Dead To Me, a dark comedy about two women who become friends in the strangest of circumstances, has just debuted its second series on Netflix. If you haven’t seen it, you’re missing out on a series of captivating twists and turns, but you’re also living without two incredible performances from its stars, Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini.
These two actresses have been in the industry for decades. Christina has starred in everything from Married With Children to The Sweetest Thing, Samantha Who to Friends (she played Rachel’s mean sister, Amy). But if you’ve been wondering why you recognise Linda, wonder no more. Here are her career highlights.
Freaks and Geeks
It is amazing that Freaks and Geeks only aired for one series of 18 episodes. The programme’s legacy is still felt and its fans are still out there. In fact, it’s all available on All 4. The show made stars of its young cast members like Seth Rogen and James Franco, and launched Linda’s career. She played Lindsay Weir, a high school teen who falls in with a crowd of lovable slackers.
Legally Blonde
Linda may be the owner of the most famous perm in the history of cinema. As Chutney, her role in the 2001 legal comedy was small but significant. Testifying in a murder trial, her pert curls made Reese Witherspoon’s Elle Woods realise that her alibi was not - pun intended - watertight. The resulting cross examination matched the drama and surprises of A Few Good Men.
ER
As Sam Taggart, Linda brought heart and vulnerable charm to the medical drama, which was in great need of fresh blood after years on the air. Sam, a nurse, was in the show between 2003 and 2009, enduring hostage situations, drinking problems and a romance with the dreamy Doctor Kovac.
Scooby Doo
As Velma, she couldn’t see a thing without her glasses. Linda somehow made ginger turtle necks look damn good in the two blockbuster films based on the classic cartoon. Starring alongside Freddie Prinze Jr and Sarah Michelle Gellar, Linda presented that perfect Velma balance of dorky cluelessness with intellectual alacrity.
Come on guys, what do you say you get the Scooby Gang together for one more mystery?
Mad Men
Honestly, we lost count of the women Don Draper slept with. We doubt even he would be able to reel of a list. But Linda made an impression as one of his more long-term conquests. As Sylvia Rosen, Don’s neighbour and mistress, Linda was heartbreaking. Sylvia’s overwhelming guilt at being the other woman, and her struggles as a mother of a young man at a time of conscription, was a highlight of the seventh season.
The Avengers Franchise (warning: Marvel spoilers ahead!)
While Chris Evans, Scarlett Johannson and Elizabeth Olsen ran around saving the world, one superhuman move at a time, Linda stayed at home as a key human face of the struggle against evil. She played Laura Barton, wife of Hawkeye. Making her first appearance in 2015’s Age Of Ultron, her disappearance in Avengers: Endgame as part of Thanos’s deadly ‘Snap’ caused her husband to pursue a life of vigilante justice. Luckily, she returned once the superheroes brought back half of the world’s population. Phew.
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