New York 90s Indie Actress Notables
Notable actresses I remember from New York indie films in the 90s and some became big stars
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As a young girl growing up in New York City, Cara Buono took her family's blue-collar work ethic and began to turn it into an acting career that would later lead not only to starring roles but to screenwriting and directing. With no help from friends, family or mentors, she went out on her own, picked up a trade paper, saw an ad for a casting call and sneaked into an audition. She managed to land a role in Harvey Fierstein's play, "Spook House", despite her lack of experience.
From there on, Cara's career blossomed. She continued stage work both on and off-Broadway, and started her film career opposite Ethan Hawke and Jeremy Irons in Waterland (1992). Much of her work has been in indie films such as Chutney Popcorn (1999), Happy Accidents (2000), Next Stop Wonderland (1998) and Two Ninas (1999), which she co-produced.
As well as acting, Cara has directed, produced and written films, including the short film, Baggage (1997), which starred Liev Schreiber. She co-wrote the screenplay, "When The Cat's Away" (1999), with Brad Anderson, and cut a deal with Miramax for a screenplay adaptation of one of F. Scott Fitzgerald's work. Most recently, Cara starred on the final season of the NBC drama, Third Watch (1999), as Grace Foster, a headstrong paramedic with an unbridled ego and the skills to back it up.
Cara is a graduate of Columbia University, with a double major in English and Political Science. She got her degree in three years, again helped by her blue-collar work ethic.- Actress
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Davis, second of three children, was born in Englewood, New Jersey, the daughter of Joan, a librarian (at one time, for the elementary section of Elisabeth Morrow School), and William Davis, an engineer. Davis has described her mother as a "great storyteller" who would take Davis and her siblings to museums or to "something cultural" every Sunday after church. Davis was raised in Tenafly, New Jersey and graduated in 1982 from Tenafly High School. She was a childhood friend of Mira Sorvino, with whom she wrote and acted in backyard plays. She is married to actor Jon Patrick Walker. They have two daughters, Georgia (born August 31, 2002) and Mae (born December 30, 2004).- Actress
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Annabella Sciorra was born on 29 March 1960 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Annabella is an actor and producer, known for The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) and Jungle Fever (1991). Annabella was previously married to Joe Petruzzi.- Actress
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Aida Turturro is an American actress best known for playing Janice Soprano on the HBO drama series The Sopranos. Aida Turturro was born in Brooklyn, New York, daughter of a Sicilian mother, Dorothy, a homemaker, and an Italian-American father, Domenick Turturro, an artist. After graduating from high school, Turturro earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre from the State University of New York at New Paltz.- Actress
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Nellie Sciutto began her acting career as a petite model in New York City (Elite Model Management) and Asia and got her first acting jobs on soap operas such as Another World, One Life to Live, and All My Children. After completing her degree at Yale University, she began her acting studies at The Actors' Studio and Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York City before relocating to Los Angeles.
Nellie started with stand-up comedy, then a one-person show entitled "Denying Park Avenue" which she sold to HBO. She went on to appear and star in sitcoms like Murphy Brown, Suddenly Susan, Damon, Just Shoot Me, Ink, dramas like JAG, Eyes, and Law and Order, and in feature films: The Aviator (with Leonardo DiCaprio), The Departed (with Leonardo DiCaprio, Alec Baldwin and Martin Sheen), Shutter Island, (with Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, and Jackie Earle Haley) and Haunted Echos (with Sean Young) Mindcage (with John Malkovich and Martin Lawrence), among others. She co-directed (with James Biberi) and starred in the feature Fixing Rhonda.
Throughout her career, she has been a writer and wrote her first book, "50 Moments: Faking It, Making it and Taking It in Hollywood as a Working Actor," which chronicles her 30-year career. You can listen to Nellie on her podcasts "The Bubble Lounge Podcast" about living in Highland Park in Dallas, and the podcast that accompanies her book where she interviews celebrities about their personal Hollywood experiences.- Actress
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Parker Posey was born two months premature in Baltimore, Maryland, to Lynda (Patton) and Chris Posey. The family moved to Monroe, La. and then Laurel, Mississippi, where Chris became owner of Laurel's own Posey Chevrolet. Parker attended high school at R. H. Watkins High School in Laurel, and college at the prestigious SUNY Purchase. While at SUNY she roomed with Sherry Stringfield of TV's ER (1994).- Actress
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Catherine Kellner was born on 2 October 1970 in New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Pearl Harbor (2001), 200 Cigarettes (1999) and After.Life (2009). She has been married to Reuben Avery since 22 September 2012. They have two children.- Actress
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Olivia d'Abo is an English actress and singer from London. She debuted as a teenager in 1984, and has remained active over the following decades. Her most famous role was playing the free-spirited Karen Arnold in the historical television series "The Wonder Years" (1988 -1993). The series lasted for 6 seasons, and a total of 115 episodes.
In 1969, d'Abo was born in London. Her father was singer and songwriter Mike d'Abo (1944-), lead vocalist for the pop band Manfred Mann (1966-1969). D'Abo's mother was the model Maggie London. Through her father, d'Abo is a first cousin, once removed of fellow actress Maryam d'Abo (1960-). Maryam is known for playing the Bond girl Kara Milovy in the spy film "The Living Daylights" (1987).
D'Abo settled in the United States in the 1980s. She attended high schools in the Los Angeles area. She made her screen debut in the sword and sorcery film "Conan the Destroyer" (1984), at the age of 14. The film was based on the "Conan the Barbarian" stories by Robert Ervin Howard (1906-1936), with the main role reserved for actor Arnold Schwarzenegger (1947-). D'Abo played Princess Jehnna of Shadizar, who Conan has to escort on a quest to retrieve the magical gemstone Heart of Ahriman and the missing Horn of Dagoth. The film earned about 31 million dollars at the domestic box office.
Months later, the romantic drama film "Bolero" (1984) was released. D'Abo had the supporting role of the Gypsy girl Catalina, who befriends the main character Ayre "Mac" MacGillvary (played by Bo Derek). The film was a box office flop, and was received negatively by most critics. It was nominated for 9 Golden Raspberry Awards, winning 6. D'Abo herself won the "Golden Raspberry Award for Worst New Star".
After a brief hiatus in her career, d'Abo had her next starring film role in the gymnastics-themed film "Flying" (1986). She played Robin Crew, an adolescent gymnast who injured her leg in a car accident. Throughout the film, Robin tries to get back into shape and to rejoin her gymnastics team. The film received only a limited release in movie theaters, but achieved some success in the home video market. The film has a minor cult following, due to featuring Keanu Reeves (1964-) in one of his earliest roles.
Also in 1986, d'Abo had the female lead role in the action film "Bullies". She played Becky Cullen, a female member of a clan consisting of bullies and thugs. Her family objects when she falls in love with a member of an enemy family. The film was loosely inspired by the play "Romeo and Juliet", but had a modern setting. The film earned about 2.9 million dollars at the box office.
In 1988, d'Abo joined the main cast of the historical series the "The Wonder Years", playing the main character's older sister. The series often contrasted the conservative views of the Arnold family's parents with the liberal views expressed by Karen Arnold (d'Abo's character). D'Abo left the series main cast in 1991, as her character was de-emphasized. However, she remained available for guest appearances until the series' finale. The role of Karen Arnold's husband in the later seasons was played by David Schwimmer. This was Schwimmer's first recurring role in a television series.
In 1990, d'Abo played the time traveler Chanel-6 in the science fiction comedy "The Spirit of '76". In the film, time travelers from a dystopian 22nd century attempt to retrieve valuable documents from the year 1776. By accident, they end up in the year 1976. While acclimating themselves to this era, they embrace the era's own revolutionary spirit. The film only had a limited release in movie theaters, but was noted for a soundtrack that included many of the era's hits.
