Laurie Metcalf makes opinionated women funny and sympathetic without excusing their behaviour. We value the spontaneity of her delivery, though her supporting film parts have not always given her enough to do.
Fi1m perspective
Laurie Metcalf can make an opinionated woman funny without asking us to find her harmless. Her lines sound newly thought of, even when the character seems unlikely to have changed her mind in years. That spontaneity is rooted in her work with the Steppenwolf ensemble, and it makes her intensity less predictable. Jackie Harris in Roseanne (1988–1997), her breakthrough television role, put the comic timing to sustained use. We could laugh at Jackie's disappointments without being encouraged to think that disappointment was all there was to her.
Toy Story (1995) gives her a less conspicuous place, voicing Mrs Davis, Andy's mother. John Lasseter's film earns our strong recommendation through its tight storytelling and its affection for awkward characters. Metcalf belongs comfortably in that company, though the quarrelling voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are the main attraction. Randy Newman's music sometimes tells us too firmly what to feel; the actors need less assistance. It is worth listening to how well those voices work together, even if Metcalf's contribution is small.
In Toy Story 2 (1999), she returns as Andy's mother, while Lasseter keeps the rescue adventure funny and easy to follow. We were moved more than we expected by the film's concern with how little time a toy may have with a child. The humour helps; a story about being outgrown could easily become solemn, and this one stays lively. Both films deserve an audience well beyond children. They are also a reminder that a fine film need not be an actor's fullest opportunity.
Her screen career has often meant supporting parts, with stage and television giving her greater prominence. Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird (2017) gives her something more substantial as Marion McPherson, a pragmatic, caring mother whose toughness is not softened for our convenience. It is a useful place to turn after Jackie: the sympathy remains, but motherhood makes the forcefulness harder to laugh away. Metcalf lets care and difficult behaviour exist in the same person without smoothing either out. For a fuller sense of what she can do, we would start there.
Biography
Laurie Metcalf is an American actress. She began her career as an original ensemble member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago and has continued to work frequently in Chicago theatre.
Metcalf played Susie Cox in the film JFK (1991) and voiced Mrs. Davis in Toy Story (1995). She is also known for her role as Jackie Harris in the television series Roseanne (1988–1997, 2018) and its spinoff The Conners, as well as voice roles in the Toy Story sequels. On stage, she has received three Tony Awards.
She was born on 16 June 1955 in Carbondale, Illinois.
