Frances Conroy makes composure look like hard work. Her Ruth Fisher in Six Feet Under is the performance we recommend first: strained and moving without asking us to find her easy company.
Fi1m perspective
In Six Feet Under (2001), Ruth Fisher seems to have prepared herself even for an ordinary conversation. Frances Conroy makes her composure look effortful, leaving us aware of feelings Ruth would rather keep under control. We were moved by that strain: speaking to her family could seem to demand more of Ruth than she had to spare. Conroy gives us reason to care about her without pretending she would be easy to live with.
Her screen career took time to give her that much room. A small part in Manhattan (1979) and supporting work such as Scent of a Woman (1992) came during a period when theatre remained her principal occupation. Six Feet Under ran from 2001 to 2005, giving her a breakthrough lead role and five seasons in which to develop Ruth. A performance built around that kind of strain benefits from time; we need to see more than one uncomfortable exchange.
She also benefits from having other actors working just as carefully around her. Peter Krause gives Nate an ease that Ruth lacks, while Michael C. Hall's David makes restraint look exhausting in a different way. Lauren Ambrose gives Claire an impatience that usefully breaks up those heavier moods. The programme can indulge its brooding, and we would not pretend that every family exchange earns its length; Conroy's precision is one reason to stay.
The later work has more often put her in supporting or recurring parts. Her work with Ryan Murphy on American Horror Story (from 2011) includes Moira O'Hara and Myrtle Snow among several recurring roles. Film parts such as Penny Fleck, the central character's mother in Joker (2019), and the Old Lady in The Power of the Dog (2021) keep her further from the centre. We would welcome another part that gives her as much time as Ruth. Start with Six Feet Under, provided a family that takes considerable effort to be around sounds like an evening well spent.
Biography
Frances Conroy (also credited as Frances Hardman Conroy) is an American actress. She trained at the Juilliard School, where she earned a BFA, and began her career in theatre.
She is best known for playing Ruth Fisher in the HBO series Six Feet Under (2001–2005), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama in 2004 and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. Conroy has appeared in numerous other television series, including multiple roles across seasons of American Horror Story (2011–), and films such as Scent of a Woman (1992), The Aviator (2004), Joker (2019) and The Power of the Dog (2021). She has an extensive stage career with Broadway credits including The Ride Down Mt. Morgan and The Little Foxes.
