Audra, please make more movies
Saturday, November 18, 2023 at 3:00PM 
With Rustin now on Netflix, cinephiles worldwide can enjoy one of the season's top Best Actor contenders. However, one shouldn't presume there's no more to George C. Wolfe's picture than Colman Domingo's spirited turn. Indeed, there's a vast pool of brilliant Black actors around him, breathing life into civil rights icons left and right. Among them, Broadway's First Lady and Tony champion Supreme stands out, the one and only Audra McDonald as Ella Baker. She's only in a couple of scenes but leaves a lasting impression, embodying strength and conveying a rich history between the activists that goes beyond the narrative's limited scope.
As of late, that's McDonald's big screen specialty, serving excellence for a scene or two, and then – poof – she's gone. Just look at her other 2023 movies…
Before Rustin, there was Down Low, Rightor Doyle's riotous comedy, where Luke Gage is a chaotic gay guide to Zachary Quinto's first Grindr hookup. Only, instead of the little death, the encounter ends on the big one, leaving the two men with a corpse to contend with. McDonald's presence is hinted at before she materializes, manifesting in a huge painting and passive-aggressive missives. When she finally shows up, nothing can prepare the viewer for the tonal disruption that comes along. In Widow's Weeds, Audra McDonald vibrates with hostile grief, still reeling from how her wifely love curdled into something ugly long before the story started.
What's most impressive, still, is how the thespian negotiates the contradictions in the material, how she's both speaking her truth and dripping with hate. The text is played with straightforward emotion and no concession to an actor's judgment on their role, righteousness exuding from every pore. For a second, we're even seduced into agreeing with her words. Or, at least, we believe the film is convinced, the characters browbeaten by one hell of a barn-burning monologue. Such is her power that you can't help but imagine McDonald on stage, magnetizing every spectator with masterful delivery, masterpiece presence.
Finally, she also has a role in Ava DuVernay's Origin, one of many single-scene stars peppered throughout the literary adaptation. As a woman recalling childhood traumas, McDonald is asked to sustain a prolonged sequence wavering between tight close-up and flashback, voice ever-present even when the face gets lost in the edit. It's spellbinding stuff, maybe the actress' best big-screen turn, and another reminder of what cinema's missing by not having more of McDonald. Her commitment to the stage is understandable, as is the more regular TV work, but, as a cinephile who can't afford to travel to watch her live, I wish she made more movies.
Am I alone in this sentiment? Would you want Audra McDonald to become a big-screen star, or are these one-scene wonders enough?
Audra McDonald, Ava DuVernay, Down Low, George C Wolfe, Luke Gage, Netflix, Origin, Rustin, Zachary Quinto, streaming
Reader Comments (6)
I haven't been able to see a lot of Audra's work but I do remember her stealing a scene from Meryl in Ricki and The Flash.
Yes for more Audra, but in better movies. Rustin is unfortunately a mediocre effort
Mr Ripley79 -- Yes, she's great in that other tiny role.
LUC -- I would agree with that. I enjoyed some of its elements, but it's way too 'by the books,' following every biopic cliché with little risk in sight. That cast deserved a better movie.
I didn’t love Rustin, but I did really enjoy seeing Audra. I left the film echoing a version of the sentiment expressed in this post. Somebody give her a great film role!!!!!
Every time I see her name in the cast list of a film, I always hope this is the year that she picks up a supporting actress nomination. But, she's never in enough of the film to garner a notice (even when it's clearly in the Oscar lane).
Audra is an excellent actress. Though she is a stage star, I think she has a really strong screen presence that not all stage stars have. Her work on television has been excellent. I especially loved her in Wit and The Good Fight. She should at least have 3 emmy nominations for the Good Fight.
I always thought she had just enough to work with in Ricki and the Flash. She was really effecting in all of her scenes and created a fully lived in character. However, that movie was mediocre and tepidly received.
I knew Audra McDonald was in Rustin, but I didn’t realize it was her until afterwards.
She is so extraordinary. It’s like she’s on a different plane and she takes you there with her. You believe in your heart that everything she says is true, and it’s like a tiny piece of you is changed.
I loved the movie “Rustin”. It’s one of my favourites of the year. I wanted to know the story, I wanted to know what happened, I wanted to learn about Bayard Rustin.
And Colman Domingo is so superb. I can see why the British nominated him for the Fred Astaire award a few years back. He has internal rhythms that are like music, lively and subtle variations on a theme. His body is completely alive, and when I watched his jaunty walk down those Washington steps, my heart swelled with gratitude to see such a wonderful actor in a great leading part.
And remember, “Rustin” is the story of a movement, a group effort to be heard, recognized, respected. This will touch a deep chord with every SAG member who has been experiencing group struggle in their strike.