Molly Parker

In Deadwood (2004), Molly Parker’s Alma Garret is worth watching when she has no commanding speech to deliver. In a series so rich in elaborate talk, that is a considerable contribution. We were absorbed by her quieter scenes because Parker made us interested in how Alma listened to other people. Her work helps the programme make the struggle to live together as compelling as its violence, and gives us a clear reason to rate her highly.

Her early work in Canadian television and independent films led to the breakthrough of Kissed (1996), in which she played Sandra Larson, a necrophiliac medical student. That choice matters: Parker was willing to play someone whose desires were unlikely to win easy sympathy. Her characters can be vulnerable and still pursue what they want. Deadwood brought wider recognition in the United States and gave that approach room to develop over a series.

David Milch, Deadwood’s creator and writer, gives his actors elaborate language, and sometimes we wish someone would interrupt. Paula Malcomson, playing Trixie, deserves the same attention when the scenes deny us the easy pleasure of those speeches. Timothy Olyphant’s contained Seth Bullock offers a useful comparison, keeping the series from depending entirely on the pleasure of watching wicked people talk. Parker’s restraint works particularly well in this company, where a quieter performance changes what we notice about the more demonstrative ones.

The later television work includes Jackie Sharp in House of Cards (2014–2016) and Maureen Robinson in Lost in Space (2018–2021), with supporting film roles continuing alongside them. Recurring and leading parts suit an actor whose characters reveal conflicting feelings without spelling everything out. That does not make quietness a virtue in itself: the writing must give us something worth noticing, and Parker needs room to do it. Start with Deadwood, and give her the attention its louder voices can so easily claim.