Happy Birthday, Frances McDormand
Thursday, June 23, 2016 at 8:00PM 
Kieran, here. There are certain actors whose absence would create a huge void in cinema. It’s not always the movie stars, despite their merits. It’s often the character actors. The beautiful, interesting, wholly human faces that populate our films, only semi-regularly leaping forward to truly headline a vehicle, but still remaining a vital part of the movies we love. Few actors working today embody this more fully than the wondrously versatile, endlessly watchable Frances McDormand whose entry into the world we celebrate today.
What’s your favorite Frances McDormand performance? Okay...that’s a rhetorical question. We all know what it is. But her filmography is diverse and fascinating to explore, so what's your #2?
Frances McDormand’s 5 Best Movie Performances
5. Burn After Reading (2008)
Broad, but undeniably funny and completely understanding the tone of the vehicle. Mileage varies in terms of McDormand’s many outings with the Coen Brothers, but it’s almost never uninteresting...
4. Mississippi Burning (1988)
Only four years after her debut in Blood Simple, McDormand netted her first Oscar nomination. This performance stands out, especially when compared to her later work. While McDormand operates superbly in the stylized world of the Coen Brothers she is associated with, the stripped down, naturalistic and vulnerable performance on display here is evidence of her incredible range.
3. Almost Famous (2000)
It was Kate Hudson who was very close to winning Best Supporting Actress (it's easy enough to forget that Marcia Gay Harden's victory that year was a major upset) but McDormand's turn burns brightest in the memory. With not as much screentime, in a script that frankly has little affection for her character, she manages to make this character human.
2. Laurel Canyon (2002)
Speaking of range...it's interesting to pair this with McDormand’s rendering of motherhood in Almost Famous, which couldn’t be more different opposed. Whether buttoned up and terrified of the world of the music industry or delightfully loose and immersed in it, McDormand is impressive.
1. Fargo (1996)
It’s a miracle that McDormand netted an Academy Award for this. Let me clarify. She was completely deserving—one of the greatest winners the category has ever seen—but all these years later it's still surprising that a comedic performance by a character actress who doesn’t appear until half way through the film was able to win. Especially since the narrative that year could have easily decided that it was time for Madonna to win an acting award, which would have been fine. This is the type of performance that inspires online fervor and advocacy today to ensure that it even sees a nomination. That it managed to win is incredible and so so satisfying.
Happy 59th Birthday, Frances!
Reader Comments (25)
For movies... Kieran. Perfect! The rankings and all! ^^
For TV, 'Olive Kitterage'. She's the best!
For the future, '3 billboards outside ebbing, missouri'
Let it reigh.
I am so glad you featured Streep's birthday yesterday!!!?????
Love her in Blood Simple.
Oh, I love her so much! I think my #2 is Almost Famous, but I love her so in Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Short Cuts and THE WONDER BOYS!
And her performance in Mississippi Burning is really great. I freaking love the 1988 supporting actress roster. I sort of think those five ladies made me who I am today.
I think I would be tempted to rank "Almost Famous" at the #2 spot, right behind "Fargo".
Just the way she talks truth to Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) on the phone is hilarious and touching at the same time.
But I wouldn't quibble over your top 5, and she was superb in "Olive Kittridge".
Many Happy Returns Frances!
The Man Who Wasn't There, of course, is the number two, a terrific performance in a very enigmatic role. It's not a bland part, or a dull one, like I've read a lot. It's just that there's something happening under the skin of that character and McDormand just refuses to let us know what it is, but we're aware that there are hidden layers. It's just a perfect performance for the tone the Coens were aiming in that movie.
Love her in Laurel Canyon!
Okay, but her best moment has to be her glare at the Golden Globes when the new Fargo people won Best Miniseries. And, if the summary of her next movie is what I'm hoping it sounds like, we might be getting Frances McDormand in a grindhouse/revenge thriller! Waging war on the cops always sounds exciting; Maybe it'll be her Mystic River? Hobo with a Shotgun? Machete?
She's such a godsend to her husband's movies. I love her in Blood Simple, where her intellect melds incredibly well with a character mostly kept in the dark about the plot once shit hits the fan but so rises to the challenge once it breaks down her door. As mysteriously captivating in The Man Who Wasn't There as she is comically nasty in Burn After Reading. And, of course, the miracle that is both her Fargo performance and the critical love it received. I can't watch that movie without cheering for her when she finds Stormare, and she's so lovably delightful and smart as a small-town cop. It's so iconic, they need to write her another vehicle, stat.
