Image credit: Overture Films, Sony Pictures Classics, Miramax, SPE, Strand Releasing, The Weinstein Company, Focus Features, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Walt Disney Studios
Amy's filmography is as diverse as they come: from rom-coms and family dramas to full-on thrillers, there's something for everyone.
1. Sunshine Cleaning (2008) Amy Adams plays Rose Lorkowski, a single mom trying to make ends meet by cleaning houses. Rose finds a unique business opportunity — cleaning up crime scenes. Alongside her unreliable sister, Norah (Emily Blunt), Rose starts her own crime scene cleaning business.
The job is grim and sometimes downright disturbing, but it pays well. Throughout the movie, the sisters clean up after suicides, accidental deaths, and even murders. In the midst of this, Rose starts dating a local cop, Mac (Steve Zahn), who's already married.
2. Junebug (2005) Amy Adams is Ashley Johnsten, a young, pregnant woman married to Johnny (Ben McKenzie). The plot thickens when Johnny's brother, George, comes to visit with his sophisticated, art-dealer wife, Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz).
George and Madeleine are actually in North Carolina to pursue an eccentric artist, but the family visit can't be avoided. Ashley is excited and infatuated with her new sister-in-law, while Johnny resents his more successful brother.
Tensions rise, secrets spill, and the family's underlying issues come to the surface.
3. Doubt (2008) Set in a Catholic school in the 1960s, Amy Adams plays Sister James, a young and naive teacher who suspects that Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) might be engaging in inappropriate conduct with one of the male students. She confides in the strict and cynical principal, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep), setting off a chain of events that shakes the school community.
The film becomes a psychological warfare between Sister Aloysius and Father Flynn, as the former tries to catch the latter in the act.
4. The Master (2012) While Amy Adams doesn't play the central role in this one, her character, Peggy Dodd, is crucial. Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) is a WWII veteran struggling with alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder. He joins a religious movement led by Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who is Peggy's husband.
As Freddie becomes more involved with Dodd's "The Cause," Peggy's true colors start to show. She may seem submissive, but she is the one pulling the strings behind the scenes.
5. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008) Set in pre-WWII London, the film follows Guinevere Pettigrew (Frances McDormand), a middle-aged governess who loses her job. In a twist of fate, she ends up working for Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams), a glamorous American actress and singer. Delysia is the epitome of chaos, juggling three love interests at once, and it's up to Miss Pettigrew to help her choose.
6. Trouble with the Curve (2012) In this one, Amy Adams plays Mickey, the daughter of an aging baseball scout, Gus (Clint Eastwood). She's a workaholic lawyer close to making partner at her firm. But she puts her career on hold to accompany her father on a scouting trip when his health starts failing.
On the trip, Mickey meets Johnny (Justin Timberlake), a rival scout who was once a promising player Gus scouted. Love blossoms, of course, but this isn't just a rom-com.
7. Enchanted (2007) Amy Adams stars as Giselle, a fairy-tale princess who's quite literally thrown into the real world — New York City to be exact. She meets Robert (Patrick Dempsey), a divorce lawyer who doesn't believe in happily ever afters.
While trying to adapt to her new surroundings, Giselle starts realizing that life isn't a fairy tale. Still, she doesn't lose her essence; she even manages to change those around her, including Robert and his daughter. Prince Edward, her fiancé from her fairy-tale world, comes to rescue her but things don't go as planned.
8. Leap Year (2010) Anna (Amy Adams) is tired of waiting for her boyfriend to propose. So, she decides to take matters into her own hands and follows him to Dublin to propose on Leap Day, an Irish tradition where women propose to men. Sounds straightforward, right? Well, no.
Anna faces multiple travel woes and ends up in Dingle, far from Dublin. She enlists the help of a surly innkeeper, Declan, to get her to Dublin. On their journey, they encounter cows in the road, get their car wrecked, and even miss a train, all while slowly falling for each other.
9. American Hustle (2013) Amy Adams plays Sydney Prosser, who along with her partner Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), scams people into believing they can get loans for a fee. Their operation gets busted by an ambitious FBI agent (Bradley Cooper). To avoid jail, they have to work undercover to expose corrupt politicians and mobsters.
While the plot might make it sound like a gritty drama, it's actually laced with a lot of humor and absurd situations.
10. The Fighter (2010) This film is about the life of professional boxer Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his older half-brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale). Amy Adams plays Charlene, Micky's love interest, who encourages him to pursue a boxing career despite his family's dysfunction. Dicky, a has-been boxer, falls into crack addiction, throwing his training efforts for Micky into chaos.
Despite the setbacks and family drama, Charlene stands by Micky, serving as a stabilizing influence in his chaotic life.
