So glad I am not the only member of the 'Stockard Channing Appreciation Society.'
This is, in many ways, an incredibly difficult part to 'sell.' A character like Ouisa isn't a character most audiences would identify with, let alone warm themselves to: She is, by many tandards, brimming with unlikeable qualities that don't make her evil, but certainly not the kind of person an audience would identify with and get drawn into the story. She's a snooty rich art-as-snake-oil-salesman spoiled poser, essentially. Playing this kind of character on the outset is hard to do without turning audience against that character within the first 10 minutes, and ultimately 'abandoning' any emotional investment/interest in the film.
Channing infuses Ouisa with a sense of vulnerability that requires tremendous skill/talent to balance that character's otherwise offputting characteristics. She nurtures her character through a growth that fits both the situations that nurture it, and Ouisa's personality.
The character of Ouisa isn't a 'call girl with a heart of gold,' she doesn't require a 'gorgeous actress in a dressed down roll without vanity,' she isn't bordering on insanity. Ouisa is a very understated role that doesn't have much to 'knock one outta the park', in terms of showy acting, but Channing manages to do just that with her incredible 'emotional balancing act' that few actresses can manage with the deft skill Channing brings to everything she does.
In short: She freakin ROCKS! lol
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