Elizabeth Berridge brings a plain, contemporary directness to supporting roles. In Amadeus, it is a relief beside Mozart’s childishness, though the writing gives her too little room to develop.
Fi1m perspective
In Amadeus (1984), Elizabeth Berridge’s Constanze Mozart brings a welcome directness beside the two leads. Miloš Forman lets the film be bawdy, and her straightforward manner suits a period drama with little interest in making its famous composer respectable. We felt relieved by her plainness, because the repeated emphasis on Mozart’s childishness can become wearing. It is a performance we value, without pretending that the writing gives her as much room to develop as the leads. The music and the rivalry are absorbing, but the film also knows the value of good company.
That contemporary manner, sometimes coupled with vulnerability, is a recurring feature of Berridge’s supporting roles. Her early work also included a lead as Amy Harper in the horror film The Funhouse (1981), before Amadeus brought her wider notice. Supporting parts in Smooth Talk (1985), opposite Laura Dern, and Five Corners (1987), from a John Patrick Shanley script, followed. The unforced quality of her work in Five Corners helps explain the appeal: she can make a character credible without making the acting conspicuous.
Some viewers found her Constanze too youthful or objected to the lack of a period accent. We are less troubled by that than by a script that lets us enjoy her company without giving Constanze the attention it gives Mozart and Salieri. A more ceremonious delivery would not fix the writing. Forman gets something valuable from her lack of fuss, though, and it suits a film that is funny and cruel about its famous men.
Regular television comedy followed with The Powers That Be (1992–93) and The John Larroquette Show (1993–96). Later film work included the independent films Please Give (2010) and Results (2015). That movement between drama and comedy is worth remembering when one period role threatens to stand for everything an actor does. Start with Amadeus, and do not go expecting everyone in period dress to mind their manners.
Biography
Elizabeth Berridge is an American film and theatre actress. She was born on 2 May 1962 in New Rochelle, New York. She is best known for playing Constanze Mozart in Miloš Forman’s Amadeus (1984).
Berridge has appeared in films including The Funhouse (1981), Five Corners (1987) and Hidalgo (2004). On television she played Charlotte in the sitcom The Powers That Be (1992–1993) and Officer Eve Eggers in The John Larroquette Show (1993–1996). She has worked extensively in theatre, with credits including productions in New York, Los Angeles and London, and received a DramaLogue Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination.
