Annabeth Gish’s 10 Best Film & TV Shows, Ranked By IMDb

Annabeth Gish has had a long and varied career, taking her from child actress to seasoned adult with dozens of films and TV credits. She has done comedy, drama, and even commercials with a style and professionalism not always seen in Hollywood, and is known for portraying a variety of smart, complicated, strong characters.

She has recently partnered with producer/writer/director Mike Flanagan on three different projects including the Nextflix dramas The Haunting of Hill House and the more recent Midnight Mass, becoming almost part of a stock company for the producer.

10 Pretty Little Liars (2010 – 2017) 7.4

In Rosewood, Pennsylvania, four young women are former friends who come back together after receiving threats that all their darkest secrets will be exposed. The threats are coming from a mysterious individual calling themselves “A.” The friends all think it might be Alison, the leader of the group who mysteriously disappeared.

Annabeth Gish plays Dr. Anne Sullivan, a therapist hired by the parents of the girls. Dr. Sullivan works to win their trust and figure out what is really going on. Most of Gish’s scenes are with the girls, and her character interacts well with them to discover the identity of “A.” Gish has a record of playing intelligent and empathic characters, and here she is the voice of reason and calm for the girls.

9 SLC Punk! (1998) 7.4

This movie is centered around characters Stevo and Heroin Bob and the punk culture in Salt Lake City. A Coming of age film about their struggles with the mainstream and society in general as they try to live their lives. It’s a film that portrays punk culture well, with humor, drama, and tragedy.

Gish plays Trish, a would-be girlfriend to Heroin Bob. She’s the good girl whose character is the foil to the dark side of SLC and Bob and plays the part with humor as if she’s in on some secret joke that the audience isn’t. It’s a subtle performance in a movie that isn’t particularly subtle itself.

8 Scandal (2012 – 2018) 7.7

In Scandal, Kari Washington plays Oliva Pope, the person to call if you get into trouble in Washington DC. She’s a crisis manager who specializes in the kinds of scandals that will usually end a career, or maybe even cost a life. The fact she and her team are good at containing crises means they’re constantly busy, but her clients are the not only ones keeping secrets.

Annabeth Gish plays a journalist who is having an affair with the President of the United States during season five of the run. She’s one of the problems Oliva Pope has to clean up. Gish and Tony Goldwyn, as the president, have great chemistry and sparks fly during their scenes.

7 Brotherhood (2006 – 2008) 7.7

The Brotherhood was a show that followed the two Caffee brothers: Tommy, a local politician, and Michael, a mobster involved with the New England Irish mob. The two brothers are in constant conflict with each other as they work on both sides of the law.

Annabeth Gish plays Elieen, the lonely and neglected wife of the politician, Tommy. It’s a complicated part in a very complicated show. Throughout the series, Eileen is forced to grow as a person, becoming independent of her husband and making her own life. Gish portrays this emotional growth very well, capturing all sides of a character struggling with darkness and self-loathing.

6 Midnight Mass (2021) 7.7

Since the arrival of a new priest, Crockett Island has been experiencing several supernatural events. The island is a small, isolated community, and when the coming of Father Paul coincides with supposedly miraculous occurrences, the people respond with a religious fervor. But what is really happening on the island?

Perhaps Mike Flanagan’s best horror series yet, Gish plays Dr. Sarah Gunning in Midnight Mass, the town’s local doctor and the voice of reason in a town that seems to be slipping away from any reasonableness. Gish plays this role with a sense of frustration and bewilderment, as her character struggles to explain the inexplicable.

5 Halt And Catch Fire (2014 – 2017) 8.4

Halt and Catch Fire is a series that takes place in the ’80s, depicting the early computer industry and its development. The show takes place over a span of 10 years, following a firm called Cardiff Electric as they vie to get in on the ground floor of the new industry.

Annabeth Gish plays businesswoman Diane Gould, a successful woman in a man’s world. Gish plays the part with forcefulness and self-assurance as a smart woman who knows exactly what she wants and how to get it.

4 Sons Of Anarchy (2008 – 2014) 8.5

Sons of Anarchy features a motorcycle gang operating both legal and illegal businesses in the small town of Charming, CA. The club is the real power in the town, paying the law to look the other way while they profit off prostitution and gun running. The club is run by a father and his stepson, leading to clashes that threaten to tear the club apart.

Gish plays Lieutenant Althea Jarry, the head of the San Joaquin Sheriff Department. Lt. Jarry is not only being paid off by the gang, she’s having an affair with “Chibs” Telford, the group’s current president. She plays the part of someone who is just trying to do her job given the situation that she’s in, in a town where the law isn’t the true power.

3 The Haunting Of Hill House (2018) 8.6

The Haunting of Hill House is centered around a group of now-grown-up siblings who return to the house they were raised in, known as the most haunted house in the country. As adults, they will have to face what has happened before, the horrors that still lurk in Hill House, and their own past.

Gish plays Mrs. Dudley, the housekeeper/aid to Mrs. Hill, who is haunted by the cries of her dead child, just one of Hill House‘s many sad moments. Gish plays the part with a knowingness as if she has seen it all before. She seems to understand Hill House and the ghosts that reside there.

2 The X-Files (2001 – 2018) 8.6

The X-Files follows the investigations of two FBI agents, Scully and Mulder, as they look into cases around UFOs and the paranormal. Annabeth Gish portrayed Agent Monica Reyes in some of the best X-Files episodes of the later seasons.

Monica Reyes is a believer in the paranormal and UFOs, taking the role of the other believer, Fox Mulder, who was leaving the show at the time. Gish plays her character with a straightforward style and intelligence, with her and Gillian Anderson playing well off each other, and she has real chemistry with her partner, played by Robert Patrick.

1 The West Wing (1999 – 2006) 8.8

Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing ran from 1999-2006 and followed the White House administration of President Josiah Barlett and his staff. The show mainly concerned the staff in and around the West Wing and their political ups and downs. It is one of the most acclaimed Emmy-winning dramatic series of the 2000s.

Annabeth Gish plays the president’s oldest daughter, Elizabeth Bartlet Westin, whose husband Doug decides to run for Congress, causing tension with the White House. Gish radiates intelligence and strength as a daughter who has had to navigate politics and her father her whole life. It is a smaller part, but memorable.

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Tom Stewart
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Tom Stewart is an actor, playwright, and writer living in Seattle, WA.

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