Happy 42nd birthday to Christina Applegate, the only woman who could ever manage to tame the wild steed that is Ron Burgundy. Though Applegate is mostly known for her TV work, she’s had some unforgettable moments in film that have left her as part of our cultural lexicon and primed for more work — isn’t it about time that we see more Christina Applegate in film?
For a long time, Applegate was best known as the ditzy, buxom teenage daughter Kelly Bundy on Married with Children, the 90s sitcom that launched her career and made household names of her over-the-top, cranky parents Ed O’Neill and Katey Sagal. Her role on the show proved that the young actress had the comedic chops to carry anything that she was given, whether it was being a stereotypical teenager, or doing more slapstick work within the sitcom dynamic.
Her strength as a comedic actress grew through roles in movies like View From the Top (the Gwyneth Paltrow flight attendant one) and The Sweetest Thing (the Cameron Diaz sex one) where she clearly shined, though the films themselves didn’t necessarily mark much critical success. It wasn’t until landing the role of anchorwoman Veronica Corningstone in 2004’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy that she finally got the recognition she deserved. As the ambitious and whip-smart foil to Will Ferrell’s pompous anchorman, Applegate’s Corningstone character was able to not only make the world’s most celebrated broadcast journalist fall in love with her, but read the news right along side him at the same time.
Veronica Corningstone will be back on screen in December for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues — this time as Ron Burgundy’s wife and a world-famous anchorwoman showing him up at his own game, yet again. No word on if they ever had that fantasy mountaintop wedding he wanted so badly, but here’s to hoping that’s the first five minutes of the film.
