Rose Byrne’s Oscar hopes could be cruelled by ‘difficult women’ curse
The Australian has been hailed for one of the year’s best screen performances, but history suggests Academy Award voters have a tough time with tetchy female leads.
Rose Byrne in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”. If her character ever yields, it’s only to exhaustion. AP
In If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Australian actor Rose Byrne plays Linda, a frazzled therapist under constant siege: her clients won’t listen, her daughter won’t eat, her husband is out to sea, and her apartment is caving in. As her situation grows worse, Linda begins to lash out, though her entirely justified anger only makes things worse.
It’s been years since Byrne had a big-screen role this bold, and her nerve-jangling performance has already earned top honours from the New York Film Critics Circle and Los Angeles Film Critics Association. With those bona fides, she ought to be a lock for an Oscar nomination.
