Whether you’re an A-list movie star who occupies every frame
of a film, or a relative unknown who only appears for one scene – solid acting
is solid acting. Below are my favorite background roles from 2014, a handful of
performances that, while all great, didn’t get nearly the attention they
deserved.
The best friend (with
crazy good aim) in Blue Ruin
Played by Devin Ratray
How many people do you have in your life that you could ask
anything of? People you could meet up with after years of silence, and ask them
to help you with a life or death situation? Devin Ratray’s Ben was one such friend.
You just knew this guy was going to be a savior.
The labor
worker-turned-restaurant manager in Boyhood
Played by Roland Ruiz
Because he played it so right. No tears, no ecstatic praise
– just a brief interruption, a few words of thanks, a perfectly timed pause,
and a delivery of “It’s good to see
you,” that floored me.
The no-nonsense dad
in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him
Played by Ciarán Hinds
Ciarán Hinds is one of our best living character actors, and
his role as James McAvoy’s understanding but stern father in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him was one of his best
performances yet. Relaxed, approachable, but completely intolerant of bullshit.
The kind of guy whose idea of helping out is a stern kick in the ass from 20
feet away.
The pregnant and
confused wife in Enemy
Played by Sarah Gadon
“What’s happening?”
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I think you know. I think you know.”
The Americana wife in
Foxcatcher
Played by Sienna Miller
“Sienna Miller, the most beautiful woman in the
world vanishing into a Dollar Store wardrobe.” That’s how my good
friend Nick Prigge described Miller’s work in Foxcatcher. And really, that’s all that needs to be said. A small
role, sure, but the Sienna Miller we know was nowhere to be found in this
movie.
Everyone in The
Homesman
It’s damn hard to top the cast from The Grand Budapest Hotel, but the players of The Homesman helped make up one of the best ensemble casts of 2014.
Everyone was on point in this film. (More of my thoughts on this cast can
be found here.)
The waitress in
Inherent Vice
Played by Jillian Bell
“What can I get for you, little
buddy?...And to drink, gentlemen? You’re gonna wanna get good and fucked up
before this meal.”
The robot with a
sense of humor in Interstellar
Voiced by Bill Irwin
The Swimmer, the
Husband, the Wife, the Baby, and the Dog in
Under the Skin
Played by Krystof Hadek, Roy Armstrong, and Alison Chand
It gives me chills just thinking
about this scene, let alone watching it. What a terror.
The loyal father in
Whiplash
Played by Paul Reiser
More Best Of 2014 Posts
I love TARS!
ReplyDeleteSo good.
DeleteThat's what an amazing post should look like. Your inspiration is endless and it's so fantastic to see someone go out and writing for things we as viewers may have thought when watching the film but maybe never thought of writing an article about them. This is one of your best lists this year. What can I say about your picks? That I love them all? There it is, I love them all. Especially that "pregnant and confused wife in Enemy". Her "I think you know" quote by the way was one of the most chilling cinematic moments of the year, right? Keep it on, man! I saw the title of your post and went like "BOOM! That's so pleasantly unexpected!" TARS rocks as well. I could see a spin-off about him, haha!
ReplyDeleteThanks man! SO happy you like this post. I love talking about the things and performances that don't get enough attention. Gadon is soooo good in Enemy. You can just feel her dread.
DeleteI love Sarah Gadon in Enemy!! I believe we talked about how great she is when it came out (along with Laurent).
ReplyDeleteThose performances in Under the Skin are the definition of background acting. That scene is so brutal and feels so uncomfortably real.
Also, Devin Ratray is a great pick. He was really perfect for that small part and also quite pivotal in a few ways. He was also really good in his even smaller role in Nebraska. I didn't even realize he was Buzz from Home Alone until a few weeks ago!
You're so right about Under the Skin. The reason that scene is so terrifying is because it feels like a documentary.
DeleteGotta love Buzz! His work in Nebraska actually made this same list of mine last year. Love that guy.
While I haven't seen Blue Ruin, Ratray was hilarious in Nebraska, last year. From the picture alone, I can tell that I would likely enjoy watching him in that role.
ReplyDeleteLoved the guy in Boyhood and the wife in Enemy! Both great nods!
Unfortunately, I didn't care for the robots in Interstellar. They felt so unnecessary to me (I have yet to find anyone else who felt this way).
