# Amy Adams - for real or not?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 16, 2014, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806 "2014-03-16T00:24:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/1 "2014-03-16T00:24:45Z")
I recently saw American Hustle (2013) starring Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence and others. I liked it a lot. It wasn’t a magnificent film. But it was plenty interesting and a lot of fun to boot.
> **[American Hustle (2013) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1800241/)**
>
> American Hustle: Directed by David O. Russell. With Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner. A con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive partner Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for a wild F.B.I. Agent, Richie DiMaso, who...
I want to tell you that I was just knocked out by Amy Adams. I thought she was incredibly gorgeous in this movie and for most of the film, I just sat there staring at her with my mouth wide agape. She was incredibly gorgeous and sexy in that movie.
I then took a look at some of her previous films and I was kind of shocked to realize that I had seen most all of her previous work but had no memory of her. Among her previous films that I had seen were:
Her - [Her (2013) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798709/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_5)
The Fighter - [The Fighter (2010) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0964517/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_12)
Julie and Julia - [Julie & Julia (2009) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1135503/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_16)
Catch Me If You Can - [Catch Me If You Can (2002) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264464/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_35)
I have also seen several more of her films but had no recollection of her being any great beauty. But she truly is. She is a fabulously beautiful beauty.
In Catch Me If You Can, she played a very young girl - perhaps as young as 13 or 14. Catch Me If You Can was a movie that was a lot of fun and I am happy to recommend it to all of you. I’m sure you will enjoy it very much.
But, the point I want to make to you in this thread is really in the form of a question:
Would any of you have any idea why it is that I could be so knocked out by her in American Hustle and how I could find Julie and Julia to be such a tremendously entertaining film but yet, have no memory of any of her previous performances?
The one thing that I found very mysterious was that in American Hustle, I found her to be very “long-legged” and extemely tall. I would have guessed that she was perhaps 6 feet tall.
However, in all her previous films, she seems quite short. You probably wonder why that is at all significant and the reason is that I seem to find tall women to be far more attractive than shorter ones. As a matter of fact, I would have to say that I only find women highly attractive if they are perhaps at least 5’ 9" tall. However, in most of her films, she gives the appearance of being shorter than about 5’ 6". Would anyone know why that might be? Is it a question of the appearance of her characters on film? Or might it be somehow be due to my faulty perception?
More importantly, I would like to know if anyone else here has had a similar reaction to Amy Adams?
If I may, I would very much like to recommend to you that you try to see Julie and Julia whenever it may be convenient for you. It’s nothing like American Hustle. But it is truly a delightful film and I found it to be extremely “sweet” and definitely worth several viewings. It may well be described as a “woman’s film”. But I certainly found nothing wrong with that description - nothing at all!
So, I suggest you try it. You will love it!
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/2 "2014-03-16T00:30:19Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#):
>
> I then took a look at some of her previous films and I was kind of shocked to realize that I had seen most all of her previous work but had no memory of her. Among her previous films that I had seen were:
>
> Her - [Her (2013) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798709/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_5)
>
> The Fighter - [The Fighter (2010) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0964517/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_12)
>
> Julie and Julia - [Julie & Julia (2009) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1135503/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_16)
>
> Catch Me If You Can - [Catch Me If You Can (2002) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264464/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_35)
I’m genuinely amazed you could forget her in _The Fighter_.
Incidentally, did you see her in _Man of Steel_, as the new Lois Lane?
---
### Author:  [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/3 "2014-03-16T00:32:01Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#):
>
> I’m genuinely amazed you could forget her in _The Fighter_.
>
> Incidentally, did you see her in _Man of Steel_, as the new Lois Lane?
No. I had given up on all Superman movies quite some time ago.
Do you think it would be worth my time to see her in that film? After seeing her in American Hustle, I would be happy to see any other of her films that people found to be worthwhile.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/4 "2014-03-16T00:44:34Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#):
>
> No. I had given up on all Superman movies quite some time ago.
