Martha Kelly can make an almost expressionless line funny or disturbing without changing her voice much. We value that restraint, especially in small parts, though a role that needs open emotion can expose its limits.
Fi1m perspective
Martha Kelly tends to keep her voice level while the people around her have reasons to raise theirs. Her nearly monotone delivery makes a small part recognisable without much apparent effort. In Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story (2019), she plays the Evaluator, giving a supporting role definition through her distinctive timing. That lack of fuss is welcome in a film whose larger arguments can feel rehearsed. The risk is that the voice becomes all a filmmaker asks her to supply.
Her stand-up had already established that deadpan before Zach Galifianakis wrote Martha Brooks for her in Baskets (2016), her acting debut. Across four seasons, the role gave her gentle comic timing more room than a brief film appearance could. Her appearance as Laurie, a drug dealer in Euphoria in 2022, showed how chilling that detachment could become. An even delivery can make threatening dialogue sound horribly routine, and Kelly does not need much outward display to make the difference felt.
There is a limit, though: Kelly has acknowledged difficulty with broader emotional expression. Marriage Story places her within a film where Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson carry the sustained emotional demands. We were moved by the old affection they keep visible beneath their grievances, because it makes the smaller hurts painfully convincing. Kelly’s contribution works at its own smaller scale, with enough individuality to make the Evaluator register. We would welcome larger parts for her, but they need to offer more than additional lines delivered in the same manner.
Dave Green’s Coyote vs. Acme (2026), with Kelly as Dottie Jones, is funny and unexpectedly touching, though its corporate satire settles for easy targets. The friendship between the coyote and his lawyer gives the silliness someone to care about. Kelly is again a supporting player, and our recommendation rests on the affectionate comedy rather than any claim that she transforms it. For more time with her, start with Baskets: a role written for her is a fairer test than waiting for the next small film appearance.
Biography
Martha Kelly is an American actress and stand-up comedian. Born on 24 February 1968 in Torrance, California, she began performing stand-up in the 1990s and appeared on programmes including Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Last Comic Standing and Comedy Central specials.
She made her acting debut in the FX series Baskets (2016–2019), playing Martha Brooks opposite Zach Galifianakis. Subsequent roles include appearances in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Marriage Story (2019), American Gods (2017) and What We Do in the Shadows (2019). She received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Laurie in Euphoria (2019–).
Kelly has also appeared in Hacks (2021), Fallout (2024) and the animated series Common Side Effects (2025). She plays Dottie Jones in the 2026 film Coyote vs. Acme.
