Dutton Ranch Star Annette Bening Thinks This Underrated Film Of Hers Deserves More Hype

Annette Bening's ability to transform herself into the wealthy Texan rancher Beulah Jackson on "Dutton Ranch" is proof that she's a Hollywood legend. She's received a lot of love for one of the "Dutton Ranch" ladies and taking roles that made her an Oscar nominee, but Bening is also proud of some of her lesser-known work.

In a May 2026 interview with Variety, the actor shared that not many people saw her 2009 film "Mother and Child," which follows the story of three women navigating adoption and its effects. "It's funny that some things catch people's imagination and others don't, and I'm okay with that," she said. "I certainly love that film, and people who have seen it do talk to me about it, and I've had amazing experiences of people who've watched it and who have approached me about it." The drama might simply come off as a sad movie, but it made Bening reflect on the weight of adoption and reproductive decisions.

She opened up to Vulture about preparing for "Mother and Child" after its release. The actress has four children with husband Warren Beatty, which is quite different from her character Karen's experience of giving up a child in her teens. However, witnessing other girls deal with teen pregnancy in the '70s played a huge part in Bening's role. "I tried to get into as many first-person accounts of women who'd been through this as I could," Bening explained.

Annette Bening built a name for herself during her stunning transformation from the stage to the big screen. Her history of drama acting probably made her performance in "Mother and Child" memorable, despite the film having fewer viewers. However, that's not her only movie about nuanced family life that touched her.

In the comedy film "The Kids Are Alright," Bening and Julianne Moore played Nic and Jules Allgood, a lesbian couple with two teenagers, who seek to connect with their sperm donor. The Allgoods eventually allowed the children's sperm donor to be part of the family, which later gets complicated. Bening told Focus Features, "To me, 'The Kids Are All Right' is a great and poignant story about a family who very much love each other, and who are going through what a lot of families go through – things that we all share and can relate to." The Oscar-nominated actress also loved the complexity of her character during a drastic transition in the family. She told Deadline, "I loved the fact that she had all the dimensions that she did. I find that very much more interesting to explore as an actor than someone who is all good."

Of course, those aren't the only things Bening has starred in. Here's where you've seen Bening — and the other other ladies of "Dutton Ranch" before.