Christine Baranski

Christine Baranski makes a sophisticated woman’s sharp remark worth waiting for. Her comic timing is the attraction, particularly in ensembles where a supporting actor has limited time to establish someone. We like the assurance, and we like that she can take it into dramatic parts without depending on a joke. The recurrent casting as educated, acerbic women is understandable, though it can make the choice of role feel a little too settled.

The Birdcage (1996) offers a good setting for that skill, with Baranski as Katharine Archer in Mike Nichols’s warmly played farce. We were touched by the affection Robin Williams and Nathan Lane brought to the fuss; it gave the comedy something worth caring about. The cast is better than the cautious script, whose eagerness to please takes some force out of the satire.

Reversal of Fortune (1990), with Baranski as Andrea Reynolds, puts her in the drier company of Barbet Schroeder’s drama. Jeremy Irons supplies much of its unease, while the fascination with people debating evidence sometimes leaves Sunny feeling like an afterthought. Her reputation cannot be explained by these film appearances alone. Television gave her more sustained work, beginning with the breakthrough of Maryann Thorpe in Cybill (1995–1998).

The later television work makes the stronger case for taking her dramatic authority seriously. Diane Lockhart in The Good Wife (2009–2016) is central to that change of emphasis, followed by The Good Fight (2017–2022) and Agnes van Rhijn in The Gilded Age (2022). The familiar sophistication remains, but the legal and period roles draw on the nuance as well as the wit. We would welcome casting that asks something less expected of her; until then, start with The Birdcage, allowing for a script rather less sharp than its actors.