Ratray is great in Blue Ruin. If you're a fan of that guy, I promise you'll get a kick out of him there. I can see how some might find the robots in Interstellar a bit cheeky, but yeah, I enjoyed them a lot.
DeleteOnce again, a post to put the rest of us to shame. Bravo friend! Of what I've seen here, you're so right...of what I haven't, now I know I should!
ReplyDeleteWow man, thanks! You always leave such kind comments here. I really appreciate it!
DeleteI think it's absolutely wonderful that you went and made this post, because there are so many small roles that are made memorable by the actors that play them that go unrecognised each year. I really believe other bloggers should follow your example, because I only know a handful of bloggers who put as much effort into their posts like you do. Keep up the amazing work, my friend.
ReplyDeleteThese are all great, but I think my favourites are Sienna Miller in Foxcatcher (I watched American Sniper. Didn't like it as much as you did, but my god was Miller a force there), and Jillian Bell, who was SO funny in 22 Jump Street as well. I could really put a lot of the more minor characters from Inherent Vice here, like Bell, Hong Chau, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone, and really the whole cast. I would also advocate for Vanessa Redgrave in Foxcatcher, who was only there briefly, but certainly made her mark.
Apart from Murph (played wonderfully by Jessica Chastain and Mackenzie Foy), my favourite character from Interstellar would be TARS. I had no idea that the man who broke my heart with one look while sorting out dishes in Rachel Getting Married was the voice of the sarcastic TARS. Bill Irwin, always reliable.
Thanks so much, Aditya! That was so nice of you to say. I honestly had no idea that waitress in Inherent Vice was Jillian Bell until I IMDB'd it. She was easily my favorite part of 22 Jump Street, and I love that she stole that restaurant scene in Vice as well.
DeleteOh god, I LOVE Bill Irwin in Rachel Getting Married. He is so heartbreaking in that film.
Oh, there's some good choices as I was wondering who Jillian Bell was in Inherent Vice. Now I remember. The guy in Boyhood was awesome as well as the family in Under the Skin. Shit, those were good background performances.
ReplyDeleteCool man, glad you dig the picks. That beach scene in Under the Skin is unreal. Fuckin' brutal.
DeleteI like some of the choices you picked. (I say "some" because I haven't seen all of them.) My own favorite was Matthew Goode's work in Belle. Brief but absolutely heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteOhh that's a great pick. Odd that Belle didn't stick around a little longer. I really liked that film.
DeleteVery good choices here, man. I, too, was very impressed by the wives from Enemy and Foxcatcher. TARS was really good, too. I'm also glad you mentioned Under the Skin. Such a creepy scene. Speaking of Under the Skin, I also really liked Adam Pearson's performance (the man with neurofibromatosis), who was kind of the antithesis to the beach scene. Whereas the beach scene was eerie, otherworldly, and alien, Pearson's scene was intimate and human. You really feel for him. I would also like to add Dave Bautista from Guardians of the Galaxy. It's not often you get a comic relief character you feel for.
ReplyDeleteOne more performance I would like to discuss is the alcoholic, abusive stepfather from Boyhood. Perhaps the most harrowing experience I've had at the cinema this year. It just felt so real. Now, I was never really the kind of teenager to "experiment" with drugs or alcohol. I've had a sip once a long time ago and hated it and that's where my "experiments" begin and end. And after I saw Boyhood, I immediately swore myself to teetotalism. Those scenes just affected me that much.
Thanks buddy. Pearson and Marco Perella both gave such strong and haunting performances (though for very different reasons), and the only reason I didn't include them here was because I did feel like they both got a fair amount of play in the press. Pearson especially received a great deal of praise and had a few insightful articles written about him, which is terrific. So I definitely did consider them both. But either way, great calls there. What strong work.
DeleteI completely agree with you on Paul Reiser. That final scene, or look he gives, where his character hugs Andrew after Andrew was humiliated by his teacher, just broke my heart. One honorable mention to your list I would add, and I don't fully know if counts as a background performance, is Lindsay Duncan as the theatre critic Tabitha in Birdman. She played the role with such quiet tenacity and candor. I really love this, though! Keep up the wonderful work!
ReplyDeleteSo happy you dig Reiser's performance. That look killed me. Loved Lindsay Duncan as well, but yeah, I didn't really consider that a background performance since nearly every review of Birdman mentioned her work in it (for better or worse). Still, her scene with Keaton was my favorite scene of that film. So good.
