In every meaning of the term, Greta Gerwig is what you would call a triple threat. Who would have thought that a movie about a stereotypical doll would be the box office smash of the summer, but here we are. Gerwig directed Barbie and shared a co-writing credit with her partner, indie auteur Noah Baumbach. Using the Mattel IP to tell a heartfelt and gripping story, the film is a near-perfect story depicting the ramifications of toxic masculinity on women as well as men.
This will probably be remembered as the magnum opus of Gerwig’s directed movies in the coming years. But we would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the years the director spent in the acting trenches. Gerwig continues to act when she’s not helming record-breaking movies, and she has lent her onscreen talent to some unforgettable roles.
1. White Noise
Utilizing Noah Baumbach’s tried and true actors from previous works, both Greta Gerwig and Adam Driver star in 2022’s White Noise. Baumbach collaborated with Driver in Frances Ha and the needlessly depressing A Marriage Story, which was less about marriage and more about divorce. This time, however, Driver has the opportunity to flex his comedic chops in an absurdist comedy. Based on the Don DeLillo book of the same name, White Noise focuses on a blended suburban family during an economic disaster. After a nearby chemical leak causes an Airborne Toxic Event, the family must flee their comfort and find themselves on a wild adventure.
Gerwig stars as Babette, Jack’s (Driver) fourth wife, and mother to (some of) his children. Both actors lean into the absurdity of it all as they grapple with life, love, and marriage. In this prevalent world of streaming, White Noise floated by without much pomp and circumstance, overwhelmed by the noise of other projects. However, this doesn’t take away that this film is directly in Gerwig’s wheelhouse. With an outrageously permed wig and a lingering fear of death, Babette is a character that the actor fits into seamlessly.
2. Isle of Dogs
Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson seem likely distantly related cousins when it comes to content. Both directors deal with life’s oddities, making working with them an obvious choice for Greta Gerwig. Her sense of humor comes out in most roles she plays, even when she’s not a main character — and even when you can’t see her face. The same goes for Isle of Dogs, where she voices the character Tracy Walker. The film is the ultimate story of a boy and his dog, using Anderson’s penchant for heartwrenching humor.
Told purely through stop-motion animation, Isle of Dogs features a futuristic society where dogs have become so rampant in Japan that they are sequestered on an island of garbage. When a young boy, Atari (Koyu Rankin), pilots a plane to find his dog spots on the island, a group of alpha dogs agrees to help him on his quest. Gerwig’s American foreign exchange student develops a crush on Atari and also wants to help him when no one else will. Though not a perfect film (they rarely are), Isle of Dogs contains all the charm that Anderson and Gerwig are known for.
3. 20th Century Women
From the director of 2010’s Beginners, director Mike Mills is at it again with another emotional look at the interior life of a close-knit family. The period piece revolves around Dorothea (Annette Bening) and her relationship with her teenage son, Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann). But as much as he is the protagonist film, it’s really about the trials and tribulations of the women he encounters. With no male role models, he is raised in the radical time of the late 1970s with little guidance.
As Jamie struggles with his feelings for the unattainable Julie (Elle Fanning), he explores other relationships with the people around him. Greta Gerwig stars as his mother’s tenant, Abbie, who deals with cervical cancer only in her mid-20s. Somehow, 20th Century Women have fully realized female characters even when a film like this could fall into the traps of stereotypes. There is no happy ending, just like life has no happy ending. It’s all about the good, the bad, and the ugly. Gerwig is an essential part of this as her character deals with the trials and tribulations of life, just like everyone else.
4. Jackie
It is difficult to think of anything else, but Natalie Portman’s haunting performance in the Jackie Onasis biopic. Greta Gerwig is still an integral part of the film. Depicting the tormented internal life of the former first lady in the days surrounding JFK’s assassination, Portman gives a performance made even that much more impressive with her East Coast accent. Gerwig joins the cast as Nancy Tuckerman, a role she was more than happy to play, as she told IndieWire.
Friends since kindergarten, Nancy Tuckerman was a significant person in Jackie’s life. She and Nancy had a lifelong friendship that extended to hiring her as the White House Social Secretary when JFK took office. The real Tuckerman was famously private, making Gerwig explore other avenues of research other than speaking to her directly. The result, everyone can agree, made a good addition to Jackie. Gerwig is more than just comedic relief. She was an exemplary addition to the emotionally harrowing film.
5. Maggie’s Plan
Maggie’s Plan is 2010’s answer to modern romantic comedy. Instead of living and dying with the attention of a man, Maggie’s (Greta Gerwig) big goal is to have a child. She is determined to do this with or without a partner, but her plans go amiss after starting an affair with a married man. John (Ethan Hawke) is a self-absorbed professor with complications with his wife. But after breaking up the marriage, Maggie realizes that she’s not the right person for John after all, even though they are married and raising the child that Maggie always wanted.
The film’s crux isn’t about Maggie’s romantic future at all, but a plot to get John and his wife Georgette (Julianne Moore) back together. She finds value in reuniting two people who had problems but should have been together the entire time. Georgette is instrumental in the future of John’s book, and Maggie has the one thing she wants. The film concludes with the blended family together, an interesting look at how modern relationships work. Women don’t have to end up in relationships to be happy, and Maggie learned the real lesson of not meddling in people’s affairs.
