There are some actors who are seen as pretty versatile and are given all kinds of different options in movies (just look at the year of Florence Pugh for evidence). However, some other actors are a bit more typecast in a genre or type of role and that’s exactly what Elisabeth Moss says has happened to her – at least where rom-coms are concerned.
Elisabeth Moss is known for roles in dark and formidable TV shows and movies. She’s a badass girl in a man’s world in Mad Men and plays a woman in a dreary dystopian society in The Handmaid’s Tale. Next up, she’ll play the former partner of an abusive person who seemingly dies in Invisible Man, but if you ask her, she’d really like to take a step back from the “sick, challenging” roles and do something fun.
I would love to do a romantic comedy for like, nine months. Nobody wants me to do it! They only want me to do this like, sick, challenging shit. And I get it — I do love that — but I would love to do a really smart comedic show. Obviously we're all obsessed with Fleabag and I also like Barry. I am looking to produce something like that, at least.
Per what Elisabeth Moss told The Telegraph, she’s ready to take on a breezy role, one where she might get to eat only brown m&m’s or pretend like she’s bad at math to get the attention of Aaron Samuels. OK so maybe she’s a little old to pretend like she’s bad at math, but the point still stands.
We’ve spent so much time thinking about Elisabeth Moss being a badass that she’s finding it difficult to land other types of roles. From the sounds of things, she’d love to do more with comedy in general, citing a love for Fleabag and Barry and specifically mentioning rom-coms as a genre she’d love to try her hand at.
Even if we go back super far in Elizabeth Moss’ resume, she really broke big on The West Wing which, while not gritty, was solidly in the drama camp during its run. She’s since become a household name thanks to projects like Mad Men, Top of the Lake, and The Handmaid’s Tale. She’s been in comedies like Get Him To The Greek before, but those aren’t the roles that were her biggest or that she is most known for by any means.
Speaking of projects she's in, I previously mentioned The Invisible Man, in which her character will be in a controlling relationship. The trailer seems to indicate her character will escape in the dead of night, only for her ex-partner to fake his death and start stalking her. So basically, it's like what happens in a rom-com after all of the meet-cute stuff is over and stuff gets real. Not exactly a romantic nor a comedy in this case.
For a brief period of time, it seemed like rom-coms weren’t getting as much attention, but that has changed quite a bit over the past several years as streaming services like Netflix have picked up some of the slack through movies like Always Be My Maybe or Set It Up. In addition, there have been some major rom-coms recently, including projects like Crazy Rich Asians that have been doing gangbusters at the box office.
So, I guess what I’m saying is, with rom-coms being more and more viable these days, maybe it’s time Hollywood gave Elisabeth Moss something fun to work on. Sure, her performances are affecting and notable, but we’ll never know if she’ll be equally eye-catching in a likable romance if we don’t give her a chance to jump on a private jet and meet the insanely rich family of her fictional boyfriend or meet a prince who has disguised himself as a mere plebeian to avoid royal responsibility.
Am I going overboard with these ideas or do you think you’d like to see Elisabeth Moss get set up with a handsome and attractive co-worker by her well-meaning but perhaps pushy assistant?
Anyway, I’m sure there’s a dreamy (and more original) rom-com out there just waiting with her name on it. And given the actress is getting into producing these days, maybe she’ll be able to have her cake and eat it too. In the meantime, catch her at the tail-end of a relationship when The Invisible Man premieres in theaters on February 28.
