John C. Reilly, a great character actor, has been named president of the Un Certain Regard jury for the 76th Cannes Film Festival.
The 2023 jury is rounded out by French filmmaker Alice Winocour, German actress Paula Beer, Franco-Cambodian director Davy Chou, and Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne.
Cannes also added Jean-Bernard Marlin’s “Salem” to the Un Certain Regard lineup. That section is now complete, but more films are said to be announced in the coming days.
Back to Reilly, he has a filmography filled with great movies. His acting career started in the late ‘80s and he hasn’t let up one bit since. He doesn’t have the typical look of a Hollywood male lead, but he is a great and versatile actor that can effortlessly hop from drama to comedy.
I was surprised to see all the notable films that he’s starred in these last 30 years. Of the 111 acting credits he has on IMDb, these seem to be the highlights:
Casualties of War, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Hard Eight, Boogie Nights,The Thin Red Line, Magnolia, Chicago, The Hours, The Aviator, Talladega Nights, Walk Hard, Step Brothers, We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Lobster, Stan and Ollie.
It wasn’t too long ago that, following the 2018 flop “Holmes & Watson” and failed Showtime series “Moonbase 8,” Reilly admitted that he thought his career was over. He had not much else to look forward to.
“I’d been sitting at my kitchen table, thinking, ‘Man, I’m dead in the water, all this work, 80 movies, and I got nothing going on,’ when I got the text from Adam,” the Oscar nominee said.
That Adam was Adam McKay who ended up casting Reilly in last year’s HBO Basketball series “Winning Time.” I couldn’t find any other upcoming projects he’s attached to, but I’m hoping to see more of Reilly in the years to come. He’s a cherished talent.