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What do Judy Davis, Joan Plowright, Vanessa Redgrave and Miranda Richardson all have in common? They were the four capital-A Actresses who lost to Marisa Tomei in the Best Supporting Actress Oscar race in 1993. They were all nominated for serious thespic performances. Tomei had the lone comedic role, in My Cousin Vinny.
At the time, people couldn't quite believe she won. (As recently as 2015, the controversy over her win was still being talked about.) Comedy tends to get the short shrift when it comes to the Oscars. Even today, her win seems anomalous. It's like when Judy Holliday won Best Actress for comedy over four powerhouse dramatic roles.
As someone with a little acting experience, I can tell you that the phrase "Dying is easy, comedy is hard" is true. Comedy requires a different kind of awareness of yourself, your cast and your setting, a different sense of timing. You'd think the Academy would be more sensitive to this, but they tend to respond to drama more. So when a comedic performance wins an Oscar, it's significant.
Watching Vinny again last week, I was reminded of what a sharp, witty and charming performance Tomei gave. Her subsequent career has proven it was no fluke, either. She has grown into a fantastic actress who was Oscar-nominated two more times (for drama, naturally). She hasn't quite reached Sandra Bullock-level superstardom, but anyone who has seen her post-Vinny work knows she's the real deal. (It's a little depressing, however, to realize she's now old enough to play Aunt May in the Spider-Man movies.)
Vinny was a vehicle for Joe Pesci that came along at the right time, in the wake of his GoodFellas success. It was a fish-out-of-water, R-rated comedy, meaning he got to be his gleefully profane self.
Pesci is the kind of actor who wouldn't exist back in the Golden Age. Cagney comes close: short, motormouthed wise guy with an attitude, but the lack of profanity aside, Pesci's shtick is specifically, quintessentially Italian, not Irish. Cagney had roguish charm. Pesci's just roguish. In a comedy like Vinny, though, it's appealing.
Hear, hear. You expect a body of experts like the Academy purports to be would be more all encompassing when it comes to comedic work, but it is still shocking when the skill to do comedy successfully is acknowledged.
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention the age thing and Marisa (whom I first saw on As the World Turns in another lifetime). After seeing a trailer for Beauty and the Beast Garry has been muttering about Kevin Kline playing crazy old Maurice. In our collective other lifetime he would have been Gaston!
That crummy old circle of life will get you every time.
It might be worse with child actors. I recently saw a picture of Macaulay Culkin in a new movie. I still have a hard time imagining him as an adult. Even now!
ReplyDeleteWhenever I think of My Cousin Vinny, I remember watching it with my mom, probably on rented or checked out VHS. As profanely as the characters spoke, I was surprised that she really loved the movie! Mom doesn't and didn't usually talk about movies in terms of good acting, directing, etc. She just likes a movie or doesn't like it. In this case, she commented on how great both lead performances were. Fun memory! Shockingly enough, that might have been the last time I saw it--ages ago.
ReplyDeleteSounds like my mom when it comes to movies. Only in her case she may be harder to please.
ReplyDeleteI loved Marisa Tomei in this role. She stole the entire movie, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I have a running joke about "yewts" in reference to that scene where Fred Gwynne and Joe Pesci discuss the "youths".
That was a great moment. This was the first time I had seen Gwynne as anything other than Herman Munster. I was pleasantly surprised.
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