My Weekend Crush

Every time I see a photo of Frances McDormand, I try to imagine what she is thinking. Because, have no doubt, there is something significant going on just beneath the placid surface. Frances seems to be in a constant state of incredulous amusement at whatever lens she finds herself staring into. As the photographer clicks away, I imagine her thinking, “Really, this again? Fine, you’re silly, but fine.” As an actress she is as skilled a chameleon as they come. About the only thing she can’t camouflage from role to role is her piercing intellect. In “Fargo,” she was one of the most fantastically unexpected and exceptionally honest heroines of modern cinema. In “Laurel Canyon,” she easily out sexed her bevy of hot, young costars with a simple, knowing arch of her eyebrow. And in “Something’s Got To Give,” she managed the seemingly impossible feat of stealing scenes from Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton. What has always attracted me to Frances most is the sharp and lucid mind that hums behind her steel-blue eyes. Now, if I only knew what she was thinking. Happy weekend, all.