D'Abo often appeared in guest roles in television series during the early 1990s. She eventually gained a major role as a series regular in the sitcom "The Single Guy" (1995-1997). The sitcom had a similar premise with some of the era's hit sitcoms, featuring single people who are struggling with relationships. But it failed to find an audience of its own, and only lasted for two seasons.
D'Abo gained her first major voice acting role in the short-lived animated series "Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm". It was an adaptation of the video game series "Mortal Kombat", featuring many of the same characters. D'Abo voiced military officer Sonya Blade, one of the protagonists of the series. The series only lasted for 13 episodes. The final episode featured a failed insurrection against the evil emperor Shao Kahn, and left the fates of several characters without resolutions.
From 1999 to 2000, d'Abo played female super-villain Ten/ Melanie Walker in the superhero series "Batman Beyond" (1999-2001). Her character was depicted as a member of the playing card-themed super-villain team Royal Flush Gang, and as a love interest for Batman/ Terry McGinnis.
D'Abo played Jane Porter (Tarzan's wife) in the animated series "The Legend of Tarzan" (2001-2003). She had the same role in the spin-off animated film "Tarzan & Jane" (2002). The series was a loose adaptation of the "Tarzan" stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950).
D'Abo had villainous roles in the superhero series Justice League (2001-2004). She voiced both Star Sapphire/Carol Ferris and Morgaine le Fey. She had a more heroic role in the animated film "Ultimate Avengers" (2006), playing the Russian super-heroine Black Widow/Natalia Romanova. She returned to this role in the sequel, "Ultimate Avengers 2" (2006).
From 2002 to 2008, d'Abo played criminal mastermind Nicole Wallace in the police procedural "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (2001-2011). Her character was depicted as the archenemy of Robert Goren, though she only appeared in 5 episodes. During the series, she murders multiple people. She denies accusations that she has killed her own daughter, claiming that her daughter's death was accidental.
From 2008 to 2009, d'Abo played Jedi master Luminara Unduli in the animated series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (2008-2020). In 2009, d'Abo voiced Carol Ferris in the animated film "Green Lantern: First Flight". In 2010, d'Abo voiced the super-heroine Elasti-Girl/Rita Farr in an episode of "Batman: The Brave and the Bold". Easti-Girl is a founding member of the Doom Patrol, and often appears in adaptations of the team's adventures. In 2012, d'Abo voiced another version of Star Sapphire in the animated film "Justice League: Doom". In 2014, she voiced Star Sapphire in the video game "Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham".
In 2019, d'Abo voiced Luminara Unduli again, in a cameo role in the live-action film "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker". As of 2021, d'Abo is 52-years-old. She has never retired, and continues to work regularly in both films and television. D'Abo has had an enduring appeal, and is well-remembered for playing popular characters over the decades.- Actress
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Eliza Roberts is known for National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), The Tasmanian Devil (2021) and My Last Best Friend (2023). She has been married to Eric Roberts since 16 August 1992. She was previously married to James Simons.- Actress
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Anne Celeste Heche was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She came to recognition portraying Vicky Hudson and Marley Love in the soap opera Another World (1964), which won her a Daytime Emmy Award and two Soap Opera Digest Awards. She came to mainstream prominence in the late 1990s with roles in the crime drama film Donnie Brasco (1997), the disaster film Volcano (1997), the slasher film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), the action comedy film Six Days Seven Nights (1998), and the drama-thriller film Return to Paradise (1998).- Actress
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Catherine Keener is an American actress, Oscar-nominated for her roles in the independent films Being John Malkovich (1999) and Capote (2005). Acclaimed in her community for her quirky roles in independent film and mainstream such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Keener got her start as a casting director in New York City.
Catherine Ann Keener was born in Miami, Florida, and was raised in Hialeah, FL. She is the daughter of Evelyn (Jamiel) and James Keener, who owned an auto shop. She is of Lebanese (mother) and English, Scottish, and German (father) descent. Keener attended Wheaton College in Massachusetts. She began taking acting classes when she was unable to sign up for a photography class. After graduating, Keener managed a McDonalds in New York City before becoming an assistant casting director and soon relocating to Los Angeles.
Not long after, Keener told her superior of her aspirations for acting and she landed a one-worded role as a waitress in About Last Night (1986). Two years later, she landed a role in a film called Survival Quest (1988), where she met her future husband, Dermot Mulroney. After struggling for years in the industry, Keener landed a role in an independent film, opposite the unknown Brad Pitt, in Johnny Suede (1991). Her ascent in independent film began as she starred in Living in Oblivion (1995) and Walking and Talking (1996) before her mainstream break with Being John Malkovich (1999) in 1999, which earned Keener her first Oscar nomination. Since then, Catherine Keener has starred in several critically acclaimed films.- Actress
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Lisa Vidal was born on 13 June 1965 in New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Star Trek (2009), Being Mary Jane (2013) and Mighty Aphrodite (1995). She has been married to Jay Cohen since 6 January 1990. They have three children.- Actress
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Connie Britton began playing country music fading sensation Rayna Jaymes in Nashville (2012) after having wrapped production for the five season long Friday Night Lights (2006) alongside Kyle Chandler. She previously appeared in Universal's Friday Night Lights (2004) -the movie- directed by Peter Berg and also starring Billy Bob Thornton; and Edward Burns' independent feature Looking for Kitty (2004).
Britton was born Constance Elaine Womack in Boston, Massachusetts, to Linda Jane (Cochran) and Edgar Allen Womack, Jr., a physicist and energy company executive. She is of Irish, German, and English descent.
Britton received accolades for her starring roles in Edward Burns' acclaimed independent films The Brothers McMullen (1995) and No Looking Back (1998). In the former, she captivated moviegoers with her portrayal of "Molly", the luminous wife of a cheating husband. This popular low-budget film went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. After nearly canceling her audition with director Edward Burns, this last meeting of the day turned into the role that would launch her career. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Britton moved to Lynchburg, Virginia, at the age of seven with her family, including her fraternal twin sister. She went on to attend Dartmouth College, where she majored in Asian studies and spent a term in Beijing, China. Upon graduation, she moved to New York, where she spent two years at the Neighborhood Playhouse studying with Sanford Meisner, and an additional two years performing in regional theater and off-Broadway productions. She moved to Los Angeles after the success of The Brothers McMullen (1995).
She starred in ABC's Lost at Home (2003) opposite Mitch Rouse and Gregory Hines. Her other television credits include The Fighting Fitzgeralds (2001) opposite Brian Dennehy, a recurring role in the highly-acclaimed drama The West Wing (1999) and a starring role in the award-winning comedy Spin City (1996) opposite Michael J. Fox. Additionally, Britton starred in the recent feature films The Next Big Thing (2001) and One Eyed King (2001).
In her free time, Britton, who resides in both New York and Los Angeles, enjoys hiking, yoga, and doing volunteer work.- Maxine Bahns was born in 1971 in Vermont, the daughter of a German-American father and a Chinese-Brazilian mother. Maxine left home at 16 and traveled to Barcelona, Valencia, Paris and Rome. Returning to New York, she attended NYU, where she majored in Latin and Greek language and literature, also attending acting classes at Three Arts Studios. During this time, she auditioned for Edward Burns' The Brothers McMullen (1995) and was cast as the female lead opposite Edward Burns. Over the next few years, she has appeared in various low budget independent films, such as She's the One (1996), Dangerous Curves (2000), Cutaway (2000), Vice (2000), and Spin Cycle (2000).
