Sunday's Actress Worship: Garner

The following post, in addition to being my monthly Actress Worship, is my entry for StinkyLulu's second annual Class of Supporting Actress blogathon. Get on over there to see a bunch of wonderful write-ups on some wonderful women actressing from the edges.





Jennifer Garner as Vanessa Loring in Jason Reitman's Juno


Let me preface this by saying that I have been in love with Jennifer Garner since one fateful afternoon when I went to my local drive-in theatre with my aunt to see 13 Going on 30. It was 2004; I was 13 or so myself, and it was one of the very first times I ever remember feeling so elated just to be watching someone act. A couple years later and I'm still watching that delightful romantic comedy over and over again and I've begun to realize that it truly is a lovely performance. She's a spectacular comic force, and gives herself completely to the role before casually (but carefully) humanizing her character as the story progresses. Come to think of it, it's not too unlike the performance that's going to win my Best Actress award this year...

Anyway, Juno. I saw it last night, and had a similar reaction to Ellen Page's performance. While this was the first time most people are being acquainted with Page's delights, I, on the other hand, have been acquainted with her (through the screen) since 2004, when she blew a bunch of other great Canadian actors out of the water in the little-seen Wilby Wonderful. But in Juno, she's just...boss. For lack of a better word. I can't tell if I want to be Juno MacGuff or I want to have sex with Juno MacGuff - and both options are really kind of confusing me. (Thanks a lot, Ellen.)

But there was another performance in the movie, a little quieter and less instantly iconic, that really had me inspired. And that performance, of course, was from Miss Jennifer Garner. In the film, she plays Vanessa Loring, an affluent Suburban housewife (married to Jason Bateman's Mark) who is getting ready to adopt the baby currently residing in our title character's tummy. In her first scene, she's clearly trying to be calculated, cordial, reserved, to seem like your average white-picket-fence woman. But there's desperation and hesitancy in her line readings that gets under your skin. What's beautiful about Juno is that all the characters are exactly that - characters. Not cookie-cutter ideas or bad stereotypes, but human beings, each and every one of them.

Garner also has the difficult job of being the only major character not given any of Diablo Cody's snappy, slang-ridden dialogue. Although the rest of the cast (particularly the leading lady) all end up doing a lot of heavy lifting in the third act, for a while Garner is forced to single-handedly ground the film in reality by being so straightforward and honestly emotional. A scene at the mall with Garner's character is particularly sweet and sad, thanks mostly to that face of hers. (The editor is clearly in love with her too, often giving her an extra close-up after the major action of the scene is finished, thus adding depth and that little extra "oomph" to the scene.)

What Jennifer Garner proves in Juno is that she can basically do anything - whether she's playing an ass-kicking heroine (TV's Alias), a kooky romantic funny lady (13 Going on 30) or a pure, grounded supporting character (Juno). In an age of beautiful "actresses" being famous mostly just for being beautiful, it's very refreshing to encounter a beautiful actress who knows exactly what she's doing and deserves every ounce of attention coming her way.

P.S. For the record, this doesn't mean that Jennifer Garner is my number one pick for Supporting Actress this year - just that I really felt like talking about her today and her performance was still fresh in the noodle. Incidentally, the following twelve ladies make up my semifinalist list at the moment: (but I still have twenty or so movies that I need to see before starting my awards.)

Rose Byrne, Just Buried
Stine Fischer Christensen, After the Wedding
Deborra-Lee Furness, Jindabyne
Jennifer Garner, Juno
Sidse Babett Knudsen, After the Wedding
Kelly MacDonald, No Country For Old Men
Samantha Morton, Control
Marley Shelton, Planet Terror
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Tabu, The Namesake
Kristen Thomson, Away From Her
Laura Vasiliu, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days