10 Underrated Comedy Performances In Film

Long before she would go on to win critical praise starring alongside former SCTV co-star Eugene Levy in mockumentaries Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration, Catherine O’Hara was a staple of the 1980’s TV comedy scene. A few small film roles here and there went largely unnoticed until Tim Burton came a-knocking. (Or maybe she said his name out loud three times. Who knows?)

O’Hara’s turn as the melodramatic and hypercritical Delia Deetz manages to shine through in a film replete with big performances and even bigger production design. Just revisit the incredulousness on her face as she is forced to – quite expertly – dance and lipsync to Harry Belafonte’s Day-O in the film’s most iconic scene.

Making what could have been a go-to archetype so much more human, whilst balancing the requisite Burtonesque heightening of character, O’Hara’s delivery of histrionics, neuroses, and an overwhelming sense of self-importance dominate each scene she is in, without ever upstaging her (equally brilliant) co-stars.

Stand-Out Moment: A collaborative chat with husband Charles: “If you don’t let me gut out this house and make it my own I will go insane AND I WILL TAKE YOU WITH ME!”