In Character: Beth Grant

For the most part, th­e best of Beth Grant’s work is measured by the single scenes she’s featured within entire films. Grant has made a career out of popping up in notable films for a scene or two, leaving her mark, and getting out. She’s made us laugh, and she’s made us angry; she’s frustrated us with the hyper conservative tendencies of her characters, and piqued our curiosity about the odd women she so often inhabits. Every time she arrives on screen, you know you’re in for something special.

Five Essential Roles

Speed (1994)

Helen

Ahh poor Helen. Arguably the most kind and unassuming woman to occupy a seat on bus 2525. In Speed’s early bus moments, Grant does what she does best: acts natural. An ordinary gal; little lady lost in a big city. But when terror takes over, Helen simply can’t stomach it. Overcome with a need for freedom after watching the bus driver being escorted off the bus, Helen boldly approaches the bus door and… boom. Not to sound crass, but isn’t this just an amazing death scene? The anguished look on Helen’s face right before she decides to go for it, her outstretched hands mere centimeters from safety, and then, of course, that fatal plunge to the pavement. As iconic a death scene as you’ll find in a ‘90s action flick.

Sordid Lives (2000)

Sissy Hickey

I hadn’t heard of Sordid Lives before researching this post. But in investigating Grant’s work, I discovered that her performance as Sissy Hickey was one of her personal favorites, so I decided to give the film a spin.

As the film’s poster instructs us, Sordid Lives is a black comedy about white trash. It was first released as a play in the mid-‘90s, and subsequently adapted for the screen (and later developed into a short-lived TV series). Since its release, the film has acquired a small but loyal cult following, and it’s easy to see why. Sordid Lives is an absurdist look at family drama in the wake of death. As friends and family members attempt to prepare the funeral of their dearly departed Peggy, they bitch and moan and fight about how the services should be executed. One of the film’s most colorful characters (of which there are many) is Peggy’s younger sister, Sissy, a chain smoking moderator of the family’s insane domestic battles. Watching this film, you just tell that Grant is having a blast throughout. It’s one of the more substantial roles of her career, and she has a ball hamming it up.

Matchstick Men (2003)

Laundry Lady

A great example of Grant’s knack for being a one scene wonder is her brief turn as a mark in Matchstick Men. Angela (Alison Lohman) and her father, Roy (Nicolas Cage), set out to con an innocent person out of a few hundred bucks using a simple lottery scheme. Their mark is an unsuspecting middle aged woman (Grant) in a laundromat. Angela makes small talk with the woman, then drops an old lottery ticket on the ground. The woman asks Angela if it’s hers, and Angela says no. The lady brushes it off as if it’s no big deal, but then it kicks in. That sense of mystery and greed. What if it hit? The camera cuts to a low angle and we focus on Grant’s expressive face. From then on, the innocent little fish is hooked.

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Pageant Official Jenkins

I can think of no better actress to convincingly crush a little girl’s dreams than Beth Grant. As the Hoover’s frantically arrive to register for a beauty pageant, the official that greets them, played by Grant, won’t let them sign in. Why? Because they’re late. But it’s only by five minutes. Doesn’t matter. To a woman like Pageant Official Jenkins, deciding who does and does not get to register for the pageant is her life. That’s her world, and she can’t fathom breaking the rules for one family and not all others. It’s such a hilariously entitled performance. We’ve all encountered people like this before, and Grant plays it up wonderfully.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Carla Jean’s Mother

The Coen brothers can cast whomever they’d like in any movie. Most every actor would jump at the chance to be featured in one of their films. For example, they could’ve easily cast an elderly Texas woman to play the part of Carla Jean’s mother in No Country for Old Men. But instead, they cast Grant, put a white wig on her and told her to talk like a Texan. The result? An unlikely source of humor in an otherwise consistently melodramatic crime thriller. Grant isn’t in No Country for very long, but she makes the best possible use of her time on screen.

Who can forget Carla Jean’s mother, sitting in the back of a taxi, bellowing things like: “Here we are, 90 degree heat, I got the cancer, and look at this, not even a home to go to.” I adore Grant in this film, and I so appreciate the Coen brothers for casting her.

The Best of the Best

Donnie Darko (2001)

Kitty Farmer

There’s this thing certain people do that I find utterly fascinating. When faced with confrontation, they cry. They don’t have to be sad or angry; the mere fact that they are even in a confrontation provokes an instinctual reaction to cry. I used to live with a guy who did this. Whether you confronted him about his late payment for the electricity bill, or told him he had way too much to drink the night before, he would immediately clam up and try to fight back tears. And I never knew why. Maybe he was insecure or guilty or afraid, but of what, I hadn’t a clue.

My point is, despite the many hilarious things Kitty Farmer says and does throughout Donnie Darko, my favorite moment of Beth Grant’s career is the scene when Kitty instructs Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) to complete an assignment in front of the class. Kitty gives Donnie a hypothetical situation (finding and returning a wallet, but keeping the money from it) and asks Donnie to determine whether this is a Fear-based or Love-based reaction. Donnie objects, calling the assignment too simplistic. And it is here that I want you to pay attention to Grant. Listen how her voice cracks as she tries to diplomatically force out, “If you don’t complete the assignment, you’ll get a zero for the day.” She’s so afraid of Donnie, but why? He isn’t physically imposing, nor does he seem all that threatening. He’s just a smart kid refusing a lame assignment. There’s a fear within Kitty that forces her to tense up and get scared. Donnie isn’t the issue, it’s all within Kitty. Why? Who knows. Exactly.

Other Notable Roles

As Peppy’s Maid in The Artist

Rain Man (1988)

Coach (1989-1993)

Child’s Play 2 (1990)

Love Field (1992)

City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold (1994)

To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995)
Safe (1995)

A Time to Kill (1996)

King of the Hill (1998-2010)

Pearl Harbor (2001)

Rock Star (2001)

The Rookie (2002)

Six Feet Under (2004)

Factory Girl (2006)

Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

Southland Tales (2006)

Jericho (2006-2007)

The Office (2008-2013)

Henry Poole Is Here (2008)

Crazy Heart (2009)

Extract (2009)

Valley of the Sun (2011)

The Artist (2011)

The Mindy Project (2012-2014)