This is something that is somewhat less widely known than the greatness of Michael Sheen: Lizzy Caplan is greater than great. I doubt I’m alone in first being introduced to Caplan on True Blood, somewhat embarrassedly, since she did most of her attention-grabbing work in the nude. Some may recognize her from early work on Mean Girls, Cloverfield, and Hot Tub Time Machine. The finest work I had seen from her previously was on the heartbreakingly brief run of Party Down, but in two short seasons she made such a star-making impression that I wanted to see her (and Adam Scott, and everyone else on that show) get more opportunities to shine.
This is her biggest opportunity, and she meets it with startling confidence and skill. She’s one of those actors who is constantly surprising—to the point that the most surprising quality she possesses is that she can continue to surprise, that we’re still unable to predict how she’s going to play a character or a moment.
As Virginia, it’s hard to imagine anyone else capturing a character so brash and determined, ambitious and diligent, or so socially graceful. She equally portrays the difficulty in navigating the political terrain of women dealing with men in a 1950s work environment as well as that of women dealing with other women. She’s not “feisty,” or “strong,” in the way that generic female TV characters often are; she seems like a mother who knows herself and feels that she can no longer afford to let bullshit like propriety prohibit her professional progress.
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