On moving to Los Angeles, Maxine became involved in triathlons and, in 2001, she competed in the Hawaii Ironman Championships. She has also competed in numerous other triathlons, such as the Wildflower 1/2 Ironman and the Keauhou 1/2 Ironman. She has appeared on the covers of Runner's World, Triathlete Magazine, and Fit magazine. - Actress
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Jennifer Jostyn was born on 11 November 1968 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for House of 1000 Corpses (2003), Deep Impact (1998) and The Life Coach (2005).- Writer
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Shari Albert is a graduate of New York University. She has been described in the business as a "comedic actress with depth". This is revealed in her breakout performance in Edward Burn's, "The Brother's McMullen" which won the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize in 1995 and launched Albert's acting career. Since then, Shari has put her focus on her screenwriting career and was asked to attend the prestigious 2022 Writer's Lab, sponsored by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman.- Actress
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Jennifer is an American actress and filmmaker, who is perhaps best known for writing and starring in the indie hits, Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) and Friends with Kids (2011).
A graduate from Yale University, Jennifer started her career as a New York-based theater actor, starring in over 25 off-Broadway and regional productions, before coming to Hollywood in 1997. Within weeks of her arrival, she landed a series regular role in ABC's Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (1998), alongside Ryan Reynolds, Traylor Howard and Richard Ruccolo. That same year, she co-wrote and starred in an off-Broadway play, with Heather Juergensen, called "Lipschtick: The Story of Two Women Seeking The Perfect Shade", that caught the attention of Hollywood studios. The play was optioned by "Radar Pictures" to be made into a film, starring Westfeldt and Juergensen.
After one season on "Two Guys", 20th Century Fox Studios pulled Jennifer from that show to cast her as the lead of another show for them, the short-lived Holding the Baby (1998) on Fox.
While Westfeldt was busy shooting sitcoms, she and Juergensen were also hard at work, developing their play into a screenplay. Frustrated by the slow pace of studio development, they bought back the rights to their script and decided to make their film independently, on a shoestring budget. The film was Kissing Jessica Stein (2001).
"Kissing Jessica Stein" was snapped up by "Fox Searchlight", when it debuted at the LA International Film Festival, then was released to critical acclaim in March of 2002. Jennifer received the Golden Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for her role as "Jessica", an Indie Spirit Nomination for Best First Screenplay, and a Special Jury Prize for Writing and Acting at the Los Angeles International Film Festival. The film won the Audience Award for Best Feature at the Los Angeles International Film Festival, the Audience Favorites Award at the Chicago International Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Miami Film Festival, Best Feature at the Louisville Jewish Film Festival, and the GLAAD Media Award.
Jennifer continued to work steadily in television, starring in pilots for the WB (The Gene Pool (2001) opposite Chris Eigeman in 2001), F/X (The untitled Paul Reiser pilot in 2002), and NBC (Steve Levitan's Dante (2005) in 2005), and doing recurring and guest roles on Judging Amy (1999), Hack (2002), Numb3rs (2005) and Snoops (1999). She also starred in the indie, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (2004) (aka "How To Lose Your Lover"), in 2004, opposite Paul Schneider.
She made her Broadway debut, in the fall of 2003, in the critical and commercial hit, "Wonderful Town", starring opposite two-time Tony Winner Donna Murphy and directed by three-time Tony Winner Kathleen Marshall. Jennifer received a 2004 Tony nomination, a Theater World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut, and a Drama League Award for her role as "Eileen Sherwood".
Jennifer's second feature as an actress/scribe, Ira & Abby (2006), marked her first solo screen-writing effort. "Ira & Abby" won the Audience Award for Best Feature at the Los Angeles Film Festival, the Jury Prize for Best Feature at the HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, and the Audience Award for Best Feature at the Boston Jewish Film Festival. Additionally, Jennifer won Best Actress at the HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival for her performance as "Abby". The film was acquired by "Magnolia Pictures" and was released to critical acclaim in the fall of 2007. That same year, Jennifer was cast as the lead of ABC's Notes from the Underbelly (2007), directed and executive produced by Barry Sonnenfeld. "Notes" ran for two seasons on ABC. Her recent television credits include memorable arcs on ABC's hit, Grey's Anatomy (2005) and the final season of Fox's hit, 24 (2001), as well as starring in the TV movie, Before You Say 'I Do' (2009), opposite David Sutcliffe.
Her recent stage work includes the world premiere of Joe Gilford's "Finks" at the Powerhouse Theater, opposite Josh Radnor and directed by Charlie Stratton (2008); the world premiere of Cusi Cram's "A Lifetime Burning" at Primary Stages off-Broadway, directed by Pam Mackinnon (2009); "Three Sisters" at LA Theaterworks (2011) and the world premiere of Stephen Belber's "The Power of Duff" at the Powerhouse Theater, opposite Greg Kinnear and directed by Peter Dubois (2012).
On the big screen, Jennifer Westfeldt most recently wrote, starred in and made her directorial debut in the indie hit, Friends with Kids (2011), released by Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions in March 2012. "Friends with Kids" was a breakout hit at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival, and boasted a stellar cast, including Adam Scott, Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig, Chris O'Dowd, Ed Burns, Megan Fox and Jon Hamm.
Jennifer has been in a relationship with Jon Hamm since 1997. They reside in both New York and Los Angeles.- Actress
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Heather Juergensen was raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. After graduating from Stuyvesant High School in 1987, she began writing and performing for the stage in both New York and Los Angeles. While at an acting and writing workshop sponsored by New York's Ensemble Studio Theater, she noticed that she was writing material similar to another actress-writer in attendance named 'Jennifer Westfeldt'. They began to collaborate and wrote a series of scenes produced off-Broadway under the name 'Lipschtick'. The response to one of the scenes inspired them to write a film script about two straight women who fall into a romantic relationship. The film was developed by a studio but not produced. They held script readings and sold shares to buy back the script rights and pay for the film's production. The result was the award-winning film, Kissing Jessica Stein (2001). Since the successful release of that project, Heather has either written or rewritten several stage, film and television properties, including a play about Brooklyn.- Actress
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Kate Beckinsale was born on 26 July 1973 in Hounslow, Middlesex, England, and has resided in London for most of her life. Her mother is Judy Loe, who has appeared in a number of British dramas and sitcoms and continues to work as an actress, predominantly in British television productions. Her father was Richard Beckinsale, born in Nottingham, England. He starred in a number of popular British television comedies during the 1970s, most notably the series Rising Damp (1974), Porridge (1974) and The Lovers (1970). He passed away tragically early in 1979 at the age of 31.
Kate attended the private school Godolphin and Latymer School in London for her grade and primary school education. In her teens she twice won the British bookseller W.H. Smith Young Writers' competition - once for three short stories and once for three poems. After a tumultuous adolescence (a bout of anorexia - cured - and a smoking habit which continues to this day), she gradually took up the profession of acting.
Her major acting debut came in a TV film about World War II called One Against the Wind (1991), filmed in Luxembourg during the summer of 1991. It first aired on American television that December. Kate began attending Oxford University's New College in the fall of 1991, majoring in French and Russian literature. She had already decided that she wanted to act, but to broaden her horizons she chose university over drama school. While in her first year at Oxford, Kate received her big break in Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (1993). Kate worked in three other films while attending Oxford, beginning with a part in the medieval historical drama Royal Deceit (1994), cast as Ethel. The film was shot during the spring of 1993 on location in Denmark, and she filmed her supporting part during New College's Easter break. Later in the summer of that year she played the lead in the contemporary mystery drama Uncovered (1994). Before she went back to school, her third year at university was spent at Oxford's study-abroad program in Paris, France, immersing herself in the French language, Parisian culture and French cigarettes.
A year away from the academic community and living on her own in the French capital caused her to re-evaluate the direction of her life. She faced a choice: continue with school or concentrate on her flourishing acting career. After much thought, she chose the acting career. In the spring of 1994 Kate left Oxford, after finishing three years of study. Kate appeared in the BBC/Thames Television satire Cold Comfort Farm (1995), filmed in London and East Sussex during late summer 1994 and which opened to spectacular reviews in the United States, grossing over $5 million during its American run. It was re-released to U.K. theaters in the spring of 1997.