>
> Do you think it would be worth my time to see her in that film?
Well, no, given that sentence of yours up there. But it did so much box office, I wondered whether you’d seen it and just weren’t mentioning it.
That said, she’s adorable singing in _Enchanted_.
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### Author:  [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/5 "2014-03-16T00:46:02Z")
The movie’s a bit of a hot mess, but she is a very good Lois, and really does the character justice. She’s a decent sized role, so you’d be seeing a decent bit of her.
Avoid if you are a comic book or canonical Supes fan.
Enchanted is fantastic. Brilliant work there, and funny as hell.
She was also in the Muppet movie, yes? That one is also very good.
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### Author:  [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/6 "2014-03-16T00:57:28Z")
I liked _Sunshine Cleaning_. Some might be a bit put off by the subject matter but I enjoyed the movie.
> **[Sunshine Cleaning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Cleaning)**
>
> Sunshine Cleaning is a 2008 comedy-drama film written by Megan Holley and directed by Christine Jeffs. It stars Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, and Alan Arkin. The story revolves around two sisters who start a crime scene cleanup business and the various events that occur in their respective lives. Produced by Big Beach, the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2008, was purchased by Overture Films for distribution, and opened in limited release in the United States on March 13, 20...
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### Author:  [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/7 "2014-03-16T01:03:47Z")
Loved her in _Junebug_.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/8 "2014-03-16T01:06:11Z")
Re: her height–there is probably nothing wrong with your perception. One of Hollywood’s oldest tricks is convincing you an actor/actress is taller/shorter. Michael Clark Duncan in “The Green Mile?” I fell for the illusion in several places. Elijah Wood in LOTRs? Some trick photography, to be sure, but Gandalf stood on a box, or Frodo walked in a trench.
Sunshine Cleaning was A#1. (Emily Blunt helped.)
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### Author:  [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/9 "2014-03-16T01:11:09Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#):
>
> Would any of you have any idea why it is that I could be so knocked out by her in American Hustle and how I could find Julie and Julia to be such a tremendously entertaining film but yet, have no memory of any of her previous performances?
I normally wouldn’t try to guess about this sort of thing, as I have no way of knowing what kind of woman you typically find attractive or why, but in this case I do have an idea. Not to be vulgar, but could you have been knocked out by her knockers? She wore some very plunging necklines in _American Hustle_.
I don’t remember Adams’s role in _Catch Me If You Can_ and haven’t seen _The Fighter_ or _Julie and Julia_, but in _Her_ it seemed to me like her character wasn’t supposed to be particularly sexy. She definitely wasn’t supposed to be glamorous – her character didn’t wear much makeup, kept her hair pulled back, and dressed in kind of frumpy looking clothes. She’s still an attractive woman, but came across as more cute in a low-key way than a great beauty. But in _Enchanted_, where she played a Disney cartoon princess come to life, and a minor role on _The Office_ as a short-term love interest for Jim, I thought she looked great. The _Office_ episode in which she first appeared was actually called “The Hot Girl”.
> [@](#):
>
> The one thing that I found very mysterious was that in American Hustle, I found her to be very “long-legged” and extemely tall. I would have guessed that she was perhaps 6 feet tall.
Google tells me she’s only 5’4", but she may have been wearing disco heels or otherwise made to look taller in _American Hustle_. In [these](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3407534848/tt1800241?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_14) [pictures](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1373949952/tt1800241?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_2) from the movie then she doesn’t seem much shorter than Jennifer Lawrence, who’s 5’9".
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### Author:  [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/10 "2014-03-16T01:50:50Z")
Catch me if you can was one of her earliest roles, the part was fairly small and she looked very different (it was 12 years ago). I didn’t remember her from there either.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/11 "2014-03-16T01:52:55Z")
Amy Adama? Wasn’t she, like, on the _Galactica_ or something?
I also liked _Sunshine Cleaning_ and thought she was cute as hell in a hazmat bunny suit.
