DeeAnna Moran is an interesting minor character within Hail, Caesar! (2016) as her character is distinct in an ensemble of characters in the studio managed by Eddie Mannix in the 1950s. DeeAnna’s brief appearance in Hail, Caesar! (2016) has her starring on the set of a mermaid film. DeeAnna is a currently unmarried and pregnant actress at Capitol Pictures, and already used to scandals, as she discusses the studio’s involvement in ending her previous two marriages with questionable men. DeeAnna’s characterization in Hail, Caesar! (2016) plays of the cliché storyline surrounding actresses in the time, the difficulty of having her baby without negatively affecting her and the studio’s publicity. It is another issue within the studio that Eddie must solve. DeeAnna receives several passing mentions within the film after her appearance as Eddie tries to sort out her situation in film. Her addition adds more pressure onto Eddie as he deals with numerous issues with other characters in the studio. In “Referential acting and the ensemble cast” Ernest Mathijs states referential acting requires the actor engage with the audience’s expectations of their character type, the actor must act using cues to connect to the audience’s perceptions. Mathijas asserts the use of stereotypes and culturally specific references is also part of referential acting and in Hail, Caesar! (2016) Eddie’s suggestion to solving DeeAnna’s pregnancy is built off the stereotype of the unmarried, pregnant actresses disappearing for months only to reappear with a newly adopted baby that the audience would have immediately identified. DeeAnna’s actions and interactions with others on set reveal her irritability and special treatment. Moreover, her costume differs from the others on the set, in colour, appearance, and glamour, even the positioning of her in the filming on set has her surrounded by a background of extras, to relay her relative importance to the studio. Overall DeeAnna is typed into persona of an actress, and shows the lead character, Eddie’s creativity when dealing the studio drama in Hail, Caesar! (2016).

Works Cited

Ernest Mathijs, Referential acting and the ensemble cast, Screen, Volume 52, Issue 1, Spring 2011, Pages 89–96, https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/hjq063

Hail, Caesar!. Directed by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, 2016.

Who is Profiling the Character?: Isabel Horsch
Source of Image: Hail, Caesar! (2016)
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