Amy Adams

Amy Lou Adams (born August 20, 1974) is an American actress. Known for both comedic and dramatic roles, she has featured three times in annual rankings of the world’s highest-paid actresses. She made her film debut in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), with Kirsten Dunst, Ellen Barkin, Brittany Murphy, Allison Janney, Denise Richards, and Kirstie Alley.

Films in the early 2000s include Psycho Beach Party (2001), with Lauren Ambrose, Thomas Gibson, Nicholas Brendon, and Matt Keeslar; The Slaughter Rule (2002), with Ryan Gosling, David Morse, Clea DuVall, Kelly Lynch, and Eddie Spears; Pumpkin (2002), with Christina Ricci, Hank Harris, and Brenda Blethyn; Serving Sara (2002), with Matthew Perry, Elizabeth Hurley, Bruce Campbell, Vincent Pastore, and Cedric the Entertainer; and Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can (2002), with Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, and Nathalie Baye.

Adams received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Junebug (2005), with Embeth Davidtz, Ben McKenzie, Alessandro Nivola, Frank Hoyt Taylor, Celia Weston, and Scott Wilson. Other films in the mid 2000s include The Wedding Date (2005), with Debra Messing, Dermot Mulroney, Peter Egan, and Holland Taylor; Standing Still (2005), with Adam Garcia, Aaron Stanford, Melissa Sagemiller, Jon Abrahams, Mena Suvari, Colin Hanks, and James Van Der Beek; Adam McKay’s Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), with Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Gary Cole, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie Bibb, and Jane Lynch; The Ex (2007), with Zach Braff,
Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman, Charles Grodin, Mia Farrow, Donal Logue, Amy Poehler, and Fred Armisen; a voice role in Underdog (2007), with Jim Belushi, Peter Dinklage, John Slattery, and Patrick Warburton, with the voices of Jason Lee, and Brad Garrett; Enchanted (2007), with Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Idina Menzel, Rachel Covey, and Susan Sarandon; and Mike Nichols’ Charlie Wilson’s War (2007), with Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Ned Beatty.

Adams received her second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt (2008), with Meryl Streep, Hoffman, and Viola Davis. Other films in the late 2000s include Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008), with Frances McDormand, Lee Pace, Ciarán Hinds, Shirley Henderson, and Mark Strong; Sunshine Cleaning (2009), with Emily Blunt, Jason Spevack, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Clifton Collins Jr., Eric Christian Olsen, Kevin Chapman, Steve Zahn, and Alan Arkin; Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), with Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, Christopher Guest, Alain Chabat, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, Bill Hader, Jon Bernthal, and Robin Williams; Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia (2009), with Streep, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, and Linda Emond; and Moonlight Serenade (2009), with Alec Newman, Harriet Sansom Harris, and Jeremy Glazer.

Adams received her third Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for David O. Russell’s The Fighter (2010), with Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, and Melissa Leo. Other films around this time include Leap Year (2010), with Matthew Goode, Adam Scott, and John Lithgow; the anthology film Love & Distrust (2010), with Robert Pattinson, Sam Worthington, Robert Downey Jr., and James Franco; and The Muppets (2011), with Jason Segel, Chris Cooper, and Rashida Jones.

Adams received her fourth Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master (2012), with Joaquin Phoenix, Hoffman, Laura Dern, and Rami Malek. Other films during this time include Trouble with the Curve (2012), with Clint Eastwood, Justin Timberlake, Matthew Lillard, and John Goodman; and On the Road (2012), with Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart, Alice Braga, Tom Sturridge, Danny Morgan, Elisabeth Moss, Kirsten Dunst, and Viggo Mortensen.

Adams received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for Russell’s American Hustle (2013), with Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence, Louis C.K., Michael Peña, Alessandro Nivola, and Robert De Niro (uncredited). Other films around this time include Man of Steel (2013), with Henry Cavill, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni, and Russell Crowe; Spike Jonze’s Her (2013), with Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, Chris Pratt, and the voice of Scarlett Johansson; Lullaby (2013), with Hedlund, Richard Jenkins, Anne Archer, Jessica Brown Findlay, Jessica Barden, Terrence Howard, and Jennifer Hudson; and Tim Burton’s Big Eyes (2014), with Christoph Waltz, Danny Huston, Jon Polito, Krysten Ritter, Jason Schwartzman, and Terence Stamp.

