Ann Dowd’s career began in Chicago where she thrived in her appearances on stage, before moving onto the big screen. Her work in theater won her various awards, but in 1985 she decided it was time to venture off into a new world of cinema. Dowd began her cinematic career with brilliant supporting roles as anamazing character actor, and had a great role in the underrated andreligiously controversial titleNothing Sacred.
However, it really wasn’t until her appearance inCompliancein 2012 that Dowd became popularly recognized. Dowd has worked her way up the ladder to recognition and has appeared in many roles throughout the years, gradually becoming one of the most talented andunderrated actors working today. Let’s take a look at some of Ann Dowd’s best work.
7Lambs of God
Lambs of Godis a dark series adapted from Marele Day’s 1997 novel of the same name. The story follows three nuns, Iphigenia, Margarita and Carla, who are the only members of St Agnes left, living in a convent isolated by the coast from the rest of the world. All they have is their flock, which they strangely believe are the reincarnations of their dead sisters, until Father Ignatius turns up at their convent. Injured, he becomes their prisoner, and the events that unfold lead to a shocking and an unexpected climax. Dowd’s performance is mysterious, dark, and does a fantastic job at keeping the audience completely hooked.
6Hereditary
Hereditaryis a 2018 supernatural psychological horror, andAri Aster’s directorial debut. The story follows the death of the head of the Graham family. Soon after, her daughter and grandchildren make some incredibly sinister discoveries and secrets about their family’s past, and they must try and avoid their past coming back to haunt them. Ann Dowd does a brilliant job as Joan, who is grieving the loss of their family member, and attempts to tell Annie that she has a remarkable gift of being able to contact the dead. She is able to bring suspense to the storyline in a performance that manages to be both complex and sinister.
5The Leftovers
The supernatural drama seriesThe Leftovers, based on Tom Perrotta’s 2011 novel of the same name, is set three years after a shocking global catastrophe, which became known as the Sudden Departure, that resulted in 140 million people (that’s 2% of the world’s population) mysteriously disappearing out of thin air. We then go on to follow the lives of the departed’s families and friends as they attempt to adapt to life on earth after a horrific, apocalyptic event, and what we discover is just as shocking as the event itself.
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In possibly themost underrated HBO showof all time, Dowd’s performance as Patti Leven was subtle but captivating, and she always throws herself into roles and makes them look effortless. For the first part of the series, she’s completely silent, but she doesn’t need to say much to be heard; her facial expression and mannerisms say enough. When she does speak, she takes on a fascinating role in the show and is one of the most interesting characters in this masterpiece from the creators ofLostand HBO’sWatchmen.
4Masters of Sex
Ann Dowd appeared in seasons one and two of period dramaMasters of Sex,which is loosely based on Thomas Maier’s biography of the same name. Set in the 1950s and following through to the 1960s, we follow the research and relationship between William Masters and Virginia Johnson, who are studying issues surrounding sexuality with the aims of preventing the stigmatization around sex.
Dowd appears as Estabrooks Masters, William’s mother, and some deeper and more complex storylines come to light upon her arrival, true to form with the Freudian and psychoanalytic themes ofMasters of Sex. Living with guilt for letting his father abuse him, Estabrooks returns to attempt to make amends, and Dowd portrays her tenderness towards her son and hidden guilt brilliantly, adding drama and tension to the storyline.
More recently, Dowd appeared in 2021’s drama movieMass, which some have called the mostimportant movies of the 21st century. Directed by Fran Kranz in his directorial debut,Massfollows the painful and heartbreaking meeting between two couples after a violent tragic event. We are introduced to Jay and Gail Perry, parents mourning the death of their son Evan, who died during a school shooting. We are then also introduced to Richard and Linda, parents of the shooter, Hayden, who then killed himself after he had completed his shootings. The majority of the film follows their conversations six years later as they meet in a church to talk about the events. Raw, vulnerable, and incredibly difficult feelings are expressed in the conversations that follow, and the viewers witness two families mourning for different reasons, and it leaves us empathizing with both of them.
As Jay and Gail share stories of their happiest memories with their son, they also ask about Hayden’s upbringing, and Richard and Linda admit that they knew their son had become depressed and share their guilt from not recognizing that their son could be violent. Linda even shares that she found her son’s notebook after the shooting, which detailed Hayden’s thoughts on the school shooting and his plans on how to execute it, as well as his suicide in the library. After well deserved bursts of anger and grief, what comes of their emotional conversations is almost heartwarming yet heartbreaking at the same time.Massis not just a study in empathy, but also one of the most important movies of our time considering itspainful focus on school shootings.
2Compliance
The 2012 dramatic thrillerComplianceis where Dowd first became popularly recognized, especially on the indie and arthouse scenes.Complianceis closely based on real life events of a strip search phone call scam that took place in Mount Washington, Kentucky in 2004. The story follows fast-food worker Becky (Dreama Walker), who is accused of theft when her boss Sandra (Dowd) receives a phone call from someone claiming to be a police officer, with information that a customer had had their money stolen by an employee.
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Through forms of interrogation which become increasingly more brutal, poor Becky suffers some disturbing and humiliating experiences. In a deeply saddening movie, highlighting the disturbing power of authority and the evils everyday people are capable of when they believe they’re following the rules, Dowd’s performance shocked the audience; it was incredibly natural but powerful and morally complicated, and won her a National Board of Review Award, sparking the beginning of an incredible career.
1The Handmaid’s Tale
Ann Dowd’s phenomenal performance inThe Handmaid’s Talewon her an Emmy, and it was very clear that it was unexpected by her. However, for her audience, we would have been shocked if she hadn’t won it. Her portrayal of Aunt Lydia shook us to the core, angered and saddened us, but we cannot deny that she was a powerful character with a deep and complex story. In the dystopian series based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood, fertility rates are collapsing, so the tightly ruled government of Gilead creates a law where women are sent there as natal slaves, where they are assigned to a house, have limited work roles, are forbidden to read and must perform a ceremony once a month to be impregnated.
Dowd portrayed a prison guard who also works at the Red Center, where she teaches the new Handmaids about their roles. She is strict and brutal, and Dowd manages to create one of the most hateful villains on TV. She calls the Handmaids ‘her girls’ and then proceeds to send one off to have her eye cut out and is responsible for some of the show’s most torturous and horrific events. However, despite her evil actions, she is never portrayed as heartless, Dowd manages to give Lydia a sense of regret; after every minute of torture comes a wave of sadness. It could be said that there are times throughout the show where the viewer wonders whether she has doubts about how she treats the girls, or when she sends them away to the colonies. The odd look of sadness and occasional tear in her eyes begs the question of if she is just sucked into the system, forgetting that there is any other way.
