Okay, I’m sorry, I know it’s hard for actresses of a certain age to get movie roles. So Tony winner and two time Oscar nominee Viola Davis is starring in “How to Get Away with Murder.” Patricia Arquette, now an Oscar winner, commands “CSI: Cyber.” Marcia Gay Harden, Oscar winner, was on “The Newsroom” and is now on “Murder” too. Oscar winner and two time nominee Octavia Spencer tried “The Red Band Society.” Glenn Close did very well with “Damages.” For a while two time Oscar nominee Mary McDonnell (“Dances with Wolves,” “Passion Fish”) was on some show, I saw her one day and cried.
But Janet McTeer? Not Janet McTeer! She’s too good for this. The Tony winner (for “A Doll’s House” on Broadway in 1997, so transcendent it’s now a legend), Tony nominee for “Mary Stuart” (she lost to Harden), two time Oscar nominee (“Tumbleweeds,” “Albert Nobbs”). She’s going to play the Beleaguered Police Commissioner on a procedural called “Battle Creek.” I know, she has a mortgage and all that. But really. Can’t we find a movie for her? This isn’t right, folks.
McTeer will be third or fourth banana to Josh Duhamel and Dean Winters. The cast also features Kal Penn, who was Kumar from “Harold and Kumar” and so good in “The Namesake,” and Aubrey Dollar, who went MIA after a big debut in 2003 on “Guiding Light.” Vince Gilligan, who created “Breaking Bad.” created the show, so maybe it has a chance.
But come on, people, this is an emergency. Somehow this reminds me of when they tried to make Dianne Wiest go on “Law & Order.” But Janet McTeer is English! She’s like their Catherine Keener. We can’t do this to her. She has an OBE from the Queen!
I’ll watch “Battle Creek” to see if they give her anything to do except roll her eyes and look exasperated. Otherwise, let’s get McTeer back in the movie game!
