6. Anjelica Huston: Morticia in The Addams Family (1991)
The Addams Family is a comedy, so perhaps it is arguable as to whether it requires an actor to lend authenticity to it. But actually the most successful comic performances are those that are played with sincerity, and the best comic characters are those that we believe in and root for. Not caricatures, but memorable characters. The Addams Family started out as a comic strip in The New Yorker, and its popularity saw it become a TV show, film and musical. The casting of Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd underlines director Barry Sonnenfelds determination to do right by Charles Addams creations. Huston is excellent in the film. She is serene, attractive in an odd sort of way, and the camera cannot get enough of those lingering looks. She perfectly captures the character of Morticia as a passionate and devoted wife, and a perfect mother figure. And that, of course, is the joke.