Mary-Louise Parker is good at giving put-upon women a will of their own and an ironic sense of humour. We value the independence she brings to such parts, even when the writing would rather keep them suffering.
Fi1m perspective
In Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Parker's Ruth Jamison has enough presence beside Mary Stuart Masterson's Idgie Threadgoode to make their attachment feel mutual. Masterson makes Idgie's independence convincing; Parker makes us care about what Ruth wants as well. We were moved by their scenes together because both women seemed to have something at stake. That matters in a film so inclined to reassure us about friendship. We need to believe in Ruth before we can accept the film's sentiment, and Parker earns that belief.
Jon Avnet is less persuasive when he keeps that attachment within the reassuring language of friendship. Parker and Masterson give it a depth the film is reluctant to acknowledge, and its caution starts to feel evasive. This is where Parker becomes more interesting than her place in a comforting story might suggest. We want the film to be as open about Ruth's feelings as it is admiring of Idgie's independence.
The early casting did not always give her that freedom. As Ellen in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994), she belongs to a run of roles as put-upon or discarded women. We recommend that brisk, funny backstage comedy, though it is Dianne Wiest and Chazz Palminteri who give it its bite. The repeated casting risks making suffering look like the whole of Parker's talent, and Ruth gives us reason to resist that reading.
The later work makes that narrow view harder to maintain. On stage, Proof (2001) drew on her strength in emotionally layered drama; on television, Harper Pitt in Angels in America (2003) gave her a character in anguish. Then Weeds (2005–2012) put her in the lead as Nancy Botwin, a suburban widow turned cannabis dealer. It is a welcome change of emphasis: she is the one making the questionable decisions. Start with Fried Green Tomatoes, with the caveat that its director is more cautious about Ruth than her performance warrants.
Biography
Mary-Louise Parker is an American actress. She was born on 2 August 1964 in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and trained at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
She appeared in the films Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) as Ruth Jamison and Bullets Over Broadway (1994) as Ellen. Her other film roles include The Client (1994), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), RED (2010) and RED 2 (2013). On television she has played roles in Angels in America (2003) and Weeds (2005–2012).
Parker has received two Tony Awards, for Proof (2001) and The Sound Inside (2020), a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards.