I also give her sole credit for her part in Mississippi Burning being anything at all, let alone as good as she is in it. The second episode of Olive Kitteridge is glaring at me from the copy I've rented, and now I really owe Almost Famous a re-watch and Wonder Boys a first watch, period. Happy Birthday and many many more to one of the best actresses I've ever seen, as idiosyncratic and noteworthy in her performances as is her historic Best Actress win.
I love her star turn in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Funny, sweet, shrewd, regretful, and protective of others, and dryly romantic.
And her deliciously perfect supporting roles in Something's Gotta Give, Almost Famous, Wonder Boys, and Madeline (Miss Clavell!).
We love Frances McDormand! Fave is Blood Simple.
How could you forget Meryl Streep's birthday yesterday? Site is slipping...
Great list, although I don't agree that the script has no affection for her character in Almost Famous. I think the film is generally in love with all its characters, and McDormand's character is given dignity and strength even when she's hilariously confused about her sons adventures
The Man Who Wasn't There. Frances McDormand in the bathtub. Billy Bob Thornton shaving her legs. Bliss.
Yes, the bathub scene. The way she pretends nothing is happening in that moment. Such an intelligent performance
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRANCES!
For my money, Olive Kitteridge is her best performance ever. How she could make her so miserable, adorable and relatable all at once.
Fargo is of course also a masterpiece.
Completely agree with Cal, it's always The Man Who Wasn't There at #2 - such a perfect performance (the whole scene at dinner with Gandolfini and his wife is worth an Oscar nomination).
I love her in Mississippi Burning (#3) but simply cannot get on board with that Burn After Reading assessment - she somehow feels terribly miscast and only just gets by on her ability overriding that. In a film where Clooney, Swinton, Jenkins and Simmons are operating on that level, she falls a little flat (I have to confess that I also don't "get" Brad Pitt in the movie either). Adore the movie, but question these two actors in their parts...
I 'd like to give a shout out to her Friends With Money performance love her supermarket meltdown.
I'm glad someone mentioned Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, because that one's a favorite, even if she seems like she's channeling Emma Thompson for much of her performance.
Laurel Canyon is also a cool little flick that should be far better known. I dearly love her (and everyone else) in Almost Famous. And Wonder Boys... Friends With Money... Olive Kitteridge... Basically, she elevates everything she's in!
One of my favorite actresses, and her performance in Fargo is one of my all-time favorites - a woman who is underestimated because she's so "Minnesota nice." I love her in Burn After Reading, Wonder Boys and Moonrise Kingdom, too.
If she's ever had a bad performance, I haven't seen it.
Yay for June babies everywhere! And love that you call out her "beautiful, interesting, wholly human face"--wish there were more like her in all age categories.
This is a great list for a wonderful actress. At the time of the 1996 Oscars, I was rooting for Diane to win, as she has always been a fave of mine. But I can't begrudge Frances the win. What a strange, lovely, human performance. I would also put her work in Something's Gotta Give up high--ironically, as Diane's sister.
I have to disagree, however, with Burn After Reading. I think she's entertaining, but that movie is just too much of a catastrophe for any actor to emerge unscathed. Burn After Viewing. Sigh.
brookesboy--I forgot to mention how, adding to how miraculous her win was for FARGO is the fact that any of those five women would have made a spectacular winner. 1996 was such an amazing Best Actress lineup. Best of the 90s for sure and one of the best of all time.
Great call on Laurel Canyon. She might not be THE rock star in the movie but she comes off as such A rock star. So loose and tough and sexy.
But as someone else said, she's never bad.
I know I'm alone... but I don't tink she did anything special in Fargo. Though neither did Emma Thompson in Howard's End or Tilda Swinto in Michael Clayton imo.
But I thought she was hilarious in Burn After Reading (as was Brad Pitt). Maybe I've watched Fargo too late and simply can't get the praise for it. *shrug*
But it lives very well without another fan. (by "it" I mean the film obviously, not Frances *lol*)
Anyway Happy Birthday!
I am afraid I am probably in the minority who finds her character unbelievable and mannered.