In Character: Laura Linney

Laura Linney is one of the best, most dependable performers in the business. Her career has been repeatedly lauded on film, television and the stage, and, thankfully, has no signs of slowing down. Linney is the type of actress you see a movie for. No matter what it is. You may not fully like the final product, but you know that the simple fact of her being in the film will automatically make it worth it.

Five Essential Roles

The Truman Show (1998)

Hannah Gill (as Meryl Burbank)

Hannah Gill is one of the most pleasantly despicable film characters I’ve ever seen. This woman is scum, a literal prostitute who whores herself in front of the entire world. But because Laura Linney plays her with such unapologetic charm, we spend most of The Truman Show ignoring Hannah’s true colors.

Hannah was a child actress who failed to carry her talents over into adulthood in a conventional way. So she took a seemingly lifelong gig as Truman Burbank’s “wife” on The Truman Show, a universally-consumed reality television show in which its principal character is unaware he’s being filmed 24/7. This means that Hannah’s life is a complete lie. Hell, we don’t even know her name is Hannah until halfway through the damn movie. Mostly, she’s Meryl Burbank, the Leave it to Beaver-type housewife who amusingly pitches product placement ads on The Truman Show, and gets $10,000 every time she has sex with Truman. I’d love to see a movie just about Meryl. What caused her to be here, and, more tellingly, what the hell is she doing now?

P.S. (2004)

Louise Harrington

P.S. is a tiny indie film that, despite its stellar cast and solid script, has never been able to find an audience. This is a shame, as it contains one of Linney’s most endearing performances. In the film, Linney plays an admin official at Columbia who receives a student application that floors her. The name of the applicant, along with his painting style, physical movements and general appearance, are nearly identical to those of Louise’s first true love, who died in a car accident decades ago. P.S. stays away from supernatural romantic thriller territory, instead grounding itself in an honest look at the May/December romance, while boasting incredible performances from everyone (including Topher Grace, Paul Rudd, Gabriel Byrne and Marcia Gay Harden) involved.

Kinsey (2004)

Clara McMillen

Linney really goes through the motions as Clara McMillen in Kinsey. It’s a damn tough role, one that covers decades of a single life, and is taken on many different character arcs. We meet Clara as a bright eyed college student, one who falls in love with her professor and happily marries him. But Alfred Kinsey is a radical man with radical ideas, and Clara spends her entire life trying to manage them.

There are so many single scenes to highlight from this performance. The sadness in Clara when she finds out her husband has slept with another man (Peter Sarsgaard), the ecstasy in her voice when she herself ends up sleeping with that same man, her dinner table anger at her husband’s demands over their children – it’s really never ending. I’m so pleased that Linney was nominated for an Oscar for this performance.

The Squid and the Whale (2005)

Joan Berkman

One of the reasons I love The Squid and the Whale so much is that writer/director Noah Baumbach never gives you a character to root for. Bernard (Jeff Daniels), his wife Joan (Linney), and their sons, Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) and Frank (Owen Kline), are all despicable people in their own way. But they’re also capable of great (if ever-fleeting) kindness. Having met Bernard, it’s easy to see why Joan is the way she is. Bernard is a tough sell of a husband – impatient, elitist, a real prick. So, yeah, Joan cheated on him occasionally, she lied to him and the kids… but can you blame her? One of Linney’s strengths is playing such strong but appropriately vulnerable women. In that regard, Joan Berkman is certainly one of her best roles yet.

The Savages (2007)

Wendy Savage

Wendy (Linney) and Jon (Philip Seymour Hoffman) are siblings who have drifted apart. Despite (or because of) how similar they are, the two clearly do not get along. But once their father falls ill, they’re forced to be in each other’s lives again, which disrupts their quiet, miserable senses of self. The Savages is a very well written and expertly acted film, and even though Linney and Jenkins’ script earned Oscar nominations, the film is rarely discussed today. When you make a movie that’s as real to life as The Savages, it risks being ignored. Nothing sensational happens in the film. Wendy and Jon didn’t stop talking because of a singular traumatic event, nor is there some grand catharsis that brings them back together. Instead, the film is an honest portrayal of sibling rivalry and adult incompetence. I adore the film for its honesty.

The Best of the Best

You Can Count on Me (2000)

Sammy Prescott

I had seen Laura Linney in a handful of films before You Can Count on Me, but I never really noticed her until I watched her explore Sammy Prescott. Kenneth Lonergan’s You Can Count on Me is one of my favorite films released so far this century. Early in the movie, when Sammy and her brother, Terry, are still kids, their parents are killed in a car accident. We meet them years later, with Sammy as a somewhat content loan officer at a bank, and Terry (Mark Ruffalo) as a loser drifter barely scraping by. When Terry rolls through town one day, it disrupts Sammy’s idea of who she is, and the life she wants for her precious young son.

Had I never seen Linney and Ruffalo in a film before You Can Count on Me, I would’ve bet that they were related in real life. Rarely has the brother/sister dynamic been captured as well as it is in this film. Instead of letting Sammy slide with her mistakes, Terry repeatedly calls her out on them (which she always reciprocates). You Can Count on Me is a very good film with two very fine, star making central performances. I’ll never tire of falling under its subtle spell.

Other Notable Roles

in Mystic River

Dave (1993)

Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)

Congo (1995)

Primal Fear (1996)

Absolute Power (1997)

The House of Mirth (2000)

Wild Iris (2001)

The Laramie Project (2002)

The Mothman Prophecies (2002)

Mystic River (2003)

The Life of David Gale (2003)

Love Actually (2003)

Frasier (2003-2004)

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

Jindabyne (2006)

Breach (2007)

John Adams (2008)

The Big C (2010-2013)
The Fifth Estate (2013)