Great Greer
Issue #20
Judy Greer lights a fire under Hollywood's sizable ass
By Michael Hastings
Published: June 1st, 2004 | 12:00am
Judy Greer may be the most famous young actress you've never heard of. Her films have grossed upwards of $300 million. She's performed opposite Nicolas Cage, Jennifer Lopez, and Mel Gibson. She's had on-screen sex with George Clooney. Chances are you've seen her naked — and you don't even know her name.
Such is the thankless existence of a quick-witted character actress. "When you watch something like a romantic comedy, you see two people who are great big stars, and they're great actors, and they're beautiful," Greer explains. "And there always has to be a couple of people surrounding them on the second tier, kind of kicking their ass, lighting a fire under it — you know, to get things going. And those are the roles I usually get. I don't know, maybe I have a lot of energy or something."
To put it mildly. When it comes to making a strong impression in a short burst of screen time, Greer has the market cornered. Already an industry veteran at 28, she's become the go-to girl when casting agents need to find a neurotic stewardess (What Planet Are You From?), a suicidal file clerk (What Women Want), a trusty assistant (The Wedding Planner), or a sweet-natured waitress/unwitting object of Charlie Kaufman’s desire (Adaptation). If these were the halcyon days of Hollywood's Studio Era — when performers worked on retainer and were guaranteed a half-dozen pictures a year — Greer might occupy a space next to Carole Lombard or Jean Arthur as another fearless, frazzled dishwater blonde who'd always sacrifice her natural glamour in favor of pulling a good pratfall or contorting a funny face.
With the star system the way it is now, however, a name like Greer's continues to reside — albeit comfortably — a notch below the boldface title on the poster. “The world of publicity hasn't really embraced Judy Greer yet ¬— which I think might be a good thing, but I'm not sure,” she says of her status as a perennial supporting foil. "It's kind of a catch-22, because everyone wants to discover new talent, but then everyone also wants a sure thing."
Given her current production slate, it might not be long before Greer becomes the sure thing. She has always been busy, but never so much as this year: first sharpening her claws as Jennifer Garner's catty nemesis in 13 Going On 30, then shifting gears as William Hurt's dewy, free-spirit daughter in M. Night Shyamalan's period chiller The Village, and finishing with prominent roles in horrormeister Wes Craven’s Cursed and the ensemble mob comedy The Last Shot.
If this far-reaching range of roles seems like a departure for a comedienne who so memorably essayed the role of Kitty, the lusty, cross-eyed secretary on Fox’s off-kilter sitcom Arrested Development, keep in mind that Greer has been showing her acting chops since she set foot in Los Angeles seven years ago. Right away, as a made-over misfit in 1999’s cult teen comedy Jawbreaker, the Livonia, Michigan, native proved she could go from wallflower to über-bitch faster than Janet Jackson can bear a nipple. And while that film earned her more credibility with the clique-chick crowd than with critics, Greer soon made up for it with a particularly memorable part opposite — or rather, on top of — the aforementioned George Clooney in the acclaimed Gulf War drama Three Kings. Before long, she was turning up in supporting performances for directors like Mike Nichols and Spike Jonze, serving as a muse for several independent productions, and being drafted for starring roles in filmed-but-never-aired TV pilots. (So many, in fact, that she felt that she was “in this kind of Pilot Club.”)
Still, Greer holds out hope for that breakthrough role. “There isn’t a formula. … It’s a good idea in general to just try to keep working,” she says. “I don’t know what the strategy is, cause I feel like I’ve tried everything. I’ve tried the publicity thing, I’ve tried the indie thing. Now I’m trying nothing. I’m just trying contentment. … Work is work. As long as it’s well-written, I’ll do it.”
And if that work is well-written, and happens to require the occasional shedding of a blouse or two, Greer is more than up to the challenge: “The things I’ve done where I’ve nuded up, as my friends call it, have been good choices. I felt like everything was done with respect and taste, so it didn’t bother me. But, like, to wander around in a thong in a made-for-TV movie, I don’t know. Not that I’m saying that it’s bad for other people.”
Excepting the rare backlash á la Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls (“It’s so amazing that they really made that movie,” Greer says of her favorite unintentional-camp classic). The actress is hesitant to suggest that on-screen nudity is all that daring or trailblazing. “Unfortunately, in Hollywood, when you take your clothes off, it doesn’t backfire that often,” Greer explains sardonically. “I mean, at least you know you’ll probably get more work. The trick is picking when you take your clothes off, depending on what kind of ‘more work’ you want to get.”
All of which is to say that Greer has her limits, even if they have nothing to do with ego or vanity. “If I had to do something where, like, a tarantula was crawling on me, I’d have to think about that a lot,” she says. “Cause I don’t do spiders. But then, you know, if it’s Martin Scorsese directing, like, "The Spider Movie," I’d be like, ‘Yeah — bring ‘em on! I’ll have ‘em everywhere!’”
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