CINEFILER

Marcia Gay Harden

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.
Academy Awards
Best Supporting Actress
Known For
The Mist
(2007)
Mrs. Carmody
Fifty Shades of Grey
(2015)
Dr. Grey
Fifty Shades Darker
(2017)
Grace Trevelyan Grey
Fifty Shades Freed
(2018)
Grace Grey
Mystic River
(2003)
Celeste Boyle
Into the Wild
(2007)
Billie McCandless
Meet Joe Black
(1998)
Allison Parrish
Detachment
(2011)
Principal Carol Dearden
Flubber
(1997)
Dr. Sara Jean Reynolds
Bad News Bears
(2005)
Liz Whitewood
Whip It
(2009)
Brooke Cavendar
Knox Goes Away
(2024)
Ruby Knox
Mona Lisa Smile
(2003)
Nancy Abbey
Unity
(2015)
Narrator (voice)
The First Wives Club
(1996)
Dr. Leslie Rosen
Spy Hard
(1996)
Miss Cheevus
Full Filmography
Acting
Not Only Strangers
(1979)
Superman's 50th Anniversary: A Celebration of the Man of Steel
(1988)
Marcia Connelly
Miller's Crossing
(1990)
Verna
Kojak: None So Blind
(1990)
Angelina
Late for Dinner
(1991)
Joy Husband
In Broad Daylight
(1991)
Adina Rowan
Fever
(1991)
Lacy
Crush
(1992)
Lane
Used People
(1992)
Norma
In the Wings: Angels in America On Broadway
(1993)
Geoffrey Beene 30
(1993)
Safe Passage
(1994)
Cynthia
Convict Cowboy
(1995)
Maggie Sinclair
The First Wives Club
(1996)
Dr. Leslie Rosen
Spy Hard
(1996)
Miss Cheevus
The Spitfire Grill
(1996)
Shelby Goddard
Far Harbor
(1996)
Arabella
Flubber
(1997)
Dr. Sara Jean Reynolds
Path to Paradise: The Untold Story of the World Trade Center Bombing
(1997)
Nancy Floyd
The Daytrippers
(1997)
Libby
Meet Joe Black
(1998)
Allison Parrish
Desperate Measures
(1998)
Dr. Samantha Hawkins
Curtain Call
(1998)
Michelle Tippet
Labor of Love
(1998)
Annie Pines
Small Vices
(1999)
Susan Silverman
Space Cowboys
(2000)
Sara Holland
Pollock
(2000)
Lee Krasner
Thin Air
(2000)
Susan Silverman
From Where I Sit
(2000)
Sharon
Walking Shadow
(2001)
Susan Silverman
Gaudi Afternoon
(2001)
Frankie
King of Texas
(2002)
Mrs. Susannah Lear Tumlinson
Guilty Hearts
(2002)
Jenny Moran
Mystic River
(2003)
Celeste Boyle
Mona Lisa Smile
(2003)
Nancy Abbey
Casa de los Babys
(2003)
Nan
Welcome to Mooseport
(2004)
Grace Sutherland
She's Too Young
(2004)
Trish Vogul
P.S.
(2004)
Missy Goldberg
See You in My Dreams
(2004)
Angela Brown
Felicity: An American Girl Adventure
(2005)
Mrs. Martha Merriman
Bad News Bears
(2005)
Liz Whitewood
American Gun
(2005)
Janet Huttenson
A Concert for Hurricane Relief
(2005)
Presenter
Willa Cather: The Road Is All
(2005)
Voice of Willa Cather
In from the Night
(2006)
Vicki Miller
American Dreamz
(2006)
First Lady
The Hoax
(2006)
Edith Irving
The Dead Girl
(2006)
Melora
Canvas
(2006)
Mary Marino
Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner
(2006)
Self
Sweet Tornado: Margo Jones and the American Theater
(2006)
Narrator
The Mist
(2007)
Mrs. Carmody
Into the Wild
(2007)
Billie McCandless
The Invisible
(2007)
Diane Powell
Rails & Ties
(2007)
Megan Stark
Fog City Mavericks
(2007)
Self
Christmas Cottage
(2008)
Maryanne Kinkade
Sex and Lies in Sin City
(2008)
Becky Binion
When Darkness Came: The Making of 'The Mist'
(2008)
Self
Whip It
(2009)
Brooke Cavendar
The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler
(2009)
Janina Krzyżanowska
The Maiden Heist
(2009)
Rose Barlow
Home
(2009)
Inga
Innocent
(2011)
Barbara Sabich
Detachment
(2011)
Principal Carol Dearden
Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy
(2011)
Edda Mellas
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You
(2012)
Marjorie Dunfour
If I Were You
(2013)
Madelyn
Parkland
(2013)
Doris Nelson
Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story
(2013)
Self
The Wine of Summer
(2013)
Shelley
Elsa & Fred
(2014)
Lydia
You're Not You
(2014)
Elizabeth
Magic in the Moonlight
(2014)
Mrs. Baker
Fifty Shades of Grey
(2015)
Dr. Grey
Grandma
(2015)
Judy
After Words
(2015)
Jane
Unity
(2015)
Narrator (voice)
Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant
(2015)
President of the FAFAFA
Get a Job
(2016)
Katherine Dunn
Fifty Shades Darker
(2017)
Grace Trevelyan Grey
Fifty Shades Freed
(2018)
Grace Grey
Point Blank
(2019)
Lieutenant Lewis
Love You to Death
(2019)
Camile
The Cold Open
(2019)
Pink Skies Ahead
(2020)
Pamela
Together in Pride: You Are Not Alone
(2020)
Self
Moxie
(2021)
Principal Shelly
Tell It Like a Woman
(2022)
Dr. Partovi
Gigi & Nate
(2022)
Claire Gibson
Confess, Fletch
(2022)
Countess Sylvia de Grassi
Daughter of the Bride
(2023)
Diane
Knox Goes Away
(2024)
Ruby Knox
Crew
Data provided by TMDB