Supporting Actresses

In today's special bonus episode, we're offering some Big Game counterprogramming by challenging each other with brand new trivia games. Louis tests Dane's knowledge of the 2025 Oscar-nominated films and other actresses named Amy, while Dane forces Louis to remember the deep-cut co-stars of movies we've covered on the podcast. Plus: the bomb episode of "Grey's Anatomy," honoring Babu Frik, and ant...

Amy Adams learned how to play baseball for her role in the 2012 sports drama Trouble with the Curve, where she stars as Mickey, the semi-estranged daughter of Clint Eastwood's Gus Lobel. We're joined by Four Stars co-host Jeremy Marder to talk about Amy's love for Paint Your Wagon, and why Trouble with the Curve feels like a Hallmark Channel Original Movie. Plus: the appeal of an internet diet, th...

Amy Adams earned an impressive fourth Oscar nomination for her role as Peggy Dodd, wife of probable cult leader Lancaster Dodd, in Paul Thomas Anderson's 2012 drama The Master. We're joined by writer and producer Bryan Cogman to talk about Amy taking on a part that lets her play into and against type, and the thrill of a film that refuses to hold its audience's hand. Plus: the Blue Moon extended u...

In today's special bonus episode, we're sharing our reactions to the nominations for the 98th Academy Awards—what we loved, what we hated, what we wish could have miraculously broken through. Plus: the power of active listening, the Predator: Badlands bump, and dad texts about Joel Edgerton. Join the Patreon: patreon.com/supportingactresses Follow Supporting Actresses on social: @actressespod Foll...

Amy Adams stepped back into cameo-plus territory with Walter Salles' 2012 adaptation of On the Road, in which she plays Jane Lee, a stand-in for real-life Beat Generation figure Joan Vollmer. We're joined by The Ankler awards editor and Prestige Junkie host Katey Rich to talk about Amy slipping into another star-studded ensemble, and how this movie benefits from turning the homoerotic subtext into...

Following her edgier turn in The Fighter, Amy Adams returned to Disney and to musical comedy in 2011's The Muppets, where she plays kind-hearted elementary school teacher and amateur mechanic Mary. We're joined by writer and critic Darren Franich to talk about Amy's special relationship with Rowlf, and why this movie is the Force Awakens of the Muppet franchise. Plus: pandering to Gen X, beefing w...

Amy Adams officially ended her princess era in 2010's sports drama The Fighter, where she earned her third Academy Award nomination for playing Charlene, Micky Ward's fiercely loyal and foul-mouthed girlfriend. We're joined by Tribune News Service film critic Katie Walsh to talk about Amy working hard to break type, and why this movie is less conventional than it's given credit for. Plus: when bad...

In today's special bonus episode, we're sharing our 2026 New Year's resolutions for Amy Adams—and for the podcast. Then Louis ambushes Dane with a surprisingly tricky game. Plus: breaking the Bond villain glass ceiling, the difference between actors and stars, and chasing Gal Gadot. Join the Patreon: patreon.com/supportingactresses Follow Supporting Actresses on social: @actressespod Follow Dane o...

We're closing out TV Month with Amy Adams' arc on The Office as Jim's love interest Katy, a role she played over the course of three episodes from 2005 to 2006. We're joined by Financial Feminist host and author Tori Dunlap to talk about Amy as the perfect foil to Pam, and the hidden meaning of the show's talking heads. Plus: the death of monoculture, comparing credit scores, and defending the hon...

A few months before Catch Me If You Can hit theaters, Amy Adams shared the screen with Martin Sheen in the 2002 Season 4 premiere of The West Wing, "20 Hours in America," where she plays a farmer's daughter named Cathy. We're joined by Screen Drafts host Clay Keller and entertainment writer Adam B. Vary to talk about Amy as a stand-in for Middle America, and all the ways this episode made us cry....

A year after her appearance on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Amy Adams donned a deeply unfortunate fat suit to play freak of the week Jodi Melville on the 2001 Smallville episode "Craving." We're joined by entertainment writer Chancellor Agard to talk about Amy's first entry into the DC universe, and how this episode's early 2000s fatphobia could be a lot worse. Plus: Smallville's infamous sex cult, m...

In today's special bonus episode, actor and writer Amber Benson joins us to talk about co-starring with Amy Adams in the 2000 Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Family." Plus: Cousin Beth as a proto-trad wife, the non-issue of floating lesbians, and sneaking into the carpool lane with a cast of Tara's head. Join the Patreon: patreon.com/supportingactresses Follow Supporting Actresses on social: @ac...