Adams received her fifth Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Vice (2018), with Bale, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Justin Kirk, Tyler Perry, Alison Pill, Lily Rabe, and Jesse Plemons. Other films in the late 2010s include Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), with Ben Affleck, Cavill, Jesse Eisenberg, Lane, Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, and Gal Gadot; Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival (2016), with Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Tzi Ma; Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals (2016), with Jake Gyllenhaal, Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, Andrea Riseborough, and Michael Sheen; and Justice League (2017), with Affleck, Cavill, Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Irons, Lane, Connie Nielsen, J.K. Simmons, and Ciarán Hinds.

Films in the 2020s include Ron Howard’s Hillbilly Elegy (2020), with Glenn Close, Gabriel Basso, Haley Bennett, Freida Pinto, Bo Hopkins, and Owen Asztalos; Joe Wright’s The Woman in the Window (2021), with Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie, Fred Hechinger, Wyatt Russell, Brian Tyree Henry, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Julianne Moore; Dear Evan Hansen (2021), with Ben Platt, Kaitlyn Dever, Amandla Stenberg, Nik Dodani, Colton Ryan, Danny Pino, and Moore; Disenchanted (2022), with Dempsey, Maya Rudolph, Gabriella Baldacchino, Menzel, Marsden, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jayma Mays, and Oscar Nunez.

Adams also starred in the HBO miniseries Sharp Objects (2018), with Patricia Clarkson, Chris Messina, Eliza Scanlen, Matt Craven, Henry Czerny, Taylor John Smith, Madison Davenport, Miguel Sandoval, Will Chase, Jackson Hurst, Sophia Lillis, Lulu Wilson, and Elizabeth Perkins. She received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) – directed by Michael Patrick Jann
The Chromium Hook (2000) – directed by James Stanger – short
Cruel Intentions 2 (2001) – directed by Roger Kumble – straight to video
Psycho Beach Party (2001) – directed by Robert Lee King
The Slaughter Rule (2002) – directed by Alex Smith & Andrew J. Smith
Pumpkin (2002) – directed by Anthony Abrams & Adam Larson Broder
Serving Sara (2002)* – directed by Reginald Hudlin
Catch Me If You Can (2002) – directed by Steven Spielberg
The Last Run (2004) – directed by Jonathan Segal
The Wedding Date (2005) – directed by Clare Kilner
Standing Still (2005) – directed by Matthew Cole Weiss
Junebug (2005) – directed by Phil Morrison
Stephen Tobolowsky’s Birthday Party (2005) – directed by Robert Brinkmann – herself – documentary
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) – directed by Adam McKay
Pennies (2006) – Warner Loughlin & Diana Valentine – short
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (2006) – directed by Liam Lynch – cameo
The Ex (2007) – directed by Jesse Peretz
Underdog (2007) – directed by Frederik Du Chau
Enchanted (2007)* – directed by Kevin Lima
Charlie Wilson’s War (2007) – directed by Mike Nichols
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008) – directed by Bharat Nalluri
Doubt (2008) – directed by John Patrick Shanley
Sunshine Cleaning (2009) – directed by Christine Jeffs
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)* – directed by Shawn Levy
Julie & Julia (2009) – directed by Nora Ephron
Moonlight Serenade (2009) – directed by Giancarlo Tallarico
Leap Year (2010) – directed by Anand Tucker
Love & Distrust (2010) – directed by Daisy Gili, Darcy Yuille, Eric Kmetz, Warner Loughlin and Diana Valentine, & Lorraine Bracco – anthology – straight to video
The Fighter (2010) – directed by David O. Russell
The Muppets (2011)* – directed by James Bobin
The Master (2012) – directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Trouble with the Curve (2012) – directed by Robert Lorenz
One the Road (2012) – directed by Walter Salles
Man of Steel (2013) – directed by Zack Snyder
Her (2013) – directed by Spike Jonze
America Hustle (2013) – directed by David O. Russell
Lullaby (2014) – directed by Andrew Levitas
Big Eyes (2014) – directed by Tim Burton
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) – directed by Zack Snyder
Arrival (2016) – directed by Denis Villeneuve
Nocturnal Animals (2016) – directed by Tom Ford
Justice League (2017) – directed by Zack Snyder & Joss Whedon (uncredited)
Sharp Objects (2018) – directed by Jean-Marc Vallée – miniseries
Vice (2018) – directed by Adam McKay
Hillbilly Elegy (2020) – directed by Ron Howard
Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) – directed by Zack Snyder
The Woman in the Window (2021) – directed by Joe Wright
Dear Evan Hansen (2021) – directed by Stephen Chbosky
Disenchanted (2022) – directed by Adam Shankman
Nightbitch (2023) – directed by Marielle Heller

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