Christina Hendricks

In Mad Men (2007), Christina Hendricks plays Joan Holloway as someone accustomed to sounding sure of herself. The office manager's assurance feels practised, and Hendricks makes that effort worth watching. We enjoyed Joan's sharpness because the charm never makes every remark agreeable. Beside Elisabeth Moss's watchful Peggy Olson, whose listening becomes an active part of a scene, Hendricks offers another way of making us pay attention to what a woman chooses to say. January Jones's Betty Draper is stiffer and less inviting, and the contrast helps: Hendricks is part of an ensemble in which women need not resemble one another to hold our attention.

Her breakthrough came with the series, created by Matthew Weiner, and it remains the clearest reason to value her work. Its patient storytelling gives her room to make Joan interesting beyond the first impression of competence. The series can be smug about the past, a fault that does not make Hendricks's performance less exact. She is frequently cast as a shrewd woman in a male-dominated environment or a period setting. That makes sense, but we would be wary of any script that assumes her assurance can do the work of writing a character.

In Drive (2011), she plays Blanche, a supporting role in Nicolas Winding Refn's tense crime thriller that expanded her film profile. We recommend its driving and unease, though the romance needs more from the writing. For Hendricks herself, Mad Men remains the better starting point. The Neon Demon (2016), in which she plays Roberta Hoffmann, reunited her with Refn and continued her work in stylised cinema.

Her lead as Beth Boland in Good Girls (2018) made room for her comic timing after Mad Men. Her voice work in Toy Story 4 (2019) also deserves attention when considering what she can do. These are useful reminders when discussion of an actor keeps returning to her appearance instead of her performances. We would welcome more comedy, provided nobody insists on making her agreeable.