JA from MNPP here, momentarily guest-blogging for Nat while he's in Indy.
Today marks the fifty-sixth year that Mary McDonnell has been here on the planet known as Earth, so say we all. McDonnell's been great in many, many roles over the years, plenty of which I've personally loved her in in the past, but - as my opening sentence there makes obvious - to me she'll forever and always be President Laura Roslin.For those of you unaware - and I am aware that that's probably many of you, since the ratings aren't as sky-high as they ought to be - Roslin is the character McDonnell has brought to life on Battlestar Galactica. School-teacher turned president when the rest of the world exploded save 50,000 or so human souls, Roslin is sort of what would happen if Laura Bush ate Karl Rove, but were actually a likable person at the same time.
But as I said, McDonnell's had a sturdy career, coming at me every few years or so with another role to etch itself into my consciousness. For good (Donnie's mother Rose in Donnie Darko, baby-crazy Claire in Grand Canyon, Mary-Alice in Passion Fish) or for evil (The floundering First Lady in Independence Day, "Stands With A Fist" in Dances With Wolves), she's always sort of been around, making me smile. And now, thanks to BSG, she's earning the accolades and awards she's so deserving of... wait, what's that you're saying? BSG doesn't own the Emmys ass year after year? Out the airlock with 'em!!!
Share in the comments any McDonnell love you might have.
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