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/12 "2014-03-16T02:22:01Z")
I don’t think she is particularly tall - Jennifer Lawrence seemed to tower over her. I’ve loved her for years, and I especially recommend:
Junebug (this is the movie where I discovered her)
Enchanted (she is adorable)
Sunshine Cleaners
Really, she is good in just about anything she is in. I can’t think of a bad performance. In addition to American Hustle, I found her very sexy in The Fighter.
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### Author:  [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/13 "2014-03-16T03:39:05Z")
LOVE HER!!! Awesome singer, her eyes react to each spoken word, green eyes, slightly elongated eye teeth… SO HOT and talented.
Watch Disney’s Enchanted. Awesome!!
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### Author:  [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/14 "2014-03-16T11:53:04Z")
The one I like that no one has mentioned is Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/15 "2014-03-16T12:07:18Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#):
>
> In Catch Me If You Can, she played a very young girl - perhaps as young as 13 or 14. Catch Me If You Can was a movie that was a lot of fun and I am happy to recommend it to all of you. I’m sure you will enjoy it very much.
She played a candy striper, a junior nurse, so aged around 17 or 18. Her real age at time of shooting was 27.
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### Author:  [@Bellhorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bellhorn)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/16 "2014-03-16T12:29:59Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#):
>
> I liked _Sunshine Cleaning_. Some might be a bit put off by the subject matter but I enjoyed the movie.
> [Sunshine Cleaning - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Cleaning)
An excellent movie with great performances from Ms. Adams and Emily Blunt. It was a very original take on a sister-sister relationship. Blunt had the easier part as the screw-up sister (and nailed it), while Adams really did a wonderful job as well.
I’d put Amy Adams in the top 5 of current lead actresses, and although she’s nearing 40 years of age, I think she’ll join the ranks of actresses like Michelle Pfeiffer/Sally Field/Diane Keaton that keep on getting lead roles all through her 40+s. And someday she’ll make a great character actress.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/17 "2014-03-16T14:21:47Z")
Loved – to the extent of owning – both _Miss Pettigrew_ and _Enchanted_.
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### Author:  [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/18 "2014-03-16T16:13:52Z")
Amy Adams could have easily been stuck playing perky, “cute” roles like **Enchanted** and **Julie & Julia** , and in the last few years I think she’s deliberately trying to avoid that. She is not the first actress who would have come to mind for her role in **American Hustle** , so the fact that she pulled it off so successfully really is a testament to her talent.
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### Author:  [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/19 "2014-03-16T16:43:43Z")
She was also fantastic in _Doubt_\*\* as the young, modern (in comparison to Meryl Streep’s character) nun.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-adams-for-real-or-not/683806/20 "2014-03-16T17:00:40Z")
There’s an article I just read but can’t find - I think on the Huffington Post - about a photographer who took comparative pictures of naked non-model women; one in which they stood tall and straight and stuck out bumpy parts and the other in which they slouched and pumped up their stomachs and generally frumped it up. They look like two different people, one sexy and one below average.
In Hustle they had professionals do that to Amy Adams. Makeup, costuming, and hair made her look sexy and she threw an attitude of total sexiness on top of all that. Her body was a palpable force, even though in reality she’s petite, small-breasted, and generally girlish. That’s why I thought she was more deserving of an Oscar than Jennifer Lawrence, who did a nice job of being her character but wasn’t called upon to transform her very essence in that way.
The scene in the bathroom where they confront one another is an interesting example of the way that camera angles can distort what we’re seeing. Adams is much shorter than Lawrence, but the camera shoots up at an angle so that their faces seem to be even with one another. (I suppose she could be on a rise for that static scene, but it probably wouldn’t have been necessary.)
Every scene - every frame - of a movie is a lie. Forget what CGI can do. Cutting, composition, framing, backgrounds, juxtaposition, colors, lighting, lenses, can all change what you think you see even before the actors get involved. What you see is not what you get.
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