Women of the Week

As you can imagine we watch a lot of TV – so once a week we get together and nominate our favorite actresses for Women of the Week. Check out who we thought stood out this week and let us know who you liked in our comments.

Mandy Moore as Rebecca of This Is Us
Nominated by Melissa: Mandy gave a standout performance this week as she Rebecca at three different ages and stages of her life. We saw New Mom Rebecca meeting baby Randall for the first time, introducing herself and welcoming him to the family just after losing infant Kyle. We saw her again 10 years later, sharing Kyle’s story with Randall as she helped her son cope with anxiety and insecurity. Then we saw Rebecca helping bring her first granddaughter into the world and shedding bittersweet tears over that wonderful moment that Jack wasn’t there for and never would be. Mandy made each of these Rebecca’s distinct yet part of each other, joined by a continuum of time and experience, and made it all look effortless. Bravo.
Seconded by Ange: Give Moore an Emmy please

Sarah Gadon as Grace Marks of Alias Grace
Nominated by Melissa: Alias Grace premiered on Netflix this week after airing in Canada earlier this year. What. A. Performance! I don’t want to get into specifics at the risk of spoilers, so I’ll say simply that in the hands of a less capable, talented, committed actor, the series would have been a mess. Instead Sarah Gadon’s spectacular portrayal of the titular Grace elevates the story into a compelling character study that I couldn’t stop watching.

The Women of Stranger Things
Nominated by Karen:
Millie Bobbie Brown as Eleven/Jane
She carried an episode on her own this season. Whether you liked the divisive stand-alone or not, she showed range by evolving as a character over the course of the hour. Learning more about her backstory was important, and personally, I enjoyed it. She also brought it regularly over the entire course of season two, and didn’t miss a beat.
Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers
While she had more angstiness last season, her character showed more subtleties in season two. Ryder was more understated, and I liked her this season over last 85% at least.
Sadie Sink as Max
A new character in season two, she was a tomboy thrown into a group of boys that were already a cohesive unit. It didn’t help that two of the guys had a crush on her, which made it that much harder on her. Sadie threw in with all she had and made me love her. I want her back next season!
Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair
The undoubtable breakout star of season two. As the put-upon younger sister of Lucas, she couldn’t have thrown more shade over the course of these nine episodes. She was absolutely NOT putting up with Lucas’ and his nerdy friends’ crap, and she’s all about doing her own thing. Erica likes Alpha males (He-Man + Barbie are definitely sittin’ in a tree), is unashamedly fond of too much syrup, and does NOT wear the same hairstyle twice. She’s a trend-setter. A maven. Welcome to Stranger Things-land Priah.

Seconded by Ange: Having finally binged the rest of the new season of Stranger Things, I’m also seconding Karen’s nominations of Millie Bobbie Brown and Winona Ryder – what fantastic performances from these ladies! I also want to give a shout out to Nancy played by Natalia Dyer – Nancy had some pretty bad ass moments this season.