Acting on the stage consumed the first part of 1995; she toured in England with the Thelma Holts Theatre Company production of Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull". After turning down several mediocre scripts "and going nearly berserk with boredom", she waited seven months before another interesting role was offered to her. Her big movie of 1995 was the romance/horror movie Haunted (1995), starring opposite Aidan Quinn and John Gielgud, and filmed in West Sussex. In this film she wanted to play "an object of desire", unlike her past performances where her characters were much less the siren and more the worldly innocent. Kate's first film project of 1996 was the British ITV production of Jane Austen's novel Emma (1996). Her last film of 1996 was the comedy Shooting Fish (1997), filmed at Shepperton Studios in London during early fall. She played the part of Georgie, an altruistic con artist. She had a daughter, Lily, in 1999 with actor Michael Sheen.- Actress
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Chloë Sevigny is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actress and director who is known for her groundbreaking work across film, television and theatre. Sevigny has spent her career working with innovative and revolutionary filmmakers and artists including Lars von Trier, Jim Jarmusch, Mary Harron, David Fincher and Whit Stillman and Luca Guadagnino. She continues that work with several upcoming projects: Sevigny can be currently seen in We Are Who We Are, for HBO/Sky, which was created, written and directed by Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name). The eight-episode drama is a coming of age story about a group of American soldiers on an Army base in Italy. We Are Who We Are is being produced by Wildside and Apartment Pictures and distributed by Freemantle. Alice Braga, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Kid Cudi also star. In 2021 Sevigny will begin production on the second season of the Natasha Lyonne hit Russian Doll for Netflix. In the first season, Chloë made an appearance as Leonora, mother to Natasha's character Nadia. The second season will be an origin story in which Chloë's character is heavily featured. Russian Doll was created by Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler and Leslye Headland. Sevigny was last seen on the big screen in Queen and Slim, directed by Melina Matsoukas and written by Lena Waithe, with the original idea by James Frey. The film stars Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith. The film is about a black man and black woman on a first date that goes awry after the two are pulled over by a police officer at a traffic stop. They kill the police officer in self-defense and go on the run, rather than turn themselves in. Chloë's character plays a pivotal role in deciding their fate. The film was released in the US by Universal in November 2019. Opening the 2019 Cannes Film Festival was Jim Jarmusch's third film for Focus Features and Universal Pictures International, The Dead Don't Die. The zombie-comedy boasts a cast including Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Adam Driver, Steve Buscemi and Selena Gomez. Sevigny plays a small-town police officer, with Murray and Driver, in a town under zombie attack. Carter Logan and Animal Kingdom produced. Sevigny previously worked with Jarmusch on Broken Flowers and Ten Minutes Older Sevigny has now made the move into directing with three critically acclaimed short films: Her most recent, White Echo, premiered in competition at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, at which Sevigny was the only American female director in Competition. Chloë's directorial debut, Kitty, also debuted at Cannes in 2016 and her second short entitled Carmen, proved equally successful at the 2017 Venice Film Festival. Recent past projects include: The Act, on Hulu, a true-crime anthology series written by Michelle Dean and Nick Antosca and directed by Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (Mustang). The Act tells the true story of Gypsy Blanchard, a girl (Joey King) trying to escape the toxic relationship she has with her overprotective mother, played by Patricia Arquette. Chloë played Mel, who serves as the moral compass of the story. Lizzie, which premiered at Sundance 2018 after being developed and produced by Sevigny. The film, in which she starred with Kristen Stewart, was released by Roadside Attractions in September 2018. Lean On Pete, directed by Andrew Haigh, which was released domestically in May 2018 by A24. Sevigny co-starred with Steve Buscemi in a coming of age story starring Charlie Plummer, based on the acclaimed novel by Willy Vlautin. Golden Exits, directed by Alex Ross Perry, Oren Moverman's The Dinner, and Miguel Arteta's Beatriz at Dinner. The critically acclaimed television series Bloodline is recently aired its third and final season on Netflix. On stage, Sevigny was most recently seen in the New Group's Downtown Race Riot written by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld and directed by Scott Elliot. Sevigny was previously seen in The New Group's productions of What the Butler Saw and Hazelwood Junior High. Sevigny has also appeared in many celebrated indie and cult-favorite films like, The Last Days of Disco, American Psycho, Gummo, Dogville, Party Monster, Broken Flowers and Love & Friendship, and has appeared in television hits such as American Horror Story, Portlandia and Big Love, for which she won a Golden Globe. Sevigny made her film debut in the controversial Kids, directed by Larry Clark and written by Harmony Korine. For her performance in Kimberly Peirce's Boys Don't Cry, Chloë received nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe among many others. She makes her home in New York. 10/2020- Actress
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Tara Subkoff was born on 10 December 1972 in Westport, Connecticut, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for #Horror (2015), The Cell (2000) and The Killer Inside Me (2010). She has been married to Urs Fischer since 24 October 2014. They have one child.- Actress
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Jennifer Esposito was born in Brooklyn, New York. She launched her career with an appearance on Law & Order (1990) in 1996, and went on to play the character of "Stacey Paterno" in 36 episodes on the hit TV series Spin City (1996), starring alongside Michael J. Fox.
Her first major film was Spike Lee's Summer of Sam (1999). Other famous film credits include the Academy Award-winning film Crash (2004) and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998).- Actress
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Molly Price was born on 15 December 1966 in North Plainfield, New Jersey, USA. She is an actress, known for How Do You Know (2010), Third Watch (1999) and Sweet and Lowdown (1999). She has been married to Derek Kelly since 13 October 2001. They have one child.- Actress
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Guinevere Turner was born on 23 May 1968 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for American Psycho (2000), The Notorious Bettie Page (2005) and Go Fish (1994).- Actress
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Zoe Saldana was born on June 19, 1978 in Passaic, New Jersey, to Asalia Nazario and Aridio Saldaña. Her father was Dominican and her mother is Puerto Rican. She was raised in Queens, New York. When she was 10 years old, she and her family moved to the Dominican Republic, where they would live for the next seven years. While living there, Zoe discovered a keen interest in performance dance and began her training at the prestigious ECOS Espacio de Danza Dance Academy where she learned ballet as well as other dance forms. Not only did her training provide an excellent outlet for the enthusiastic and energetic youngster, it would also prove to be a fortunate precursor for the start of her professional acting career. At age 17, Zoe and her family moved back to the United States where her love for dance followed and an interest in theater performance became stronger.
She began performing with the Faces theater troupe which put on plays geared to provide positive messages for teens with themes dealing with issues such as substance abuse and sex. These performances not only gave her valuable experience but also a source of great pride knowing that she was making a difference in the lives of young people like herself. While performing with the Faces troupe and also the New York Youth Theater, Zoe was recruited for a talent agency and her dance training years before coupled with her acting experience greatly helped her land her first big screen role as Eva Rodriguez, the talented and headstrong ballet dancer in the film Center Stage (2000). Since her professional career began several years ago, Zoe's talent and determination have allowed her to be involved in blockbuster films and act with major actors, actresses and industry insiders at a pace that very few young professionals have experienced.
Zoe has not only held her own in major motion picture productions but gained the respect and praise from industry insiders such as Jerry Bruckheimer and Steven Spielberg and actors/actresses such as Tom Hanks, Bernie Mac, Keira Knightley, Ashton Kutcher, Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom. According to many of her co-stars, producers and directors, the sky is no limit for this young star who has incredible range, intense concentration, and a steely determination to be involved with projects that challenge her professionally with wide-ranging subject matters and characters. Just to ask practically anyone who she has worked for or with about her, glowing comments abound and earned friendships and respect are readily revealed. A star has been born, and growing every day.- Actress
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This stunning and resourceful actress has been primarily a film player thus far. Only recently has she been opening herself up more to doing television (the series Gemini Division (2008), which she executive-produced), and animated voice-overs. Dawson's powerhouse talent stands out the most in edgy, urban filming that dates back to 1995 when she was only sixteen.
