Cate Blanchett is a modern star that has all that appeal from the classic era and manages to keep a low enough profile that we don’t see her when the world’s got her down.

by Ian Hrabe, Staff Writer

I don’t know if there’s another actor working who can nail it every time the way Frances McDormand nails it. Some actors show their range by taking on a variety of diverse roles. Frances McDormand shows her range more subtly, and the results are awe-inspiring anytime she graces the screen whether she’s playing a Minnesotan cop, a van-dwelling nomad, or Lady freaking Macbeth. Though she doesn’t have Meryl Streep’s staggering 21 Oscar nominations, they have each won three (and one of Meryl’s is for Best Supporting whereas all of McDormand’s are for Best Leading but who’s counting? Oh wait, I am...). This isn’t meant as a dig at Streep, but more at the notion of her being the first name that comes to mind when people talk about a capital S capital A Serious Actress. Again, not to drag Meryl Streep’s good name through the mud—and this being a list of the all-time greats, you’re absolutely going to see her name on this list down the road—but how many of her performances can you recall that really stick with you? There are a handful for sure and she’s an absolute pro, but every time McDormand is on the screen she finds a way to etch her role onto your soul (now I feel like I’m fantasy booking an episode of Celebrity Deathmatch, and I will henceforth keep Meryl’s good name out of my big dumb mouth). There’s just a realness to her performances that nobody else can touch.

What’s most fascinating about McDormand is that it feels like her considerable powers are only getting stronger as she gets deeper into her career. Where Hollywood makes no secret about its willingness to kick actresses to the curb once they turn 40, Frances McDormand seemingly defies this at every turn all while unveiling new layers of her skillset. It’s just hard to wrap my head around how she can be so locked-in and raw and natural in something like Nomadland and be so goddamn hysterical in something like Burn After Reading. I mean, duh, she has incredible range but the extremes she can hit are mind boggling. What do you think of when you think of a stereotypical Minnesotan? If it’s not Marge Gunderson you’re kidding yourself. Watch her turn as Lady Macbeth in Joel Coen’s recent The Tragedy of Macbeth and it’s hard to imagine anyone else filling that role’s considerable shoes.

One of my favorite McDormand roles of late weirdly comes from one of my least favorite movies: Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch. Despite a strong start that movie’s returns start to diminish in the third segment “Revisions of a Manifesto” where Frances McDormand’s no-nonsense French Dispatch journalist Lucinda Krementz interviews Timothee Chalamet’s May ‘68 student revolutionary Zeffirelli. Anderson feels totally out of his depth telling this particular French New Wave inspired story, and that’s me speaking as a lifelong Wes Anderson fanboy. This leaves the segments leads to effectively carry the full weight of the film to get it to the fourth segment, and McDormand and Chalamet perform miracle work and elevate the dullness of the writing into something engaging (Note: when speaking to a compatriot about this film, he told me this was his favorite segment and thought my stance on it was crazy. Subjective art form!).

Watching Frances McDormand on the screen triggers a pure film geek rapture inside of me, and it’s one I always forget about until I see her up there. It’s unassuming. You forget how great she is until you see her and let her sublime work transform you. You forget that she’s only a Grammy away from an EGOT and already has some audiobook narration under her belt so hopefully, it’s only a matter of time. Meryl Streep (ok, I lied, I can’t keep her good name out of my dumb mouth) came close to crossing the Grammy off her list last year with the audiobook for Charlotte’s Web, but Streep doesn’t even have a Tony yet so.... (Note: I promise my sniping at Meryl is in jest, and not just because my wife, a known Meryl fangirl, gave me a threatening glare when I told her the shape the Frances McDormand piece was taking). Honestly though, we all know the awards don’t really matter and it’s just fun to see the people you love get signal boosted for their phenomenal work. What matters is an actor who can harness a wavelength we can’t see and channel that into the sort of transformative performance that takes are breath away, and it feels like that’s all Frances McDormand does.