December is TV Month at Chasing Amy Adams, and we're going back in time to Amy's early television roles, starting with Cousin Beth in the 2000 Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Family." We're joined by Slayerfest 98 host Ian Carlos Crawford to talk about Amy's unique connection to Sarah Michelle Gellar, and why this episode is anything but filler. Plus: plumbing the depths of UPN lore, the non-evi...

Amy Adams may have been doing a favor for her brother and acting coach when she starred in the 2006 short film Pennies, which was collected in the 2010 anthology Love & Distrust. We're joined by artist and podcaster Harmony Sandoval to talk about Amy's first time sharing the screen with her future husband, and why this movie may be an elaborate scam. Plus: the horror of seeing Remember Me on openi...

Amy Adams tried her hand at being a romcom leading lady in 2010's Leap Year, where she plays Anna, a real estate stager capitalizing on an obscure Irish tradition to propose to her boyfriend. We're joined by AV Club contributor and New Flesh co-host Jesse Hassenger to talk about Amy being directed into her least charming performance, and whether or not Leap Year makes The Wedding Date look better...

Before La La Land, there was the 2009 musical romance Moonlight Serenade—completed in 2005 and shelved for four years—in which Amy Adams stars as coat check girl and aspiring singer Chloe. We're joined by ShortFest Director of Programming Jesse Knight to talk about the problem with Amy's crisp enunciation, and why this movie's bad lighting is Lynchian. Plus: spoiling the plot of True Blood Season...

Just one year after Doubt, Amy Adams reunited with Meryl Streep in the 2009 dramedy Julie & Julia—though the two actresses never share the screen. We're joined by Vulture writer and This Had Oscar Buzz co-host Joe Reid to talk about Amy fat-shaming Chris Messina, and why this movie provoked a stunning amount of vitriol toward its central character. Plus: how to poach an egg the easy way, Stanley T...

Amy Adams was one of two actresses to play Amelia Earhart onscreen in 2009, but the fantasy comedy Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is almost certainly the better remembered film. We're joined by writer and comedian Demi Adejuyigbe to talk about Amy donning tight jodhpurs to play a screwball heroine, and this movie's tortured internal logic. Plus: questioning the integrity of the Tee...

Amy Adams earned her second Academy Award nomination for the 2008 drama Doubt, where she plays kindhearted nun Sister James in John Patrick Shanley's adaptation of his Pulitzer Prize-winning play. We're joined by producer and Maximum Film co-host Drea Clark to talk about Amy and Viola Davis going head-to-head in the same category, and how this movie embraces the horror of Dutch angles. Plus: spici...

Amy Adams is something of a co-lead alongside Frances McDormand in the 2008 romantic comedy Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, where she plays flighty American actress Delysia Lafosse. We're joined by writer and podcaster Cody Dericks to talk about Amy juggling three very handsome men, and why British critics were so sour on this London-set period piece. Plus: our Lee Pace crush origin stories, accid...

Amy Adams and Emily Blunt appeared in one more movie together after Charlie Wilson's War. In the 2008 dramedy Sunshine Cleaning, Amy plays Rose Lorkowski, a single mom who decides to start a crime scene cleanup business. We're joined by comedian and StraightioLab co-host George Civeris to talk about Amy and Emily's sisterly bond, and how badly Sunshine Cleaning wants to be Little Miss Sunshine. Pl...

Amy Adams wasn't going to turn down the opportunity to work with Mike Nichols, who cast her as executive administrative assistant Bonnie Bach (not a real person) in the 2007 biographical dramedy Charlie Wilson's War. We're joined by Hollywood-ography co-host Oriana Nudo to talk about Amy's mastery of the Aaron Sorkin walk-and-talk, and why this movie is overly generous to its central figure. Plus:...

In 2007, Amy Adams took on her first starring role as Disney Princess Giselle in the musical comedy Enchanted, and nothing was ever the same. We're joined by The Queer Quadrant hosts Brooke Solomon and Jordan Gustafson to talk about Amy beating out 300 other actresses for this role, and how sexism might have kept Enchanted from the awards recognition it deserved. Plus: defending the honor of New Y...

Years before she played Lois Lane, Amy Adams took on the role of a different superhero love interest in the 2007 comedy Underdog, where she voices a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Polly Purebred. We're joined by writer and director Ben Mekler to talk about Amy delivering the filthiest line of her career in a Disney movie, and why Underdog's missteps are Christopher Nolan's fault. Plus: the da...

Amy Adams has a slightly bigger part (emphasis on slightly) in the 2006 comedy The Ex, where she plays crunchy granola mom Abby. We're joined by Hey, That's Me! And The George Lucas Talk Show co-host Patrick Cotnoir to talk about the star power that convinced Amy to take this role, and why the more offensive unrated cut might be a better movie. Plus: the dying art of commentary tracks, men who quo...