Everybody remembers the bigger name Coen Bros. regulars, such as John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, Frances McDormand, Billy Bob Thornton and now George Clooney. And of course, there are the one-shot stars, like Nicolas Cage, Gabriel Byrne, Jeff Bridges, William H. Macy, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Julianne Moore, Paul Newman, Albert Finney, Woody Harrelson, Tim Robbins and now Brad Pitt and John Malkovich. But who ever talks about Michael Lerner? He received an Oscar nomination for his supporting role in Barton Fink, yet he never seems to get the same kind of respect that Javier Bardem gets, and it’s not just because Bardem won the award for No Country for Old Men.
With their new film, Burn After Reading, the Coens have again recast some lesser known character actors that I hope get the recognition they deserve. Both Richard Jenkins and J.K. Simmons have previously appeared in the Coens’ films, but each has seriously risen in notability since their last collaboration with the filmmakers. Hopefully, they’ll continue to be cast by the brothers.
Obviously, all my favorite Coen Bros. actors can’t be in every Coen Bros. movie (especially since some of them are dead). And interestingly enough, the brothers’ next film, A Serious Man, is being cast with (so far) only actors they’ve never employed. So, I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the less-recognized actors and actresses who have done tremendous work for Joel and Ethan, not so much in the hopes that they’ll be re-employed (some can’t be) but in the general interest of giving them some much-needed praise.
The Reeler has an interview with film critic Carrie Rickey, who has curated an event in New York tonight called Dumb Blondes, Smart Blondes. The program sounds great, but Rickey says a few questionable things in the interview.
One thing I bristle at is the notion that Judy Holliday wanted to play smarter, “but she really didn’t get that opportunity because people really enjoyed the dumb blonde. I just think that Holliday and even Marilyn Monroe — as much as I love them — invite a certain kind of male condescension.” I don’t think that’s true at all. Born Yesterday was one thing, but I think Judy Holliday was at her best playing smart blondes, who allowed men to treat them as though they were dumber than they really were, so that they could then be a little bit sneaky about the smartness.
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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