Amy Adams: Five of her best roles
Incredible as it seems, Amy Adams has never won an Oscar, although she has been nominated several times — five in fact — by the Academy. Besides this TV drama, here is what we think are her five best roles:
1. As Sister James in Doubt (2008). Adams can do quiet and serious and here she holds her own against the great Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman in the slow, heavy film on whether a Catholic priest is guilty of molesting a teenage boy.
2. Julie & Julia (2009). Proving that she can take on Streep again, Adams stars as blogger Julie, who is inspired to cook all 564 dishes in Julia Child’s cookbook in just one year. This is perhaps where her onscreen chemistry started with Chris Messina, who plays Eric, her understanding and loving husband. Based on a true story. 3. As Giselle, below, Adams nailed wideeyed enthusiasm in the Disney film Enchanted: a musical about a soon-to-be princess who is pushed out of the cartoon realm by an evil queen into reality — tough and unkind New York City. Here she has to find her true love. In a film that could have been written off as saccharine nonsense, Adams is so darn likeable that this fairy tale was one of the biggest hits of 2007. Not based on a true story.
4. Messy and overcomplicated, black
comedy drama American Hustle (2013) was not one of David Russell’s best films, but Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Christian Bale, Jeremy Renner and, especially, Adams received critical acclaim for their roles — in her case for her portrayal of con artist Sydney Prosser, left. Based loosely on a true story. 5. Arrival (2017) is a “movie about aliens for people who don’t like movies about aliens”,
said Time Magazine. Adams brought gravitas to her role of Dr Louise Banks, left, a linguist called to communicate with extraterrestrial beings who have come to Earth. This is not your average sci-fi fare, but a tender, introspective drama about how we communicate. It asks big questions and gives some solid answers. Here, Adams stars with Jeremy Renner again.