DeleteYeah, Tars! I loved the knock knock joke.
ReplyDeleteAnd that baby killed me in Under the Skin. That was way too sad for me.
Oh same here. I never knew you could make something so terrifying out of something so simple.
DeleteLove it when you do these kind of lists. Dig the Blue Ruin, Under the Skin, Inherent Vice, and Enemy mentions. Haha, I actually thought Tars was voiced by Matt Damon. Can't wait to check out some of these I'm lacking.
ReplyDeleteThanks man, so happy you like it. So funny that you thought TARS was Matty D.
DeleteHey! Thanks, man! Appreciate that shout-out and so glad that line resonated with you! That Sienna performance is just such a marvel of being so completely present in all her moments despite not having a signficant amount to do. And what a year she had in such small roles.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure I said this last year but so many of these performances capture the spirit of my list because they affected me while I was watching them yet didn't completely remember them until you reference them here. The manager in Boyhood. The wife in Enemy. The waitress in Inherent Vice. Heck, even Paul Reiser!
If I had one.......hmmmmm. Maybe, off the top of my head, James LeGros in Night Moves?
I LOVED your line about Miller. A perfect and concise way to describe her performance. And James LeGros is a great call. I really need to do an In Character on that dude. From Point Break to Night Moves, so many solid roles in there.
DeleteSarah Gadon. Damn, I could watch her in god damn anything. So glad to see her get a meaty role like the one she had in Enemy. Just perfect.
ReplyDeleteYou're totally on with Reiser though, I remember watching Whiplash and just thinking to myself, "I know that guy but who the fuck is he?" It took till the credits were rolling for me to realize it was Paul Reiser! I can't even remember the last time I've seen him, and for him to just appear in this movie and just be the beating heart and emotional core of the whole thing. So glad to see him again!
I can't remember the last really great Reiser role either, but he crushed it in Whiplash. Really man, that shot of his face just slays me. Such emotive work.
DeleteI would include Ellen Burstyn in Interstellar. In one scene, she goes from (a woman with a massive reputation of strength and wisdom and legacy...to squirming and smiling at the sight of her father finally coming back into her life. The innocence that Burstyn brings out, squirming and smiling in her bed...GAH! It kills me. It's absolutely perfect.
ReplyDeleteGreat call there. I think she did get a bit of play in reviews, but not nearly enough. I really enjoyed her in that film.
DeleteInterested to know what you think of Selma
DeleteI admire Selma's noble intentions, and so respect DuVernay and her cast/crew for their persistence in getting the film made. But, in terms of my personal film tastes, the movie was not for me. That is meant to take nothing away from the film or the people who love it, but it did nothing for me.
DeleteI like it but it comes from a place of vulnerability and bias. With what happened this past year in Ferguson and with Eric Gardner, I was affected by Selma on a deeply emotional level. But I do think wholeheartedly, though, that that is not entirely the movie's power, but its time of production/release.
ReplyDeleteAnd, another thing, Selma is my hometown, so that adds to my emotional vulnerability and bias.
Look, what’s going on in this country is horrendous. It’s near impossible to fully articulate the anger and frustration I feel in regards to Ferguson, Eric Gardner, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, and on and on. The crimes are awful enough, but the way they are handled by the justice system (a system I gave up on long ago) is atrocious, and will be ridiculed and looked down upon for decades.
DeleteBut I simply didn’t connect with Selma in that visceral way. This isn’t due to historical inaccuracies and/or bad Southern accents, it’s basically because I found the movie quite dull. But, you know, oh well. I respect it, but I’ll never have the need to revisit it. And I also respect your personal connection to the film. I had a very personal connection with American Sniper, which is one of the reasons I appreciated that movie so much. Many people don’t, but that’s the way it goes.
Still, I really appreciate us being able to talk about Selma in a constructive way.
American Sniper, while I didn't like it all around, I thought its handling of PTSD was fantastic and very affecting. I also think it's more ambivalent and complex than people give it credit for.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree. I thought it was very complex and ambivalent. Honestly, the fervor around that movie is crazy to me.
DeleteThe moment you chose to highlight from Under the Skin still haunts me. Such a brilliant scene in a film filled with very powerful moments.
ReplyDeleteI also love the inclusion of that small, yet very touching story arch that, in a way, encapsulated all that Boyhood tried to accomplish.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the comment! So happy you liked those two moments. Both so perfect in their own unique way.
Delete