Kelly McGillismight have beenHollywood’s most underrated actressin the 1980s. For instance, although she received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for her breakout role as an Amish woman in Peter Weir’s 1985 thrillerWitness, it was her on-screen romantic interest and protector Harrison Ford who was nominated for an Academy Award (the first and only one of his career). She followed upWitnessby playing the romantic interest of another one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, Tom Cruise, in Tony Scott’s schmaltzy action blockbusterTop Gun,the highest-grossing film of 1986. However, she was not asked to return for the 2022 sequel,Top Gun: Maverick,which McGillis attributed to her age and appearance ina 2019 interview withEntertainment Tonight.
But it wasn’t just McGillis' male co-stars who got more appreciation than her. The 1988 courtroom dramaThe Accusedsaw starJodie Foster(deservedly) receive many awards for her performance as a justice-seeking victim of a horrific gang rape, including the Academy Award for Best Actress. McGillis' performance as a lawyer who comes to question her complicity in a culture and legal system that ignores victims of misogynistic violence is just as poignant and complex as Foster’s, but she received no awards. Furthermore, McGillis' real-life experience with sexual violence lends her performance an even greater degree of authenticity and poignancy.
Which Side Is She On?
The Accused
The Accusedtells the story of Sarah Tobias (Foster), who is violently assaulted by three men at a bar while several of the other bar patrons cheer them on. District Attorney Katheryn Murphy (McGillis) is assigned to prosecute the crime, but she is reluctant to bring the case to trial due to the fact that Sarah was drunk, high, and flirting with one of the men prior to the crime (which might sway the jury to acquit the men).
Although Katheryn initially arranges a plea deal with the perpetrators' defense team that gives them a light sentence, she later has a change of heart and decides to prosecute the bystanders who cheered the criminals on. If she achieves a conviction, the men would have to serve a five-year sentence due to the assault being put on record as rape, rather than the lesser charge in the plea deal.
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Initially, Katheryn is cold and unsympathetic in her interactions with Sarah. She expresses an all-too-common attitude by suggesting that Sarah’s “provocative” clothing and seductive behavior gave the men in the bar (and will give the jury) the impression thatshe wanted them to do what they did to her— a textbook example of victim-blaming. Furthermore, she only arranges the plea deal because she cares more about avoiding the embarrassment of a trial and preserving her own reputation as a skilled prosecutor than about providing justice and closure for Sarah.
Through Katheryn’s character, the film intelligently demonstrates how even women can adopt misogynistic attitudes about sexual violence, especially when doing so is a necessity for their careers. It highlights how misogyny is a systemic issue, rather than an individual character flaw.
Kelly McGillis Gives a Masterclass in Subtlety
Even so, thanks to McGillis' sincere performance, the audience can tell that Katheryn is not a bad person, but a good person working in a fundamentally unjust system. As a result, when Katheryn sees how much her plea deal has hurt Sarah and decides to prosecute the bystanders, her evolution feels natural, rather than sudden or contrived. After she decides to go to trial, Katheryn begins to show more outward emotion, like Sarah, while still remaining as stern and professional as her occupation requires her to be. She is still a hard-nosed prosecutor, but one who finally recognizes that her job is to help a traumatized woman get justice, rather than simply win another court case.
While Foster’s performance is raw and intense (which is what Oscar voters tend to prefer), McGillis' performance is more subtle and nuanced, as she plays a person who generally has to keep her emotions in check. But it is just as technically demanding of a performance as Foster’s, and the fact that McGillis pulls it off so effectively is a testament to her talent and professionalism.
From Victim to Prosecutor
Despite playing the prosecutor to a violent sex crime, McGillis could very much relate to Sarah’s experience. In fact,in a harrowing interview withPeoplepublished shortly after the film’s release, McGillis revealed that she had been offered to play Sarah, but she turned it down. Her reason? “Because I have been a victim in real life, and had no need to re-create it on screen.”
In 1982, when she was 21, McGillis was assaulted in her New York apartment by two men. Her experience of being medically treated and identifying her two assailants, all while coping with unimaginable trauma and fear, almost perfectly mirrors the opening scenes of the film. While the filmwas loosely based on the real-life assaultof a woman in 1983, it could just as easily have been based off of McGillis' own life. (In fact, it wouldn’t be the last time someone attacked McGillis in her own home — a female stalker attacked her in her home in 2016).
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This biographical information makes McGillis' performance as a woman determined to hold both Sarah’s assailants and the justice system accountable even more powerful. This isn’t a Hollywood movie star performing for the camera - it’s a woman indirectly reliving her own horrifying life experience so that other survivors may feel seen and supported. Like any great performance, McGillis’s empathy and righteous outrage on behalf of Foster’s character is 100% authentic.
While she acknowledged toPeoplethat making the film"brought back a lot of the old nightmares,“she also acknowledged that she felt “like a demon had been put to rest” when it was done. She hopes that the film will have the same effect on viewers who share those same demons, while also empowering them to speak out and tell their stories in pursuit of making society safer and more equitable for women. Her performance therefore deserves to be remembered and praised not just for its technical prowess, but also for its immense personal importance for her as a woman survivor.
The Accusedis available for rental on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, and Fandango at Home.