A rags-to-riches article entitled "Rosario Dawson: From Tenement to Tinseltown" probably says it all. Rosario was born on May 9, 1979 in New York City. Her mother, Isabel Celeste, of Puerto Rican and Afro-Cuban descent, is a singer, and her stepfather, who raised her, Greg Dawson, of Irish descent, is a construction laborer. Her parents, who married when both were teenagers, eventually divorced. Rosario and her younger brother, Clay Dawson, had it hard while growing up, and were cared for by family members, most of whom were poverty-stricken, and some of whom were HIV-positive.
Her career actually started as a child when she made a minor showing on the children's show, Sesame Street (1969). As the story goes, she was "discovered" as an adolescent on her front porch step by two photographers. One of them, Harmony Korine, was an aspiring screenwriter who thought the inexperienced sixteen-year-old was ideal for the controversial cult film Kids (1995), in which she would portray a sexually active adolescent. It took time for Rosario's film career to kick in after that, but by the late 1990s, she had nabbed several independent films. Since then, she has moved into main-stream hits (and misses) and has surprised viewers with her earthy, provocative, uninhibited approach to her roles.
Reflecting New York's tougher, tawdrier side as assorted streetwalkers, homeless mothers, drug addicts, etc., her film highlights have included Light It Up (1999), Edward Burns' Sidewalks of New York (2001), Spike Lee's 25th Hour (2002) and Shattered Glass (2003). For Oliver Stone, she portrayed the duped bride of Colin Farrell's famed B.C. Macedonian warrior, Alexander (2004) (as in "...the Great"), which featured a notoriously violent-tinged nude/sex scene.
Expanding her horizons beyond film, she has always expressed interest in singing. She hooked up with Prince for the re-release of his 1980s hit "1999" and appeared in The Chemical Brothers' video for the song "Out of Control" from the album "Surrender". She is also featured on the Outkast track, "She Lives in My Lap". On stage, she co-starred as Julia in a revival of "Two Gentlemen of Verona" at the Public Theater's "Shakespeare in the Park" and appeared in "The Vagina Monologues".
She lucked into and got to show off her singing chops in the film adaptation of the hit New York musical Rent (2005), when Daphne Rubin-Vega, the original Mimi, became pregnant and was unable to reprise her exotic dancer role. Rosario also appeared as a prostitute in the adaptation of the graphic novel Sin City (2005). Of late, she has turned to producing. One of those, Descent (2007), had her playing a college coed who is brutally attacked and raped by a fellow student. Her more popular ventures have thus far included the role of Valerie Brown in the live-action version of the comic strip Josie and the Pussycats (2001), the Will Smith starrer Men in Black II (2002), Eagle Eye (2008) with Shia LaBeouf and Seven Pounds (2008), again with Smith, in which she offered one of her more tender-hearted performances as a woman with a potentially fatal heart condition.
More recent millennium films opposite some of Hollywood's top leading movie men include the tense actioneer Unstoppable (2010) with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine; the comedy/fantasy Zookeeper (2011) opposite Dalekmania (1995); romantic dramedy 10 Years (2011) with Channing Tatum; crime drama Fire with Fire (2012) with Bruce Willis; romantic comedy Top Five (2014) with Chris Rock; and action adventure Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) with Woody Harrelson. She has also top-lined independent films with her own feisty characters such as the thriller Unforgettable (2017) and the title role in the dramedy Krystal (2017).
Focusing also on TV projects, Rosario has graced such action series/mini-series as Daredevil (2015), Iron Fist (2017) and The Defenders (2017), as well as the comedy Jane the Virgin (2014) and animated cartoon series The Last Kids on Earth (2019).
Off-camera, the still-single Dawson is highly active in political, social and environmental causes and has been involved with such organizations/charities/campaigns as the Lower East Side Girls Club, Global Cool, the O.N.E. Campaign, Oxfam, Amnesty International, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Control Arms, International Rescue Committee, Voto Latino (which she founded), Conservation International, Doctors Without Borders, National Geographic Society, The Nature Conservancy and Save the Children. In October 2008, she lent her voice to the RESPECT! Campaign, a movement aimed at preventing domestic violence.- Actress
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Marilyn comes from a Puerto Rican family background in New York, born the middle child to Jeronimo and Luisa Ghigliotti and raised in NY, Long Island and New Jersey with her siblings, Evelyn and Leonardo. Of course there's a lot of spunk and attitude. This Jersey New Yorican had to learn to survive many moves and changes in surrounding cultures.
Marilyn got started late when it comes to acting. While going through some life challenges, she decided to study acting at the Actors Training Institute in Red Bank New Jersey with John Eyd, a member of the Actors Studio in New York, where he brought those same acting techniques to New Jersey.
After studying for about 2 years, Marilyn then felt confident enough to start auditioning in the community theater circuit in Southern New Jersey, appearing in many classic plays. After appearing in her first production, standing on that stage where people were actually listening to her words instead of being ignored as most middle children feel, she was hooked. During one of these many plays, is also where she met Brian O'Halloran before the two auditioned and landed their parts in Kevin Smith's iconic film Clerks.
Since moving to LA, Marilyn has worked in salons and as a freelance hair and makeup artist. She also has worked both in front and behind the camera in many aspects of the filmmaking business to learn as much as possible.- Lisa Spoonauer was born on 6 December 1972 in Rahway, New Jersey, USA. She was an actress, known for Clerks (1994), Clerks (2000) and Bartender (1997). She was married to Tom Caron and Jeff Anderson. She died on 21 May 2017 in Jackson Township, New Jersey, USA.
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Kathrine Narducci was born on 22 November 1960 in East Harlem, New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for A Bronx Tale (1993), The Irishman (2019) and Bad Education (2019).- Actress
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Taral Hicks (born on 21, September 1974 in Queens, New York) is an African American R&B singer and actress, sister of singer D'Atra Hicks.
She began her film career with a role alongside Robert De Niro in the 1993 film "A Bronx Tale." Her subsequent film roles were small, 1995's "Just Cause" with Sean Connery and Laurence Fishburne, 1996's "Educating Matt Waters" and "The Preacher's Wife" with Whitney Houston. It wasn't until 1997 in the HBO original film "Subway Stories" that audiences began to take notice. As the "Woman with Flowers" who sang to her mother on the payphone, her performance was widely deemed to be one of the best in the film.
In 1997, Hicks signed a deal with Motown Records and released an album entitled "This Time." The single "Ooh, Ooh Baby," produced and written by, and featuring Missy Elliott, charted on the Billboard R&B singles chart. However, the lead single intended to debut her singing career was "Distant Lover," an uptempo track produced by Teddy Riley. The album didn't take off until the second single, "Silly," a remake of the classic R&B hit by Deniece Williams was released. Featuring a black-and-white video directed by Hype Williams, the single charted well on the R&B chart. After collaborating on the video for "Silly," Hype Williams cast Hicks in his directorial film debut (and in her largest role to date), 1998's "Belly" as Kisha, DMX's girlfriend. The video for "Silly" appeared in one of the film's scenes.
Following the film's release in 1998, Hicks was absent from film and music until 2000, when she appeared on screen in the short film "Are You Cinderella?" with actor Wood Harris. Two television guest roles followed: 2002's "100 Centre Street" in the episode titled "Fathers", and in a 2003 episode of "Soul Food: The Series" titled "The New Math".
