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Marcia Gay Harden

Marcia Gay Harden

Acting • La Jolla, California, USA • Born August 14, 1959

Marcia Gay Harden (born August 14, 1959) is an American film and stage actress. She is the recipient of many accolades including an Academy Award and a Tony Award, in addition to nominations for a Critics' Choice Movie Award and three Primetime Emmy Awards. She began her acting career appearing in television programs throughout the 1980s. In 1986, she appeared in her first film role, with her breakthrough coming in the 1990 Coen brothers-directed Miller's Crossing. Her next notable film credits include The First Wives Club (1996), Flubber (1997), and Space Cowboys (2000). She received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Lee Krasner in Pollock (2000). She had a supporting role in Mona Lisa Smile (2003). She received a second Academy Award nomination for her performance as Celeste Boyle in the drama film Mystic River (2003). She appeared in several 2007 films, including Sean Penn's Into the Wild and Frank Darabont's The Mist, based on the novella by Stephen King. Also in 2007, she shared top billing with Kevin Bacon in Rails & Ties, the directorial debut of Alison Eastwood. Harden played a woman who has a mastectomy in Home (2008). (Her character in Rails & Ties also had a mastectomy.) One scene required her to bare her breasts, with the missing breast removed using computer-generated imagery. In Home, her co-stars include her daughter, Eulala Scheel. In 2009, she had quite a busy year. She appeared as a regular on the FX series Damages as a shrewd corporate attorney opposite Glenn Close and William Hurt. She co-starred in the films Whip It, and The Maiden Heist. She returned to Broadway in Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage, co-starring with James Gandolfini, Hope Davis and Jeff Daniels. All three actors were nominated for a Tony Award; Harden won Best Actress in a Play. She received her first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her role as FBI Special Agent Dana Lewis in the crime drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and earned a second Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her performance as Janina Krzyżanowska in the television film The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (2009). She reunited with her former Broadway co-star Jeff Daniels as a new cast member on HBO's series The Newsroom in 2013. In 2015, she had a starring role in the medical drama Code Black. Her other notable television credits include ABC's How to Get Away with Murder and the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show. She played Christian Grey's mother, Grace Trevelyan Grey, in the Fifty Shades film series from 2015 to 2018. She stars in the 2022 CBS drama So Help Me Todd.

38
Films
6.3
Avg Score

Filmography (38)

The Dreadful

The Dreadful

2026 • Horror • 1h 34m
39
as Morwen
Renner

Renner

2025 • Science Fiction, Thriller • 1h 30m
46
as Salenus (voice)
Knox Goes Away

Knox Goes Away

2024 • Action, Thriller • 1h 54m
70
as Ruby Knox
Confess, Fletch

Confess, Fletch

2022 • Mystery, Comedy • 1h 39m
64
as Countess Sylvia de Grassi
Gigi & Nate

Gigi & Nate

2022 • Drama • 1h 54m
67
as Claire Gibson
Moxie

Moxie

2021 • Comedy, Drama • 1h 50m
67
as Principal Shelly
Point Blank

Point Blank

2019 • Action, Thriller • 1h 26m
57
as Lieutenant Lewis
Fifty Shades Freed

Fifty Shades Freed

2018 • Drama, Romance • 1h 45m
46
as Grace Grey
Fifty Shades Darker

Fifty Shades Darker

2017 • Drama, Romance • 1h 58m
46
as Grace Trevelyan Grey
Get a Job

Get a Job

2016 • Comedy, Drama • 1h 23m
53
as Katherine Dunn
Fifty Shades of Grey

Fifty Shades of Grey

2015 • Thriller, Drama • 2h 5m
42
as Dr. Grey
Grandma

Grandma

2015 • Comedy, Drama • 1h 18m
67
as Judy
You're Not You

You're Not You

2014 • Drama • 1h 44m
73
as Elizabeth
Parkland

Parkland

2013 • Drama, History • 1h 34m
64
as Doris Nelson
Detachment

Detachment

2011 • Drama • 1h 38m
77
as Principal Carol Dearden
Whip It

Whip It

2009 • Drama • 1h 51m
69
as Brooke Cavendar
The Maiden Heist

The Maiden Heist

2009 • Comedy, Crime • 1h 31m
60
as Rose Barlow
The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler

The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler

2009 • Drama, War • 1h 36m
72
as Janina Krzyżanowska
The Mist

The Mist

2007 • Horror, Science Fiction • 2h 6m
71
as Mrs. Carmody
The Invisible

The Invisible

2007 • Mystery, Thriller • 1h 42m
61
as Diane Powell
Into the Wild

Into the Wild

2007 • Adventure, Drama • 2h 28m
80
as Billie McCandless
Rails & Ties

Rails & Ties

2007 • Drama • 1h 41m
67
as Megan Stark
American Dreamz

American Dreamz

2006 • Comedy, Drama • 1h 47m
55
as First Lady
The Hoax

The Hoax

2006 • Comedy, Drama • 1h 56m
67
as Edith Irving
The Dead Girl

The Dead Girl

2006 • Mystery, Thriller • 1h 34m
65
as Melora
Bad News Bears

Bad News Bears

2005 • Comedy • 1h 53m
58
as Liz Whitewood
P.S.

P.S.

2004 • Drama, Romance • 1h 37m
61
as Missy Goldberg
Mystic River

Mystic River

2003 • Mystery, Thriller • 2h 18m
79
as Celeste Boyle
Mona Lisa Smile

Mona Lisa Smile

2003 • Drama, Romance • 1h 57m
66
as Nancy Abbey
Pollock

Pollock

2000 • Drama, History • 2h 12m
70
as Lee Krasner
Space Cowboys

Space Cowboys

2000 • Action, Adventure • 2h 10m
65
as Sara Holland
Meet Joe Black

Meet Joe Black

1998 • Drama, Fantasy • 2h 58m
72
as Allison
Desperate Measures

Desperate Measures

1998 • Action, Thriller • 1h 40m
61
as Dr. Samantha Hawkins
Flubber

Flubber

1997 • Science Fiction, Comedy • 1h 33m
53
as Dr. Sara Jean Reynolds
Spy Hard

Spy Hard

1996 • Action, Comedy • 1h 21m
53
as Miss Cheevus
The First Wives Club

The First Wives Club

1996 • Comedy • 1h 42m
65
as Dr. Leslie Rosen
The Spitfire Grill

The Spitfire Grill

1996 • Comedy, Drama • 1h 57m
70
as Shelby Goddard
Miller's Crossing

Miller's Crossing

1990 • Thriller, Crime • 1h 55m
77
as Verna

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