6. Mistress America
Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig team up again in Mistress America, with the latter co-writing and starring in the independent film. The story depicts New York as it is for many: Lonely, expensive, and full of neuroses. After moving to the city for college, no one understands this better than Tracy (Lola Kirke). With no real connections, she contacts her soon-to-be stepsister, Brooke (Gerwig), who shows her the time of her life. Or so she thinks. Brooke is just like the city. Impulsive, chaotic, and nonstop. Brook seemingly has a head full of innovative ideas, but Tracy learns that she isn’t as free as she appears to be. She constantly gets in her own way and blames others for her failings.
Brooke’s big turn comes at the end when she finally figures it out but at the expense of her relationship with Tracy. After a falling out between the two, Brooke decides to move out of the city and potentially return to school. As with most Baumbach productions, there is always bad with the good. Mistress America shows what happens when you meet your idols and how no relationship is cut and dry. Tracy and Brooke make amends, but will never be quite what they were. Tracy remains lonely, and Brooke goes off on her next adventure. For all of the humor and clever dialogue from Gerwig, Baumbach’s film is a true depiction of New York, for better and for worse.
7. Frances Ha
In the film that cemented Greta Gerwig as a definitive talent, she plays one of the most realistic characters in cinema. Frances Ha shows the plight of every millennial. Struggling in a world without a clear path, Frances isn’t good at anything. Though she aspires to be a full-time dancer at a New York company, it seems like an unrealistic goal. She fails at being a proficient dancer just as she fails at staying connected to her best friend, Sophie (Mickey Sumner).
Frances Ha is a light in the darkness for viewers who feel like they are also stunted. Frances is on a journey to find her place in the world, a situation where many people of the generation find themselves in. Finally, in the end, Frances finds a way to afford and rent an apartment of her own, a sign that she is moving in the right direction. With its black-and-white coloring and focus on an adult coming-of-age story, it is no question why this got Gerwig the attention she earned as an up-and-comer.
8. No Strings Attached
The Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher vehicle No Strings Attached was not the only friends-with-benefits comedy that year, but it did have the bonus of a stacked cast. In addition to Portman and Kutcher in leading roles, the film also features Mindy Kaling, Jake Johnson, and Greta Gerwig. All have been known for their comedic skills and are a delightful inclusion in the film. Though Gerwig appears in the supportive best friend role as Patrice, she elevates the film’s premise.
After close friends Emma (Portman) and Adam (Kutcher) decide to embark on an emotionless sex pact, they, of course, come to develop feelings for each other. Emma is adamant that as a doctor, she doesn’t have time for a relationship and prefers this arrangement, but feelings blossom as they often do in these films. It is rare to see Acamademy Award-winning Portman in such a humorous romp, which sets the film apart from others of its kind. Gerwig plays the friend role well and shows her deftness for comedy, as she often does.
9. Greenberg
Starring in Greenberg was a big change of pace for Greta Gerwig in many ways. Not only was it a precursor to many collaborations with Noah Baumbach in the future, but it was her first film with a big studio.
“I couldn’t believe that I might actually be in a movie for Focus Features and Scott Rudin. I auditioned for Noah and Jennifer in their apartment and sang a little song for them because Florence is a singer. I thought, ‘Man, even if I don’t get this, I’m happy that I got to get this far,’” Gerwig recalled in the Making of Greenberg. The actor shows her capacity for the dramedies that Baumbach is known for, playing the mid-twenties character Florence, a personal assistant for the Greenberg family. While her boss is out of town, his brother Roger (Ben Stiller) comes to stay, and the two form a relationship of sorts as he works through his issues.
Just past 40 years old, Greenberg is in a time in his life where he seems set in his ways. He is committed to doing nothing with his life after being the reason that his New York band broke up. He is so stuck that even when Florence shows him affection, he can’t admit that he likes her. This was Gerwig’s first major role and was a sign that many projects were in her future.
10. The House of the Devil
Ti West’s The House of the Devil may seem out of left field for Greta Gerwig’s usual fare, but she still finds a way to steal the show. The 2009 horror film is a love letter to past films, filmed with techniques that harken back to independent movies of the 1980s. After Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) gets her dream apartment, she has less than a week to come up with a downpayment. Down on her luck, she picks up an alleged babysitting gig and ignores all the red flags that come with it.
Accompanied by her friend, Megan (Gerwig), Samantha goes to a creepy house on the eclipse night. Throughout it all, Megan is the voice of reason. She may have a wicked sense of humor, but when it comes down to it, she wants her friend to be safe. And for all her efforts, she is thanked with a shot to the face while going to smoke in her car. Planning on returning for Samantha at the end of the night, she never knows that the eclipse is a prime time for a satanic ritual. The babysitting job was a ruse. Instead, the Ulman family lures Samantha to the house to perform some sort of insemination ceremony. At the end of it all, Megan was right. She disregards the eclipse and digs her heels in when Samantha insists on staying. Megan was too good for the world and never stood a chance.