Her later film roles were in independent films such as 2005's "The Salon," with Vivica A. Fox, Dondre Whitfield and Darrin Henson, 2006's "Forbidden Fruits" with Ella Joyce, Fredro Starr and R&B singer Keith Sweat, 2007's "Humenetomy," and 2008's "Ex$pendable."- Vanessa Aspillaga was born on 16 September 1972 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA. She is an actress, known for Morning Glory (2010), Leave the World Behind (2023) and Love & Other Drugs (2010).
- Kim Director is an American actress best known for her work in films from director Spike Lee, including Inside Man and the Netflix series She's Gotta Have It. Kim played the character Shay on HBO's The Deuce from David Simon & George Pelecanos. The Deuce stared James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhall. Kim was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and went on to attend Carnegie Mellon University as an Acting/ Music Theater major.
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Debbie Rochon grew up in British Columbia, Canada. She was a child of the streets and victim of much abuse until she accidentally ended up in a featured extra role in Paramount's Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982)!
The event changed her life, and she saved enough money to move to New York City and study acting. After many years working with numerous theater companies in off-Broadway plays, she started to land small roles in films. Spike Lee's editor Barry Alexander Brown cast her in a featured role in his first directing effort, Lonely in America (1990). Soon the parts grew bigger and bigger and primarily fell in the fear flick genre.
After spending three months as a featured extra on the 1980 filmed Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982) movie set, Debbie was still a fledgling actor but took on the female lead in the Leonard Melfi one act play Ferryboat. It was indeed synchronicity for Debbie to cut her acting teeth on a play about the Staten Island Ferry, by 1984 she moved from her home town of Vancouver, B.C. to New York City. For the rest of the 1980s she spent most of her time studying acting at Michael Chekhov Studios under Ted Pugh, Lee Strasberg Institute under Penelope Allen, NYC's Chicago City Limits under David Regal and H.B. Studios under William Hickey, Carol Rosenfeld and Uta Hagen. Debbie spent all her time working in plays on Theatre Row in NYC, mostly in new works by playwrights and shooting NYU thesis films with burgeoning filmmakers. By 1988 she started to land small roles with grind-house indie filmmakers Roberta Findlay and Chuck Vincent. She made two films with each film maker by 1989, in both cases they would be the last, or close to very last, films both directors would helm before retiring. By the early 1990s, Debbie was working with multiple theatre companies in NYC including The Tribeca Lab where she played multiple characters in Stephen DiLauro play The Secret Warhol Rituals. In 1993 Debbie began her career in radio co-producing and co-hosting Oblique Strategies on the terrestrial channel WBAI. 1994 was the beginning for Debbie to land lead roles in film. Abducted II: The Reunion (1995) would be the first, and in 1995 she co-stared in her first Troma produced film Tromeo and Juliet (1996) co-directed by James Gunn and Lloyd Kaufman. This would also be the year Debbie would be given her first writing column which appeared in The Job Bob Report, published by John Bloom. She would also pen for numerous genre publications including Mad Movies (France), Femme Fatales, SQI and Chiller Theatre. Of the multiple movie roles she would portray by decade's end it would be Hellblock 13 (1999), co-staring Gunnar Hansen, that would begin the wheels turning for a new type of role she would soon be known for. During the 1996-1998-time frame Debbie would co-produce and co-host Illumination Gallery for the internet's first on-line radio station Pseudo Radio. In 2000 director Jon Keeyes cast Debbie in the now cult classic American Nightmare (2002) which garnered much acclaim with legit reviewers and audiences alike. Her role as Jane Toppan would solidify her as a go-to actor for roles of the off-kilter and intense kind. By 2002 Debbie began working for Full Moon Entertainment, starring in four feature films with the company. She continued to write for genre publications and contributed chapters to horror themed books. In 2005 Debbie joined forces with what was then known as Scream TV. The company bought Fangoria magazine and Debbie began producing short documentaries including Fangoria Presents: Slither Behind the Scenes (2006). In 2006 they launched Fangoria Radio for Sirius/XM where she co-produced and co-hosted the show with Twisted Sister front-man Dee Snider until 2010. The following year Debbie was granted her own column in the magazine called Diary of the Deb, the first column written by a woman for the publication, it was nominated for three Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards for best column, winning the esteemed statue in 2014. During this decade Debbie also gave critically acclaimed turns in works inspired by some of her favorite classical writers; Tales of Poe (2014) (Edgar Allan Poe), Mark of the Beast (2012) (Rudyard Kipling) and Colour from the Dark (2008) (H.P. Lovecraft).
Debbie appeared on the VH1 reality TV show Episode #2.4 (2010) as a guest judge in 2010. In 2012 she served, with Mira Sorvino, Gabrielle Miller, Tamar Simon Hoffs and Lana Morgan, as part of the first all-female jury at the Oldenburg International Film Festival in Germany. The same year Debbie had her directorial debut with the extreme body-horror film Model Hunger (2016). ETonline.com hailed Debbie as one of the "40 Top Scream Queens of the Past 40 Years" in 2018. Debbie's last writing column, Debbie Rochon's Bloody Underground, appeared in the Italian published magazine Asylum. Debbie continues to act in feature films, is writing her book and prepares for her sophomore directing project. She has also began recording a new podcast called Obscurities. She was awarded, as the first female recipient, the Countess Dracula (formerly Count Dracula) award by the Dracula Film Festival 2020 which takes place in Romania.- Actress
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Brooke Lewis Bellas, also known as Brooke Lewis, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and spent her summers at the Jersey shore. She is a multiple Telly Award-winning actress and producer, known for the mystery, thriller iMurders (2008)(STARZ) opposite Billy Dee Williams, Gabrielle Anwar and Frank Grillo, the mobster movie Sinatra Club (2010)(Netflix) opposite Michael Nouri, Danny Nucci and Jason Gedrick, the mystery, thriller Polycarp (2007)(SHOWTIME) opposite Charles Durning and Michael Pare, and her comedic mobster Vampire "alter ego" character and passion project "Ms. Vampy". After growing up and beginning her creative dreams in Philly, she moved to New York City and got her first "break" playing Donna Marsala in the Actors' Equity Off-Broadway hit comedy "Tony n' Tina's Wedding". She made her living acting in New York for four years, before heading to Hollywood. Never forgetting her ties to the LOVE and Rocky statues, she launched Philly Chick Pictures in 2002 to create more opportunities for herself as an actress. In 2001, she had the privilege of playing the lead role of Stacey in the film teaser that won 3rd place on the first season of Project Greenlight (2001) on HBO. In 2007, she played Dr. Grace Sario in Polycarp (2007) on SHOWTIME and had the title 'Scream Queen' bestowed upon her in the entertainment industry. In 2010, she was honored with the 'B-Movie Award for Scream Queen Of The Year' for her work in Slime City Massacre (2010). In 2015, she was a guest at the prestigious SAG-AFTRA Foundation Independent Features Screening Series with The Mourning (2015). In 2016, she was honored with the 'Mary Pickford Award' to "Highlight Women in The Film Arts" at Zed Fest. In 2017, she was honored by the prestigious Actors Awards with the 'Best Actress In A Drama Award' for her work in Sprinkles (2010). In 2017, she was also acknowledged with the honorable 'Stella Adler Acting Award' at the Action On Film International Film Festival, 'Grace Kelly Gold Actor Award' at the West Coast International Film Festival, as well as the Los Angeles Film Awards 'Inspiring Woman in a Film' Award. In 2018, she was honored by the prestigious Actors Awards with the 'Best Actress In An Indie Film Award' for her work in Psycho Therapy (2016) and the West Coast International Film Festival with the 'Legendary Actress' Jury Award. In 2019, she was inducted into The Carney Board for the honorable Carney Awards Character Actor Hall Of Fame created in honor of character actor icon Art Carney. In 2020, she was honored in the best-selling historical commemorative coffee table book '1000 Women In Horror, 1895-2018' and at the NOVA Fest with the 'Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series