19 Great Performances by Women Playing Love Interests

Anne Bancroft in The Graduate (1967), screenshot courtesy of AVCO Embassy Pictures

15. Anne Bancroft (The Graduate)

The role: Mrs. Robinson is a married woman who seduces Dustin Hoffman’s bumbling Benjamin Braddock.

Why she’s great: It would’ve been easy for The Graduate to vilify Mrs. Robinson. After all, not only does she cheat on her husband, but she does so with a younger man (Benjamin is supposed to be half her age, though in reality, the actors were separated by a mere six years); she doesn’t exactly obey society’s expectations of how women should behave. On the contrary, Bancroft and director Mike Nichols depict her with sensitivity, as neither a monster nor a victim but simply a person. They ditch the customary tearful confession and psychoanalytical babble, instead relying on visuals for context. All the explanation you need – the loneliness, the pent-up bitterness – is on Bancroft’s face when she takes a long drag of her cigarette.

Standout moment: The moment of revelation unfolds with shockingly little hubbub. Benjamin doesn’t even have to tell Elaine (Katharine Ross) his secret; she turns to see her mother, soaked in rain, standing in the gap between her cracked-open bedroom door and the frame, and figures it all out. The scene is masterfully directed, with Nichols using reverse shots and changing focus to signal Elaine’s dawning comprehension, as well as acted. Bancroft’s glassy eyes and slumped posture are a haunting image of defeat.