Why You Should Have Faith in Elisabeth Moss' Film Career

Elisabeth Moss in Queen of Earth

With Mad Men officially wrapped up, it is only a matter of time before we discover if the phenomenal cast can manage to have a successful career. Of course, everyone already has been predicting this for Jon Hamm, who was the lead of the show for seven seasons. Who could blame them? He has been popping up everywhere, including noteworthy supporting roles in Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp. He has been everywhere and likely won't leave anytime soon. However, if you were to ask me who will have the more "interesting" and personally more successful career, I want to suggest to you that, by a long mile, Elisabeth Moss will take that crown and become probably one of the most interesting actresses in film over the next few years. 

There's a strong chance that you're already screaming blasphemy at me. For what it's worth, Hamm has already attempted to have a career in supporting roles here and there. He's shown up in Bridesmaids, arguably a pinnacle of modern comedy. I am not holding anything against him. He is talented and will get by on his charisma. I may have not liked Million Dollar Arm all that much, but it does show that he will have more of an uphill battle ahead. He isn't a box office star, basically. I am not saying that Moss is yet. I am saying that with director Alex Ross Perry's Queen of Earth opening up this week, it is time that we give her our due.

As long as there has been Mad Men, there has been Peggy Olsen supporters. She was initially our P.O.V. character. She was the innocent one who learned the workings of Sterling Cooper and got the audience up to speed. She has only gone on to be one of the most compelling characters in the show's run despite having the arguably most divisive conclusion. Maybe Hamm has been more frequent in cameo roles everywhere else during the show's run, but consider that Moss has made a name for herself in more intriguing ways in the past few years. Even if she hasn't done much comedy, she has primed herself to be the weirdo actress.

The first sign of her stretching out of the Olsen role came in a miniseries called Top of the Lake, from director Jane Campion that filmed in Australia. It was a slow burn murder mystery that threw her into the central role and saw the unnerving nature of the open plains and various twists create one of the most tonally rich atmospheres in the Sundance Channel's brief but impacting foray into TV programming. She was even more meditative and sporadic with her performance, allowing herself to get into more perverse and exciting situations that Mad Men limited her to.

Beyond that, she hasn't had as much "noteworthy" work. What this basically means is that she hasn't done anything with as high of a profile. While there hasn't been anything on par with Top of the Lake, you cannot fault her for taking on more complicated roles. This is most specifically in the Sundance hit The One I Love, where she starred alongside Mark Duplass in a story of a couple coming to terms with each other's wants as they stay at a home that also features clones of themselves. Much like the clone genre in general, this allowed Moss to explore her psyche more and gave some of her widest range to date. While I wasn't as hip to the film as some, it does feature a charismatic performance and may serve as her personal calling card for why she has more potential than we're giving her credit for.

Moss in Listen Up, Philip

However, if you were to ask me personally why I would give Moss the edge over her co-stars for most promising career, it is because of the film she previously made for Perry. It may not give her the widest of range, but it does feature one of the most compelling films stylistically. It is a story of Philip coming to terms with his writer's block and his decaying life through a visual format relative to a decaying storybook. It is a brilliant film about writers that is almost too painfully honest. If you missed Jason Schwartzman on Bored to Death, this fills the hole left by the show rather impressively.

Moss may be a secondary character as his ex-girlfriend. Yet here she also shows her most human character since Mad Men. She goes from repressed to exuberant over the film's run, popping in and out of Philip's life with ease. Even if the film is an excuse to watch Schwartzman play the role he has perfected with his career, there's something Moss' character. She may be reprehensible by Philip's perspective, but there's too much endearment to her role that asks us to side with her. It's a complicated role that may be natural in execution, but reflects that even when playing someone normal, Moss can nail the role quite effectively. I know that it isn't as exciting as The One I Love, but Hamm has yet to star in a film that is so rich with subtext and complexity as Perry's film. He may be in more noticeable titles, but you try finding one as good as Listen Up, Philip.

I have yet to see Queen of Earth. I actually believe that it may be the lynch pin into this debate based on reviews, in which she plays psychotic. The one thing that has made Moss's brief career outside of Mad Men interesting is that she has a nuance in her style that makes the simple motions a little more unnerving. She can be charming and intimidating at the same time. From the looks of this film's trailers, she may be embodying it in the most extroverted ways possible. Having seen Perry's last film and loving it, I can only hope that this continues. 

Maybe it is silly to pit Hamm against Moss, but it is an interesting debate that you could likely have with any TV series or franchise. Who was going to have the best career after the series wrapped is a question that often leads to some surprises. I am sure there's those that want better for Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul, Betsy Brandt, or Dean Norris. It doesn't take away from their roles on the show, but it is the moment where you see their diversity in roles and capabilities. It is where they prove their longevity. For me, Hamm is probably going to remain the funny sidekick, but Moss is the one who is going to fall into the intense actress mold quite easily without playing into a shtick. That alone gives me hope that something great will come from this. If not, we can always hope that Vincent Kartheiser has a last minute Hail Mary Pass.