Award' for her work opposite star Casper Van Dien in Stripped (2024). In 2021, she was inducted into the Phillytainment 'PA Celebrity Hall Of Fame'. In 2022, she was honored by the prestigious Actors Awards with the 'Best Actress Award' for her work in Red Rooms (2023). In 2023, the Actors Awards Jury honored her with the 'Best Villain Award' for her work in A Voice in Violet (2023). In 2024, she was honored with the coveted Indie Series Awards 'Best Actress Audio Fiction Series Award' for her work in A Voice in Violet (2023). In 2024, she was also inducted into The WorldFilmGeek 'Hall Of Fame'. She has been fortunate to work opposite a long list of talented veteran actors, which includes, Mark Ruffalo, Ryan Phillippe, Andy Richter, Charles Durning, Michael Madsen, Bronson Pinchot, Billy Dee Williams, Gabrielle Anwar, Tony Todd, William Forsythe, Michael Nouri, Danny Nucci, Joey Lawrence, Dominique Swain, Courtney Gains, and many others. She is a passionate Philanthropist who has performed on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre and the Palace Theatre to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and is a 'Rowdy Activist' for The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, has been an active force in several charities supporting Breast Cancer Awareness for the Busted Foundation and The Lynn Sage Foundation, Women Empowerment as a Board Certified Life Coach, and is a Celebrity Ambassador for the Breaking The Chains Foundation. She is a proud member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA), The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences- New York Chapter (NY NATAS) and San Francisco/Northern California Chapter (SF/NorCal NATAS) and Emmy Awards, Daytime Emmy Awards, and Children's & Family Emmy Awards Judge, Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts (AIVA), Online Film & Television Association, Hollywood Radio & Television Society, Women In Film, Alliance for Women in Media and Gracie Awards Judge, Film Independent, Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (SOVAS), and the National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA). And, during football season, you will find her watching the games and cheering for the Philadelphia Eagles!- Writer
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Nicol Paone was born in New Jersey, USA. She is a writer and director, known for Friendsgiving (2020), This Is 40 (2012) and Funny People (2009).- Actress
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Aesha Waks co-starred on an episode of "Gotham," which aired on FOX in 2014. She is an award-winning actress who starred in the motion pictures "Arresting Gena" opposite Sam Rockwell, "The Money Shot" opposite Stephen Lang and worked alongside Jon Cryer in "Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God...Be Back by Five." Additional TV co-star credits includes ABC's "CityKids," FOX's "New York Undercover" and NBC's "Third Watch."- Actress
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Nicole Ari Parker Kodjoe is an American actress and model. She made her screen debut with a leading role in the critically acclaimed independent film The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995) and went on to appear in Boogie Nights (1997), directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Parker has starred in a number of movies, including Blue Streak (1999), Remember the Titans (2000), Brown Sugar (2002), Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008), Black Dynamite (2009), and Almost Christmas (2016). On television, Parker starred in the short-lived UPN romantic comedy Second Time Around (2004-05) and the ABC drama Time After Time (2017). In 2017, she joined the cast of Fox's prime-time soap opera Empire playing Giselle Barker. She appears as a recurring character in Chicago P.D. as Deputy Superintendent Samantha Miller and in And Just Like That... as Lisa Todd Wexley.- Actress
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Janeane, the petite woman with the acerbic wit, was born in Newton, New Jersey, in 1964, to Joan, a secretary, and Carmine Garofalo, an Exxon executive. She is of Italian and Irish descent. Janeane had many jobs before breaking into show biz. She worked as a bike messenger, a shoe saleswoman, waitress and temp secretary. Watching David Letterman on TV inspired her to write comedy, and by 1985 she was doing stand up comedy. As such, Janeane has become a cult figure, giving a voice to a generation, venting her frustration at T.V., romance, life in general and anything that ticks her off in particular. Janeane did sketches on The Ben Stiller Show (1992) (an Emmy-winning, but canceled show). She would continue to collaborate with Ben Stiller in future projects. Janeane received 2 Emmy nominations for her work on The Larry Sanders Show (1992), developing her signature character: a smart, cynical woman with a razor wit. She was not happy with her Saturday Night Live (1975) stint in 1994, and was vocal about it (of course). Transferring her persona from TV to the big screen, she moved on to movies, basically playing the character she had defined for herself. In Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997) she portrayed a smart, cynical, successful businesswomen with a razor wit, and this time with swear words (in the movie she had developed a brand of cigarettes with fast-burning paper, for the gal on the go; in real life it is alleged she smokes Marlboros). Janeane continues to work in TV and movies, often collaborating with Ben Stiller in a number of movies like Mystery Men (1999), his easygoing style being a counterpoint to her caustic nature.- Actress
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Within a year of emancipating herself from foster care at 17, Angela Featherstone became Canada's top model when her September, Flare magazine cover broke all prior sales records. She quickly expanded upon her success and left for New York, where she signed with NEXT modeling agency. Angela traveled the world as a top fashion model, but for her life's work of acting, she downplayed her striking features to play unlikely roles, emerging as an actress with exceptional versatility. She is best known for playing Chloe in Friends, The Maid on Seinfeld, and the fiancé (Linda), who left Adam Sandler's character (Robbie) at the altar in The Wedding Singer. Most recently, she played the role of Maggie on Showtime's Ray Donovan and Jame on Girls for HBO. She has created sitcoms for Sony, DreamWorks, and NBC television and wrote nonfiction for Time, Jane, Flare, The Huffington Post, Dame, and Zoomer. Her essay about childhood trauma, God Said No, was published in the 2014 edition of Gargoyle Magazine and nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Angela, a committed advocate for children in foster care, volunteers with the Children's Action Network curating their Heart Gallery from 2011- 2019 and serving on their Winter Wonderland committee 2014 & 2015. She mentored a child in foster care through Kidsave from 2011-2020 and has lectured at the ICAN Nexus Conference; Violence Within the Home and its Effects on Children. Her 2015 essay on child sex trafficking for DAME was picked up by Salon.org and MSN and exposed to over 7 million viewers. Angela also served as a consultant on the important Netflix documentary about the effects and healing of trauma, Cracked Up. In 2011, she curated Fuck Pretty at the Robert Berman Gallery, featuring important and emerging female photographers. In addition, she recorded "Coattail Glide" with Raymond Pettibon and The Niche Makers and was an adjunct lecturer at the UCLA Professional Producing Program.
With her 2022 debut 7-minute film, L'Étranger, Angela Featherstone turns her gaze to directing. As a director, Angela combines her years of experience in fashion as a model; working with important photographers and magazines such as; Italian, French, and American Vogue, Mademoiselle, Seventeen, Sassy, Harpers Bazaar Italia, Grazia, Harpers & Queens, Albert Watson, Bruce Weber, Oliviero Toscani, Irving Penn, & Piero Gemelli; her decades in the film industry; Friends, Seinfeld, ConAir, Wedding Singer, & Girls; a refined sense of story as an oft published essayist; her passion for philosophy; and a love of creating safe spaces for collaboration, into a movement of aesthetic bliss.- Actress
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Gretchen Mol was born November 8, 1972, in Deep River, Connecticut, the daughter of a school principal, James Mol, and his artist wife, Janet. Deep River is a small community located on the Chester Bowles Highway (Rt. 9), nine miles northwest of Old Saybrook (home of the legendary Katharine Hepburn), within commuting distance of New York City. The young Gretchen was bit by the acting bug and participated in high school theatrics, then moved to the Big Apple as a teenager to study acting and musical theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and at the William Esper Studio.
