Raven Goodwin was such a lovely child actor - well, lovely is perhaps the wrong word, because she often played children who were prickly or had difficult problems to deal with, or both. She did this most impressively in Lovely and Amazing, playing Brenda Blethyn's daughter. It's a really good film, if you want an evening dealing with some pretty stressful characters and situations (Goodwin is a ten-year-old who likes to pretend she's drowned when at the pool. And that's sorta one of the lighter aspects.)
Actually, a lot of Goodwin's most memorable roles involve lending a serious emotional centre to the films and TV shows she appears in. ABC's Huge, for my money one of the best teen shows since Freaks and Geeks, is this great series which takes place in a fat camp. Goodwin plays the shy, thoughtful moral conscience of the show, (in contrast with Nikki Blonsky's impulsive whirlwind of a lead). The episode where she organises a camp-wide LARP is a particular highlight. It's a sin and a shame this only lasted one season.
Goodwin's adorable role as a "perky little teen" in an episode of 30 Rock, and her regular appearances on TV shows like the Disney channel's Good Luck Charlie, which seem to be the bread and butter of her career, show that she's a great comedic actress too, even in indifferent material. Her list of roles is depressingly small though. Is it because she's big? Because she's a woman of colour? Because she's doing other things than acting? I hope it's the last one, because she's too good to not be in more.
omg she was not-oprah on 30 rock? that was the only thing on 30 rock i've ever liked
ReplyDeleteShe was! I know what you mean - I have a waning guilty liking for 30 Rock. Its occasionally funny and often really mean-spirited. Goodwin's role on it was unusually generous and sweet, as well as being funny. It is rare for them to have a character who succeeds at being intelligent while also being bubbly and girly, and you know, female.
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