Acting Up – Episode #35: Cristin Milioti
Welcome to ACTING UP, the place where we celebrate standout performances in TV, streaming and film. Other than spotlighting exceptional work from recent projects, this feature also shines a light on how certain actors got where they are today. Have a peek and then check out these notable performances to help hone your craft.
The Snapshot: Cristin Milioti plays a misunderstood maid of honor stuck in an infinite time loop with another lost soul in the timely rom-com, Palm Springs. (Streaming on Hulu: July 10.)
The Performer: Cristin Milioti
The Film: Palm Springs
The Performance:
***[Warning: Plot spoilers ahead. Proceed with caution if you have yet to see Palm Springs.]***
In the infinite time loop that is Palm Springs, it’s hard not to think about the canceled, on-repeat world that is reality right now. But this is entertainment, meant to take us to times and places we cannot go to without fear of exposure to an alternate universe filled with viral repercussions.
To that end, Palm Springs’ centerpiece is a wedding from the pre-pandemic world where we meet maid of honor, Sarah (Cristin Milioti), sister of the bride who’s clearly dealing with some issues before being profoundly touched by a wedding toast from the carefree Nyles (Andy Samberg). Nyles is the boyfriend of bubbly bridesmaid Misty (played by Meredith Hagner).
After a series of seemingly spontaneous but somewhat calculated events, we’re granted access into Groundhogs Day-esque world plus-one, where two people are forced to endure the same day together, over and over, for what feels like eternity. This is acceptable to Nyles – not so much for Sarah, as her replay day (if one can call it that) doesn’t exactly get started on the right foot.
As Sarah grapples with her new existential crisis, her relationship with Nyles has more than nine lives as they experiment with their ongoing existence to kill time, all while becoming further bonded along the way. This is where Palm Springs hits its stride, when Nyles and Sarah’s creative undertakings kick into high gear. That’s when they do everything from taking a small plane for a joyride (without knowing how to fly) to crafting a dance routine to perform in a desert dive bar.
In sequences like the dive bar, Milioti matches Samberg’s silly spontaneity move for move, lighting up the screen as a multi-talented and long-underappreciated actress. In another scene where Sarah and Nyles camp in the desert, Milioti’s emotional connectivity is on full display, as she tries to break through the layers of what’s been stifling Nyles’ inevitable growth as a person. Through her big puppy dog eyes, Milioti cements her arrival to ‘leading lady’ status in movies.
As Sarah, Milioti perfectly encapsulates the existential quandary of having to live the same day over and again as a woman at a time when love is fleeting and the fear of being alone is real. But, since this is Hollywood and Palm Springs, a magical oasis where water springs forth from the ground defying logic and interpretation, Milioti’s ensures that Sarah’s star shines bright in the desert sky.
The Career:
To encapsulate all the great roles Milioti has played in her young career might require an infinite time loop to accomplish.
The 34-year-old Milioti was born in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, having attended acting school at NYU for a short time before dropping out to start her career on TV and stage in primarily off-Broadway productions. It didn’t take long before Milioti would come to earn a Tony Award-nomination for originating the role of Girl in the Broadway adaptation of Once (2012).
For an actress that once described her family as “Olive Garden Italian” according to her IMDB bio (a factor that may’ve helped her land a three-episode arc in The Sopranos in 2006-2007), that was just the beginning of a career that saw Milioti eventually make stops at 30 Rock (2011), FX’s Fargo (2015) and The Mindy Project (2015-2016). But it was her stint as the titular ‘mother’ character in How I Met Your Mother (2013-2014), where Milioti went mainstream.
When it comes to her many standout roles, one must not forget her work in anthology series such as Black Mirror (2017), where she starred in an Emmy-award-winning episode that was a twisted play off a Star Trek episode. Also, Amazon’s Modern Love (2019) where she raises a baby with the help of her New York City doorman. Of course, there was also her turn as Jordan Belfort’s first wife in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), as the oft-cheated-on spouse who had just about enough of her hubby’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) deceitful and criminally indulgent behavior.
Big time mention must also go to her episode of Apple TV+ comedy, Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet (2020), one of the series’ finest episodes where she played Bean, the dedicated game developer in a flashback episode that explains all about the origins of the gaming company.
With Palm Springs playing to an audience that still can’t attend actual movie theaters for the most part (save for a few drive-ins), a relatively captive audience is currently appreciating her latest work. It’s all we have until the HBO Max series Made for Love gets off the ground again. That’s the new series Milioti shot 10 episodes of before the shutdown put it on ice for a bit.
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Gregg Rosenzweig has been a writer, creative director and managing editor for various entertainment clients, ad agencies and digital media companies over the past 20 years. He is also a partner in the talent management/production company, The Rosenzweig Group.
