By: Julia Oatey By: Julia Oatey | March 14, 2022 | Feature, Movies, Television,
Ozark Season 2 Episode 9.
Laura Linney can be seen in countless movies and television shows since 1992. Her giddy smile and dedication to her characters can be felt extraordinarily through the television screen. From conniving wives to controlling mothers to self-assured lawyers, Linney can do it all.
After taking on so many roles, there’s guaranteed to be ones where Linney shines a little brighter. We’ve picked out eight of the best roles Linney has taken on throughout her acting career.
Laura Linney has played her fair share of wives throughout her career, but no one quite like Wendy Byrde. Wendy is the ruthless, cunning wife of Marty Byrde and together they move to the Ozarks with their two children and get involved with cartel schemes and find out ways to launder money. Linney embodies the manipulative nature of Wendy very well and encaptures the way she acts before she thinks and goes to great lengths to protect her family.
Talk about a complicated character. In this classic film that foresaw the beginnings of reality tv, Linney plays an actress, Hannah Gill, who is Meryl Burnak on the reality TV show. She appears as Truman’s wife and is ultimately the character who leads to Truman’s realization that he was actually on a television show. Linney takes on this very comedic character who overtly advertises products in the middle of conversations and expresses the ultimate fake disposition that the movie embodies.
Sarah spends her time working her job and taking care of her brother, Michael, who deals with mental illness. She is in love with her colleague, but always puts her brother's needs before everything, even herself. Linney represents this selfless, warm character who may be awkward at times, but has a heart like no other wonderfully.
See also: Laura Linney Dives Deep to Discuss Her Role as Wendy in the Award-Winning Netflix Series 'Ozark'
In this strong leading character role, Linney plays a controlling single mother, Samantha, who reunites with her brother after not speaking for months. Linney reveals a character who seems as though she has everything together on the outside, but her life on the inside is full of turmoil and uncertainty.
Linney does a great job in this film depicting a character who must face some important life events that ring true for many people. Although she has issues with her brother and hostility towards her abusive father, they must come together and care for him in his old age. Linney shows the strength and courage it takes to put aside the problems her father has caused in her life to help him out when nobody else will.
In this remarkable true story about the investigation that ensued after an emergency landing in the Hudson River, Linney plays the role of Sully’s wife. Although he was deemed a hero, the investigation jeopardizes his career and makes a large impact on his wife’s life as well. Linney portrays the prominent concerns and fear that go along with her supporting her husband through this dreadful time.
We love seeing Linney play this character who goes from a people pleaser to a confident, bold woman focusing on herself and her ambitions. When Cathy, a high school teacher who lives an ordinary life, finds out she has terminal cancer, she changes her life around and lives it exactly how she wants to. Linney is the perfect match for this role as she steals the spotlight living her life to the fullest.
In this powerful role, Linney portrays the prosecutor to her ex, Martin Vale, the defense attorney for a boy convicted of murdering the archbishop of Chicago. Watching Linney give off the energy of a strong character who is confident in her abilities is exciting and suspenseful nonetheless.
Photography by: Jessica Miglio/Netflix