Beth Grant gives highly-strung supporting characters enough sincerity to make their feelings matter. We value the vulnerability beneath the eccentricity, though casting her chiefly for her peculiarities risks making a dependable actor too easy to predict.
Fi1m perspective
Grant's self-righteous characters take their grievances seriously, and that is usually where the comedy begins. She allows enough vulnerability through for us to recognise that being ridiculous can still hurt. We rate her for that sincerity: a small part gets someone with feelings, rather than an actor waiting to deliver the funny line.
Her early film work included a farmhouse mother in Rain Man (1988), but Helen in Speed (1994) helped establish her as a memorable supporting player. Jan de Bont's thriller is also a useful corrective to the idea that her work belongs only in eccentric comedies. We were gripped by its bomb-on-a-bus predicament because Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock make the people matter as much as the next stunt. Grant's appearance is brief; this is a recommendation for the film, not a promise of a substantial part. The plotting overreaches, though not enough to spoil an engrossing evening.
The more recognisable eccentric roles include Sordid Lives (2000), with writer-director Del Shores, and Kitty Farmer in Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko (2001). The former draws on her Southern characterisation; the latter makes her self-righteous sincerity especially useful. Kitty's concern for Sparkle Motion could be played simply as an invitation to laugh at her. Grant gives it the conviction of someone whose feelings can be wounded, which is why reducing the performance to its famous line misses the work.
In Little Miss Sunshine (2006), Nancy Jenkins, the pageant official, is another compact part in a busy ensemble. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris make a funny, tender family comedy, with the cast doing much to keep the contrivances tolerable. Grant's knack for giving brief roles a distinct personality belongs comfortably in that company, though the film is less persuasive when it starts instructing us about winning. We recommend it with that reservation, rather than treating a well-chosen supporting cast as proof that every part of the writing works.
The reservation about Grant herself is how readily that dependable eccentricity can become a casting habit. A recognisable manner is useful, but recognition alone is a meagre reason to give someone a part. We would like to see her cast for the vulnerability a little more often.
Biography
Beth Grant is an American actress. She was born on 18 September 1949 in Gadsden, Alabama, and graduated from East Carolina University with a BFA in acting and directing in 1973.
Grant is known for supporting roles in films including Rain Man (1988), Speed (1994) as Helen, Donnie Darko (2001), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), No Country for Old Men (2007) and The Artist (2011). She has also appeared in numerous television series such as Friends, Grey's Anatomy, Dexter and The Mindy Project.
She is married to actor Michael Chieffo.
