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…
