Mary McDonnell makes authority believable without pretending that the person in charge has stopped being vulnerable. We value her restraint, but it is the emotional directness of Dances with Wolves that makes the clearest case for her.
Fi1m perspective
In Dances with Wolves (1990), Mary McDonnell's Stands With A Fist brings an emotional directness that the film needs. Kevin Costner, directing and acting opposite her, gives curiosity and listening plenty of time. McDonnell lets feeling disturb the good manners, and we were moved by the way she makes the warmth feel personal. She gives us someone to care about within the film's too-reassuring picture of Sioux life. That does not correct its limitations, but it helps make the long journey worth taking.
That breakthrough was followed by John Sayles's Passion Fish (1992), with McDonnell as May-Alice Culhane. Both parts draw on her ability to play women having to adjust to changed circumstances. Her understatement is useful here: it leaves room for emotion without turning every difficulty into an invitation to admire the acting. Distinctive film leads proved harder to secure after the early 1990s, so those two parts remain important places to begin.
Independence Day (1996) casts her as Marilyn Whitmore amid the alien-invasion spectacle. We like Roland Emmerich's film for its patient menace and the cast's cheerfulness, despite the foolish script and overdone patriotism. Her supporting part broadened her visibility, but it is not where we would start to make the case for her as an actor. We would recommend it for an evening of large-scale destruction, rather than as the clearest demonstration of her particular strengths.
Television gave her authority room to develop, most notably as Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica (2004–2009), alongside Edward James Olmos. As the reluctant president, she can be authoritative and vulnerable at once. Leadership roles suit that understated approach, though describing her simply as an authoritative presence misses the emotional directness that mattered in Stands With A Fist. Start with Costner's Western, then allow the television work rather more of the evening.
Biography
Mary McDonnell is an American actress who works in film, stage and television. She was educated at the State University of New York at Fredonia and performed with the Long Wharf Theatre Company.
Her film breakthrough came in 1990 as Stands With A Fist in Dances with Wolves, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She received a further nomination for Best Actress for Passion Fish (1992). Other film roles include Marilyn Whitmore in Independence Day (1996) and Rose Darko in Donnie Darko (2001). On television she has played President Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica (2004–2009) and Sharon Raydor in The Closer and its spin-off Major Crimes.
