In between a diatribe on the war in Ukraine and a detailed look into justice system, Last Week Tonight host John Oliver managed to fit in a jab at one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
After playing a compilation of television lawyers appealing their client’s convictions, Oliver pointed out what he thought was the pinnacle of stellar, nonverbal acting and fawned over a brief clip of Julianna Margulies from the acclaimed CBS legal drama The Good Wife.
“Let’s just acknowledge Julianna Margulies there, because she is capital-A acting in that moment, doing absolutely everything with absolutely nothing,” Oliver remarked.
In the clip, Margulies is seen flabbergasted after hearing the defense lawyer claiming he’d file for an appeal.
The Emmy Award-winning host used this set-up to drive a punchline to one of cinema’s most recognizable action stars – Dwayne Johnson, claiming her moment of acting was more worthy than The Rock’s two-decades-plus filmography.
“Julianna Margulies is doing more in this three-second clip than The Rock has done in his entire movie career. You heard me. I said what I said. The Rock has officially been clomped,” Oliver quipped while simultaneously banging his prop gavel in reference to an earlier joke.
Later in his segment where he explained the intricacies of being exonerated for a crime one did commit, even with clear evidence of innocence, Oliver uses the teaching moment to reiterate his praise of the three-time Emmy Award-winning actress.
“In general, innocence itself is not an appealable issue. So shocking, it might prompt you to go the full Margulies,” Oliver said while playing the clip of the actress moving her head. “She was in the background of that scene, giving that kind of commitment.”
