Before ultimately receiving praise and prizes for her work, Ann Dowd spent many years working in the industry. As anyone who has seen her most well-known parts will confirm, this recognition is merited. We have collected the top Ann Dowd performances from throughout her career with the aid of Collider.
1. Sandra Frum in Compliance (2012)
Director- Craig Zobel
Sandra, the manager of a fast food restaurant, is having a horrible day. She unexpectedly receives a call from a man posing as a police officer, complaining that one of her young female employees had stolen from a client. Sandra transports Becky, the probable suspect, to a back room on the instructions of this authoritative-sounding stranger so that she can be searched before being picked up. Once there, the phone con artist convinces the credulous employees to take part in Becky’s increasingly bizarre sexual humiliation over the course of the call. They only become aware of the crime they were duped into—which the actual police struggle to solve—when one last individual has the conscience to rebel.
2. Jill Beckett in Philadelphia (1993)
Director- Jonathan Demme
The young lawyer Andrew Beckett, who is diligent, hardworking, and above all, committed, sees his efforts pay off as he moves up the ranks of a prominent and significant legal company in Philadelphia. His ignoble discharge due to purported incompetence will occur shortly after receiving a promotion, however, due to the startling early indicators of AIDS. Andy musters the resolve to file a lawsuit against his harsh former employers, suspecting that being gay and having a fatal illness were the sole reasons he was fired. He enlists the support of an unlikely and hesitant ally: the homophobic African-American lawyer Joe Miller. To combat ignorance, the underlying source of injustice and prejudice, two men are left alone today.
3. Patti Levin in The Leftovers (2013-2017)
Created By- Damon Lindelof, Tom Perrotta
Following the disappearance of 2% of the world’s population, several cults emerge, notably the Guilty Remnant, a group of mute, chain-smoking nihilists who wear only white clothing and are committed to enraging those who have “departed” loved ones. On paper, it sounds cartoonishly terrible, but Dowd does a fantastic job of anchoring this cult in reality as Patti, the head of the Guilty Remnant in a small hamlet.
4. Estabrooks Masters in Masters of Sex (2013-2014)
Created By- Michelle Ashford
Dr. William Masters (Michael Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan), two trailblazing researchers of human sexuality at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, are the subject of the drama series Masters of Sex. The first season spans the years 1956 through 1958.
5. Aunt Lydia Clements in The Handmaid’s Tale (2017-Present)
Director- Bruce Miller
The Handmaid’s Tale tells the tale of life in the totalitarian dystopia of Gilead. It is set in the former United States. Environmental catastrophes and a declining birthrate are present in Gilead, which is governed by a fundamentalist government that views women as the property of the state. The few fertile women that are still alive are coerced into sexual servitude in an effort to desperately repopulate a shattered globe. One of these women, Offred, is adamant about surviving the horrible environment she inhabits and recovering her kidnapped daughter.
6. Detective Dupre in The Great & the Small (2016)
Director- Dusty Bias
Scott, a 26-year-old man on probation for misdemeanour offences, is attempting to reintegrate into society while living on the streets. In addition to trying to win back his ex-girlfriend, a working single mother. He also tries to manage his relationships with his two-bit criminal employer and an enigmatic detective.
7. Linda in Mass (2021)
Director- Franz Kranz
Six years after a school massacre tore their lives apart, Richard and Linda, whose son committed the heinous act, agree to have a private conversation with Jay and his wife Gail, who lost their son that day. To make progress, they gather in the anteroom of a church. Gail and Jay are curious to discover if there was something about the other couple’s son that stood out to them in retrospect. They want to know more about the boy’s motivations for carrying out the deed that killed their son, even though it is obvious that he was mistreated and troubled.
Linda and Richard admit that they relocated from a rural to a suburban area with their son and ponder whether this was a mistake that resulted in the tragic day. However, they are unsure and battle with the idea that they could have been able to guess what he had in mind.
8. Joan in Hereditary (2018)
Director- Ari Aster
Unsettling incidents and perceptible spiritual manifestations begin to nestle in the remote house’s dark corners. As the miniature artist Annie Graham and her family get ready for her mother Ellen Leigh’s funeral, the achingly complex and enigmatic septuagenarian. The already distressed mother is being engulfed in a thick mist of sorrow, remorse. Along with a sinfully delicious sense of pleasure. The increasing distress of Charlie, Annie’s 13-year-old daughter, becomes apparent, and Peter, Charlie’s older brother, starts to experience the unrelenting agony of guilt. Currently, a dark, menacing force is gradually taking Annie’s autonomy from her. Also, demanding that she make a terrible sacrifice in exchange for wonderful benefits.
9. Betty Freeman in Nancy (2018)
Director- Christina Choe
Nancy creates intricate personas and falsehoods online while using aliases because she craves social interaction. The lines between reality and fantasy start to blur in Nancy’s mind. When she meets a couple whose daughter went missing 30 years prior. She starts to believe these strangers are indeed her real parents. As their link grows stronger, rational scepticism gives way to stubborn belief. The strength of emotion threatens to trump all reason.
