The plight of the ‘not really beautiful’
The Show: Easy, Season 1, Episode 5 The Moment: Jane Adams’ signature line
Graphic novelist Jacob (Marc Maron, 53) spent the night with stunning selfie artist Allison (model Emily Ratajkowski, 25, star of the “Blurred Lines” video). “I’m not in love or anything,” he ventures the next morning to his old friend, actress Annabelle (Jane Adams, 51).
“Can we talk about something else?” she asks.
Apparently not. “She likes that I do autobiographical work,” Jacob says.
“She likes that you’re famous,” Annabelle says. “Go on.”
“She likes that we’re both autobiographical artists,” he insists. “How old is she?” Annabelle asks. Jacob hesitates. “24,” he says. “Good for you,” Annabelle says. “And really beautiful, right?”
“Your hair looks good,” he says. They laugh. Dear Jane Adams, I wonder how you feel about this moment. You’ve been called upon to play it before, in series ( Hung) and movies ( Little Children). It’s the moment where you admit that the guy doesn’t find you “really beautiful”; the moment that cues viewers to think, “If he had any soul, he’d see she’s great.”
But when you read yet another script that requires you to play this moment, do you sigh? Do you think, “I’m a terrific actress, I shine onstage. If I were male, I’d be Philip Seymour Hoffman”?
Hollywood wants to appear selfaware in these scenes by acknowledging that “not-really-beautiful” women aren’t the centre of love stories. Yet it never actually supports a love story for you. Does that irony chafe? Are you committed to keep hammering at it, hoping to create change? Or are you just happy to work? Easy streams on Netflix. Schneller is a media connoisseur who zeroes in on pop-culture moments. She usually appears Monday through Thursday.