With a career spanning over twenty years, Kristen Wiig’s brilliance has graced the big screen on more than one occasion. Besides being a full-time cast member on the popularcomedy sketch showSaturday Night Livefor roughly seven years and then stealing the scene as the main villain Cheetah in Patty Jenkins’Wonder Womansequel, Wiig has also honed her comedic chops in films likeGhostbustersandBridesmaids.
However, while the performer has shown how deft she is at making people laugh, she has also given some great performances in more nuanced and dramatic roles. For anyone who hasn’t seen these Kristen Wiig movies, they are definitely must-see projects. After watching her unleash her inner comic book villain inWonder Woman 1984, viewers might be surprised to see her in more low-key performances.
Related:10 Things In Wonder Woman 84 Only DC Comic Fans Noticed
The Skeleton Twins
Accompanying Kristen Wiig inThe Skeleton Twinsis herSaturday Night Liveco-star Bill Hader, popular for his Al Pacino impersonation and the flamboyant Nightclub Correspondent Stefon. Wiig and Hader play distant twins in this movie, Maggie and Milo Dean, who come together after the latter attempts suicide. After being thrust back into each other’s lives, they discover that both of them have quite complicated lives— with Maggie pretending to be someone that she’s not and Milo falling short of his big-time actor dreams.
The Skeleton Twinsisn’t “ha-ha” funny but the characters use humor as their coping mechanism, delivering a few questionable laughs and making. Hader and Wiig are accompanied by an all-star cast as the movie also features Luke Wilson and Modern Family’s Ty Burrell. With a cast as funny as this,The Skeleton Twinsis a fool-proof dark comedy.
Welcome to Me
InWelcome to Me, Wiig plays Alice Klieg, a woman battling borderline personality disorder who finds herself winning the lottery and becoming a millionaire. With her money, she decides to stop taking her medication and create her own television show where she recounts tales of her past encounters and her experiences battling her mental illness.
Sonicactor James Marsdenstars as the studio executive of the fictional television program, Linda Cardellini plays Alice’s closest friend, and Joan Cusack has a small role as the program’s director.Welcome to Meisn’t afraid to approach sensitive topics and Wiig’s ability to flawlessly lose herself in her character makes the movie unabashedly hilarious and a little bit skin-crawly.
Girl Most Likely
Girl Most Likelyis the quirkiest movie on the list. Wiig and Annette Bening play a dysfunctional mother-and-daughter pair in this movie. After Imogene Duncan (Wiig) gets dumped by her jerk boyfriend and loses her job, she fakes a suicide attempt. She is discovered by her best friend Dara, played by the hilarious June Diane Raphael, and is attempted to a psychiatric hospital. Once she’s released, it’s into the hands of her estranged mother who is clearly self-absorbed and even leaves her in the parking garage of a casino on their drive back from the hospital.
Theater actor Christopher Fitzgerald is a stand-out as Imogene’s brother, an introverted homebody who is obsessed with the shell of mollusks and works to construct a human exoskeleton mimicking one. Also, cast inGirl Most Likelyis Natasha Lyonne,Gleeactor Darren Criss and there’s a short cameo from Julia Stiles. This comedy follows the evolution of a flawed family dynamic into something much more— things hit rock bottom and everybody harbors their own guilt and resentment, but then the situation grows stronger than ever before.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
Premiering under two years ago isWhere’d You Go, Bernadette. Although not starring in the lead of this movie, Kristen Wiig is still a prominent character.Cate Blanchettstars as the movie’s protagonist Bernadette Fox, an agoraphobic mother and wife who rediscovers herself after a weird scenario takes her and her family to Antarctica. Wiig plays her villainous neighbor-turned-friend.
The movie is difficult to explain without letting loose with some spoilers, but theIMDbsynopsis reads as follows: “A loving mom becomes compelled to reconnect with her creative passions after years of sacrificing herself for her family. Her leap of faith takes her on an epic adventure that jump-starts her life and leads to her triumphant rediscovery.”
Also starring in the movie isPretty Little Liars’ Troian Bellisario, comedian Megan Mullany, andMatrix actor Laurence Fishburne.Where’d You Go, Bernadetteis a bit whimsical but it overall offers an insightful and engaging story about staying true to oneself and the importance of keeping one’s creativity alive.
Hateship, Loveship
Last but not least is the 2013 dramaHateship, Loveship. Wiig stars as Johanna Parry, a housekeeper and nanny for the McCauley family. While the movie itself received mixed reviews, Wiig’s performance was heavily praised by critics and casual viewers. Ann Hornaday at theWashington Postwrote, “We’ve never seen a protagonist quite like Johanna, who on the one hand personifies female self-abnegation at its most domesticated, but on the other embodies the sheer will at its most stubborn.”
This drama tells a classic heartfelt story — with Wigg at the very heart of it— that gets intercepted by a childish prank, led by the McCauley daughter who is played by the actor Hailee Steinfeld,Hawkeye’s new Kate Bishop.
This is a great movie to start a Steinfeld or a Wiig movie marathon.Hateship, Loveshipis a simple movie that cherishes the goodness in people, allowing kindness and patience to prevail beyond the hardships of life (and teenage attitudes).
