Beanie Feldstein gives supporting characters enough warmth to make us want more time with them. Her comic timing also makes a furious outburst work, though we would rather see directors give her more than shouting to do.
Fi1m perspective
In Drive-Away Dolls (2024), Beanie Feldstein’s Sukie takes out her anger at her ex on a stranger in a police station. We laughed hardest at her because she addresses suspects, colleagues and former partners with the same furious voice. Ethan Coen gives her only a handful of scenes, and she makes the repetition funny rather than merely loud. The road comedy is slight and easily forgotten, but she is a good reason to spend an evening with it.
Greta Gerwig gets something quieter from her in Lady Bird (2017), where she plays Julie Steffans. Feldstein gives the supporting part enough warmth that we want the film to stay with her after its central character has turned elsewhere. The brisk cutting does not always allow that, and the fault lies with the film for hurrying on. Making a supporting character matter this much is substantial acting, even if it does not offer the immediate laugh of Sukie losing her temper.
That breakthrough led to larger roles, including Molly in Booksmart (2019), a high-school friendship comedy that puts her comic timing to work. Leading roles in How to Build a Girl (2020) and The Humans (2021) followed. It is a sensible progression for an actor who can make us regret how little time a supporting part gets.
We would not ask her to spend every film at Sukie’s volume. The repeated shout works for a brief supporting turn, but it is a narrow way to use someone whose warmth can make a hurried scene matter. Her timing is worth more when a director lets us care about the person delivering the line, as Gerwig does, even with limited time. Start with Lady Bird; save Drive-Away Dolls for an evening when a funny supporting performance will be enough.
Biography
Beanie Feldstein is an American actress. Born Elizabeth Greer Feldstein on 24 June 1993 in Los Angeles, she graduated from Wesleyan University with a BA in sociology.
She first gained recognition for supporting roles in the films Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) and Lady Bird (2017), and the lead in Booksmart (2019), which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical. Her other film credits include Drive-Away Dolls (2024), in which she played Sukie.
On stage, Feldstein made her Broadway debut as Minnie Fay in the 2017–18 revival of Hello, Dolly! and starred as Fanny Brice in the 2022 revival of Funny Girl, receiving a Drama League Award nomination. She portrayed Monica Lewinsky in the third season of the anthology series American Crime Story (2021).
