharp comedy out of her in each edit.
It's incredible the change in quality Allison Pill delivers from HBO's The Newsroom (where she and her character are downright awful) to the inspired theatrical heights of Snowpiercer. Her scene was A+ and featured some of the best dark comedy of the year.
Uma and Lindsay Duncan are both clearly fantastic in tricky parts but I think they're a bit too large for this category. In fact, Uma's firmly planted in Supporting Actress since that whole segments is about her and she had like 8 mins of consecutive, explosive screentime which, to me, equals being upgraded.
Aw, Menna Trusslar was totally adorable in Pride.
Yeah, Nat, thanks for all the work you do on these. They're so thorough and thoughtful and fun and unique. It's maybe my favorite event/series, etc. on your site.
Casey Wilson! She was so hilarious and after Happy Endings, I will forever adore her. Trusslar was great too. I also liked the female hiker from Wild.
To my eyes, Menna Trussler has way too big a part to count as a "cameo." Love her, but she's just as showcased as--if not more than-- many of the supporting cast. This is an example where everybody being supporting leads people to think that the relatively "supporting" folks must be cameos.
Among your nominees, I'm rooting for Charlotte Rampling (great in an underseen film) and, of course, Uma Thurman's go-for-broke cameo.
Tilda Swinton is perfection in Grand Budapest! Brilliant choice to your list :)