SAG Awards nominee profile: Christina Applegate (‘Dead to Me’) looks for first win on lucky seventh nomination

Sam Eckmann
·4 min read
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Christina Applegate won an Emmy in 2003 for her guest appearance on “Friends” but she is still hunting for her first win from her peers at the SAG Awards. That could all change this year since the acclaimed actress is once again up for best comedy actress for the emotional final season of Netflix’s “Dead to Me.”

In season three of “Dead to Me,” Jen (Applegate) and Judy (Linda Cardellini) wake up from a car crash and are treated for minor injuries, but doctor at the hospital diagnoses Jen with cancer after reviewing her scans. The only issue is that Jen had switched beds, and the grim diagnosis was meant for Judy. Jen agonizes over the information, adding to the web of lies and deceit which forms her life. She eventually comes clean to Judy and the two women desperately try to hold on to their friendship, and their lives, as they wrangle with mortality and a federal investigation that is circling in on the murder they covered up.

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SEE 2023 SAG Awards TV Predictions: Best Comedy Actress

This is Applegate’s seventh SAG Award nomination, so perhaps that number will offer her some luck. This year marks her third comedy actress bid for “Dead to Me.” She earned three additional nominations in this category for “Samantha Who?” and a comedy ensemble nomination for season two of “Dead to Me.”

At this year’s ceremony, Applegate is nominated alongside previous SAG winners Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) and Jean Smart (“Hacks”), as well as first-time nominees Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary”) and Jenna Ortega (“Wednesday”). Brunson and Smart are also nominees in comedy ensemble.

Jen is a perfect vessel for showing off Applegate’s strengths as a performer. There is hysterical, rapid-pace line delivery and she even gets the chance to play a riotous scene where she’s high on mushrooms. But the comedy feels unique when compared to your average sitcom because Applegate explores so many different emotions at once.

Grief is a major theme of the series, and the actress proves to be adept at exploring the complicated nature of this emotion. She regularly oscillates from an explosion of rage to a tearful release of sorrow within the same beat. The series finale encapsulates this darkly comic tightrope walk perfectly: immediately after a heartbreaking goodbye speech which reduces Jen to tears, Judy tells her “You’ve filled the hole in my heart.” Jen quickly fires back, “ugh shut up, eww,” yet still holds the emotional weight of the moment and the pair are soon crying again.

SEE Christina Applegate says upcoming SAG Awards will be ‘my last awards show as an actor, so it’s kind of a big deal’

This year’s SAG Awards carry even more meaning for the performer. In reference to the February 26 ceremony, Applegate recently told the Los Angeles Times, “It’s my last awards show as an actor probably, so it’s kind of a big deal. Right now, I couldn’t imagine getting up at 5 a.m. and spending 12 to 14 hours on a set; I don’t have that in me at this moment.” She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which put production of her show on pause. The team found creative ways to stage scenes in order to aid Applegate, but finishing the season took a great deal of strength. She is now preparing for any future physical issues she may encounter as a result of her MS.

As of this writing, Applegate sits in third place in our combined odds for comedy actress. Though one Gold Derby Editor and two of our Top 24 Users have moved her into first place. Perhaps they are onto something. Watching this beloved TV icon finally win a SAG trophy, at what may be her final appearance at an awards show, is certainly a moment that voters will be tempted to turn into a reality.

This article is a part of Gold Derby’s “SAG Awards nominee profile” series spotlighting the 2023 contenders in film and TV.

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