The 10 Best Amy Adams Roles

Amy Adams has built a filmography full of memorable characters across dramas, comedies, and prestige television. She moves easily from grounded, contemporary stories to stylized period pieces and even modern fairy-tales, often collaborating with acclaimed directors and writers. The result is a set of roles that highlight range across lead and supporting parts, plus a steady presence in awards conversations.

This list gathers ten standout performances from movies and a limited series, focusing on the specific roles and the productions around them—who made them, where the character fits in the story, and how each project landed with critics and at major ceremonies. You’ll find details on creators, co-stars, and the kinds of narratives these roles anchor or elevate.

‘Arrival’ (2016) – Louise Banks

In ‘Arrival’, Amy Adams plays linguist Louise Banks, recruited by the U.S. military to establish communication with newly arrived extraterrestrial visitors. Directed by Denis Villeneuve and adapted by Eric Heisserer from Ted Chiang’s novella, the film pairs her with Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker, using linguistic theory and non-linear storytelling as core devices within a first-contact framework.

The production became a critical success, earning multiple Academy Award nominations and wins, while Adams received best-actress nominations from major guilds and international awards bodies. Her role is central to the film’s structure, with the character’s translation work and personal history driving both the scientific process and the emotional stakes.

‘American Hustle’ (2013) – Sydney Prosser

In ‘American Hustle’, Adams portrays Sydney Prosser, a con artist operating alongside Christian Bale’s Irving Rosenfeld during an FBI sting patterned after the Abscam case. David O. Russell directed from a script by Russell and Eric Warren Singer, assembling an ensemble that also includes Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.

The film drew extensive awards recognition, including multiple Oscar nominations across acting and craft categories, and Adams secured major best-actress wins on the critics’ circuit as well as high-profile nominations. Her character’s British alter ego and shifting alliances are embedded in the screenplay’s emphasis on performance, reinvention, and the mechanics of a confidence game.

‘Enchanted’ (2007) – Giselle

‘Enchanted’ casts Adams as Giselle, a fairy-tale heroine transported from an animated kingdom into live-action Manhattan. Directed by Kevin Lima with music by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, the production blends animation and live action, featuring co-stars Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Idina Menzel, and Susan Sarandon.

The film introduced Adams to a broad family audience and generated awards attention for both her performance and original songs. The hybrid format required musical performance, physical comedy, and meticulous choreography, with location shooting in New York City and a post-production pipeline coordinating animation and live-action integration.

‘Sharp Objects’ (2018) – Camille Preaker

The HBO limited series ‘Sharp Objects’ features Adams as journalist Camille Preaker, assigned to cover a murder investigation in her Missouri hometown. Created by Marti Noxon and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, the adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s novel co-stars Patricia Clarkson, Eliza Scanlen, and Chris Messina across eight episodes.

The series received major nominations from the Television Academy and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, including lead-actress recognition for Adams. Its production emphasized long-form character study, with an editorial approach that leans on memory fragments, needle-drops, and visual motifs to track trauma, reporting methodology, and family dynamics.

‘The Fighter’ (2010) – Charlene Fleming

In ‘The Fighter’, Adams plays Charlene Fleming, a pivotal figure in the life of welterweight boxer Micky Ward, portrayed by Mark Wahlberg. Directed by David O. Russell, the film also stars Christian Bale and Melissa Leo, and it uses a blend of dramatized bouts and documentary-style interludes to cover family negotiations, training decisions, and career milestones.

Awards recognition for the film included multiple acting wins and nominations, with Adams receiving a supporting-actress nomination from the Academy. Her character functions as a narrative counterweight within the script’s family-system conflicts, anchoring scenes that detail managerial control, training philosophy, and the business realities of professional boxing.

‘Her’ (2013) – Amy

Spike Jonze’s ‘Her’ positions Adams as Amy, a documentary filmmaker and friend to Joaquin Phoenix’s Theodore Twombly, in a near-future story about human-AI relationships. The production integrates original design elements—devices, interfaces, and costuming—to build its setting, and it features voice performances by Scarlett Johansson and others.

The film won major writing awards and earned multiple nominations across top categories. Adams’s character provides a grounded, human perspective on creative work, companionship, and evolving definitions of intimacy, with scenes that outline in-world media production, workplace culture, and the social impact of advanced operating systems.

‘Doubt’ (2008) – Sister James

In ‘Doubt’, adapted and directed by John Patrick Shanley from his Pulitzer-winning play, Adams portrays Sister James, a young Catholic school teacher who brings a concern to Meryl Streep’s Sister Aloysius. The cast includes Philip Seymour Hoffman and Viola Davis, maintaining the play’s dialogue-driven structure within a period-accurate production design.

The film received Academy Award nominations in all four acting categories, including supporting-actress recognition for Adams. Her character’s role within the narrative hinges on institutional procedure and the handling of allegations, with plot turns that focus on classroom observation, chain-of-command reporting, and the tensions among certainty, evidence, and pastoral care.

‘Junebug’ (2005) – Ashley Johnsten

‘Junebug’, directed by Phil Morrison and written by Angus MacLachlan, casts Adams as Ashley Johnsten in a Southern family drama that unfolds when an art dealer visits her husband’s relatives. The film was produced on an independent scale, premiering at Sundance, where Adams’s performance drew early career attention.

She earned her first Academy Award nomination for supporting actress for this role. The production emphasizes low-key naturalism—on-location shooting, ambient soundscapes, and a focus on family rituals—while the script uses Ashley’s perspective to navigate themes of class, regional identity, and the intersection of personal aspirations with domestic obligations.

‘Vice’ (2018) – Lynne Cheney

In Adam McKay’s political biographical film ‘Vice’, Adams plays Lynne Cheney opposite Christian Bale’s Dick Cheney. The screenplay incorporates archival footage, stylized narration, and legal-procedure references to track policy shifts, cabinet appointments, and energy-sector ties, with a supporting cast that includes Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, and Amy Seimetz.

The film received multiple Academy Award nominations across acting, makeup, and craft categories, with Adams nominated for supporting actress. Her portrayal engages with campaign mechanics, speechwriting, and party-infrastructure networking, situating the character within scenes that depict think-tank influence, fundraising environments, and intra-party strategy sessions.

‘Nocturnal Animals’ (2016) – Susan Morrow

Tom Ford’s ‘Nocturnal Animals’ features Adams as Susan Morrow, a Los Angeles gallery owner who receives a manuscript from her ex-husband, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. The film alternates between Susan’s present-day art-world setting and the manuscript’s violent, West Texas narrative, using parallel casting and production design to mirror themes between the two layers.

The production premiered at major festivals and collected awards attention, including an Oscar nomination for Michael Shannon. Adams’s character anchors the frame story, with sequences detailing gallery operations, curatorial decisions, and the logistics of high-end art openings, while the intercut novel-within-the-film drives the plot’s investigation of authorship, memory, and consequence.

Share your favorites from Amy Adams’s career in the comments and tell us which roles you’d add to the list!