Why Mother Superior From Mrs. Davis Looks So Familiar
By Daniel Kim
Not many performers can ride their character actor glory to household name status. Margo Martindale got her flowers when she appeared as "Character Actor Margo Martindale" in "BoJack Horseman." She even delivered one of the animated series' greatest lines: "When you go to heaven, look up Margo Martindale. I won't be there, but my movies will."
Martindale's long road to character actor-turned-full-fledged star began when the Texas native moved to New York. "I came to New York in '74," Martindale told The A.V. Club. "All I thought about was theater. Theater, theater, theater, theater, theater. Getting the job. Getting the Equity card." Early theater roles — including originating the part of Truvy in "Steel Magnolias" — led to film, and in the 1990s she appeared in films like "Lorenzo's Oil," "The Firm," "Nobody's Fool," and as a doctor in the Meryl Streep-starring "Marvin's Room."
"Meeting Meryl for the first time was incredible," Martindale told Entertainment Weekly. "She was in character the whole time." Streep also provided career advice to Martindale, encouraging her to work on her craft by switching up deliveries during different takes. During that time, the actress was also a regular on television, including a requisite job for any New York-based actor: "Law & Order." Martindale has worked steadily ever since, racking up 130 credits on IMDb.
