Chances are at least a few of your casual conversations about Bridesmaids have revolved around the scene in which Melissa McCarthy is forced to use a bridal shop sink as a toilet. The true beauty of that scene was Kristen Wiig’s Annie, sweat-drenched, trying to stay composed while she was berated over choosing a restaurant that caused some serious gastrointestinal horrors for the ladies. Not to suggest that McCarthy doesn’t deserve the praise; she’s a terrific actress (Sookie forever!).
Come Feb. 26, McCarthy will go up against fellow supporting actress Oscar nominees Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer from The Help, Janet McTeer, playing a cross-dresser in Albert Nobbs, and Berenice Bejo of silent juggernaut The Artist. Though it’s highly unlikely the shot of McCarthy perched on a bathroom countertop will play on the big screen when her name is announced inside the Kodak Theatre, the image probably won’t be too far from viewers’ minds. The Bridesmaids scene-stealer is far from the only nominee in history who grabbed the attention of moviegoers and the Academy with a role that involved a squirm-inducing scene. Below are a handful of others.
Linda Blair, The Exorcist
Blair was barely a teenager when she took on the twisted role of Regan in the scariest movie of all time. As far as which scene is most revolting, take your pick: the crucifix-crotch-stabbing, the convulsions, the levitating, the pea soup projectile vomiting. The most enduringly troubling, though, was actually cut from the movie in 1973 but reinstated for the 2000 rerelease: the spider-walk staircase scene. Regan’s freakish contortion is spine-tingling, and seeing it made me wonder what possessed me to catch the rerelease in the theater, with no blanket to duck under.
Sissy Spacek, Carrie
It takes guts to stand, caked in fake blood, and telekinetically massacre a bunch of kids and teachers at the prom. When Carrie’s suffering finally turns to rage, it’s most remarkable for her silence. Wordlessly, she burns down the auditorium while drowning in the echoes of her deranged mother’s declaration “They’re all going to laugh at you.” The catchphrase stuck, and also serves up chills thanks to the acting finesse of Spacek (and fellow 1977 Oscar nominee Piper Laurie as Carrie’s mother).
Glenn Close, Fatal Attraction
Before she became a nominee this year for playing a taciturn woman pretending to be a man in Albert Nobbs, Close was a nightmare that Michael Douglas couldn’t shake. Sure, it’s just a punchline now, but 25 years ago, the revelation that Close’s Alex had gone so far as to boil a pet rabbit in her stalkee’s home really struck a nerve and dominated talk of the movie. Close lost the Oscar to Cher in Moonstruck, who sported a similar crazy mane of hair but who had fewer aggressive tendencies (“Snap out of it!”).
Kathy Bates, Misery
Bates took home the Oscar in 1991 for playing writer- and figurine-obsessed Annie Wilkes, who holds author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) captive until he can produce a new novel that’s to her liking. The film’s infamous hobbling scene is effectively creepy because, really, no one’s ever that perky while wielding a sledgehammer. Bates’ calm demeanor before, during and after the attack is unusually winning.
Anthony Hopkins, The Silence of the Lambs
All sorts of perversions lead up to this scene, but nothing really prepares us for the moment when Hannibal Lecter finally gets his meal and escapes from prison. “Fava beans and a nice chianti [slurp]” is the big Lecter quotable, but for shock value there’s no match for the sickening sight of him peeling away the face he carved off a prison guard and wore as a mask. Hopkins, who won the best actor Oscar in 1992 for the role, keeps us on edge through the whole sequence.
Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction
Oscar nominee Thurman didn’t have to do much when she faced off with that epic needle in Pulp Fiction. No, it’s left to the audience to react as the unconscious Mia is stabbed in the heart with a syringe full of adrenaline. The chest stab got our adrenaline going, too, and collectively we couldn’t shut up about it for months on end.
Edward Norton, American History X
Audiences fixated on the curb stomp by a neo-Nazi losing his grip, and for good reason. It’s disturbing on a cellular level, and hard to think about it without physically recoiling. The tense buildup — with Edward Furlong’s slow-mo “nooooooo!” — is awful. The sound of the stomp is awful. Norton coming unhinged (no pun intended) is awful. But clearly it’s a powerful kind of awful since it’s still such a vivid memory 13 years later.
Warning: This clip is especially disturbing and NSFW
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
Usually when actors drop the word “vulnerable,” it’s in reference to their emotional state. In his 2005 Russian mob thriller, David Cronenberg had Mortensen stark naked while fending off a knife attack by two psychos in a bath house. The ingenuity and bravery of the scene makes us stand in awe at Mortensen, not only for being so exposed during the fight, but also for the many tattoos adorning his body. The makeup chair was probably no picnic either.
Warning: This is the only version of said fight scene available. Enjoy!
James Franco, 127 Hours
The newest scene best watched through the fingers comes courtesy of the nominee who ended up co-hosting the 2011 Oscars and inspiring observations like “I’d rather cut my arm off than sit through the rest of this telecast.” Nausea warnings went out to moviegoers after some fainting spells in early screenings. When Franco, as doomed hiker Aron Ralston, breaks his arm and slices through it, forget the wound itself; Franco’s wincing blood-smeared face is all it takes to grasp the horror of the whole ordeal.
Follow Movieline on Twitter.