Although only 5'6" tall--too short for a traditional modeling career--her unique beauty brought her modeling jobs as she pursued her dream of becoming a professional actress. She began appearing in magazines in 1994, meanwhile working at such time-honored Manhattan jobs as restaurant hat-check girl. It was while working that gig she was discovered by a talent agent. The agent landed her her first acting job, a TV commercial for Coca-Cola. She continued to hone her acting skills in summer stock, appearing in such productions as "Bus Stop," "No Exit," and "Godspell."
The 23-year-old Gretchen made her film debut in Spike Lee's Girl 6 (1996), a small role that came to her, as luck would have it, after she had gone for an audition for the soap opera Guiding Light (1952). Her career began to take off, and she appeared in small parts, mostly "girlfriend" roles, in such films as Rounders (1998) starring 'Matt Damon' (qav) and in Woody Allen's Celebrity (1998), opposite Kenneth Branagh and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Gretchen was touted as the "Next Big Thing" after appearing on the cover of the September 1998 issue of "Vanity Fair." Her most memorable role up to that time was as a mobster's moll in the minor cult classic Donnie Brasco (1997), which was mostly remembered for cinematic turns by Al Pacino, Johnny Depp and Anne Heche. Nonetheless, her beauty and presence led "Vanity Fair" to hype the beautiful blonde, heralding the arrival of a major new star. She seemed poised to move up to featured roles. but the announcement turned out to be premature. Brunette Angelina Jolie proved to be Hollywood's Next "It" girl.
During the seven years that followed the "Vanity Fair" cover story, Mol continued to appear in films and on the stage, including the part of Jennie in the London and New York productions of Neil LaBute's "The Shape of Things" in 2001 (she also appeared in the film version, The Shape of Things (2003)). The good reviews she got proved that she was not just another pretty face. In 2004 she displayed her singing and dancing chops by playing Roxie Hart in the Broadway production of "Chicago."
She worked steadily, appearing in another small role in Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown (1999), and eventually won the lead in David E. Kelley TV series Girls Club (2002). The series bombed, however, and was canceled after only two episodes. Nevertheless, the intervening period allowed her to develop as an actress. In 2004 the blonde beauty finally had the role that proved to be her acting breakthrough: brunette 1950s "stag queen" Bettie Page in The Notorious Bettie Page (2005). Many brunettes have gone blonde, but Mol--the blonde who went brunette--rocked the screen with her presence. Her embodiment of the legendary Page garnered excellent reviews and propelled the flick into art house hit status.
Mol married film director Tod Williams on June 1, 2004, and they became parents a little over three years later, when a son, Ptolemy John Williams, was born on October 10, 2007.- Actress
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She has show biz in her blood. Martha Plimpton was born November 16, 1970, in New York City to two actors: Keith Carradine and Shelley Plimpton. Martha began her career at age 8, when her mom had a friend of hers, composer Elizabeth Swados, enroll her in an actors' workshop. At age 10, she got a small part in Rollover (1981), and also made a series of Calvin Klein commercials.
Her first substantial film role was as a tomboy in The River Rat (1984); the following year, Steven Spielberg cast her in The Goonies (1985). Martha met River Phoenix while they were both filming The Mosquito Coast (1986), but since she was only 15 at the time, she did not go out with him. Even though she had a small part in the movie, it established her as a serious actress. Martha appeared in movies such as the screwball comedy Stars and Bars (1988) and, that same year, she was paired again with Phoenix in Running on Empty (1988). They dated for a while and then broke up. For a while, she was engaged to actor Jon Patrick Walker.
As if making movies didn't keep her busy enough, Martha frequently worked at theaters and made her Chicago debut with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company Ensemble in "The Libertine" in 1996. As a member of that ensemble, she received a National Medal of Arts award in the autumn of 1998. As for movies, Colin Fitz Lives! (1997) and Eye of God (1997) in which she plays the starring role, have been run at the Sundance Film Festival. Although some recent movies have had low box office (Pecker (1998) $2.1 million, and 200 Cigarettes (1999) $6.8 million), Martha's performances shine and she often rises above her material.
Perhaps recalling how important acting lessons were to her as a child, she donates her time and efforts to the "52nd Street Project" which is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to matching the inner-city children with professional theater artists to create original theater, by writing, directing and performing their own plays. Perhaps one of the inner-city kids she is coaching will be the next famous actress in Hollywood.- Actress
- Composer
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The daughter of Grateful Dead devotee and first manager Hank Harrison and psychotherapist Linda Caroll, Courtney Love was born Courtney Michelle Harrison in San Francisco, California in 1964. Love spent her early years living in hippie communes in Oregon and at schools in Europe and New Zealand, under the care of her mother and other family members.
By age 16, Love became legally emancipated and traveled throughout Europe, living off of a small trust fund left behind by her grandmother. Love eventually returned to Portland, Oregon, still pursuing music, and then moved around to various locations in the United States before making her break into the industry.
As a musician, she played in early incarnations of Babes In Toyland and Faith No More, as well as acting in bit parts for some Alex Cox films. In 1989, she started her own band, Hole, and in 1992 married Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain, giving birth to their daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, that same year. After Cobain's suicide in 1994, and the release of Hole's second album "Live Through This", Love continued to thrill her fans and enrage her detractors with her on- and off-stage antics.
By 1998, Hole had released their third studio album, "Celebrity Skin", and Love had attracted cinematic notoriety for her performance in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), which not only garnered her a Golden Globe nomination, but recognition as a serious performer.
Early into the millennium, Hole broke up, and Love took some supporting roles in films such as Trapped (2002), but her rocky past and propensity toward drug addiction eventually caught up with her, sending her through a whirlwind of numerous health and legal issues.
After unsuccessful stints in and out of drug rehabilitation centers, Love was ordered by the L.A. county court to three months in lock down rehab, which came to an end in 2006. Love soon after released a scrapbook-like diary recounting her life, titled "Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love", and continued writing music, testifying her sobriety to the press and public.
In 2009, after losing custody of daughter Frances Bean Cobain for unrelated reasons, Love re-formed Hole with an entirely new lineup, and soon after released the band's first album in ten years, titled "Nobody's Daughter".- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Sybil Temchen was born to French parents and spent her early childhood living in both France and the U.S. She started acting at a young age in school plays and was the youngest member, at age 7, of her local theater repertory company. Temchen went on to major in acting in college. She began acting professionally not long after in theater, film, and television starring alongside such notable actors as Helen Mirren, Adrien Brody, Simon Baker, and others. She has also starred in projects with such directors and producers as Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Steven Bochco (Murder in the First), Michael Apted (Masters of Sex), and just starred in the 2014 indie hit Audrey (which she also co-wrote and produced) for which she has now been dubbed the "Jack Bauer of Romantic Comedies" by The Examiner. Temchen has also produced and written one short and produced one other feature film.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Director
Susan Misner was born in Paterson, New Jersey in 1971. She grew up in Pompton Plains where she fell in love with dancing. Her love of the dance led her to New York City where she landed roles in Broadway plays such as Guys and Dolls, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To A Forum, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Dream.
After turning her focus toward acting, Susan appeared on, One Life to Live (1968), as Grace Davidson. She appeared in such films as Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You (1996), Chicago (2002), Stick It in Detroit (2008), Two Weeks (2006), Somebody's Hero (2012), Cayman Went (2009), and Hope Springs (2012). She can also be seen in music videos by C&C Music Factory and Taylor Dayne.
You can see Susan in CBS's Person of Interest (2011) as Jessica Arndt and in the 2013 Mid-season Thriller The Following (2013) as Jenny Mitchell, who has ties to Kevin Bacon's character.
Susan was just cast in The Americans (2013) as Sandra Beeman and will also play a handful of episodes in ABC's Nashville (2012) as Dr. Stacey Douglas.