Marcia Gay Harden

Born: 1959-08-14 in La Jolla, California, USA

Known For: Acting

Biography

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.

Filmography

2026

Margo's Got Money Troubles as Elizabeth Gable
The Dreadful as Morwen
TRINITY as Margaret Vandenburg

2025

This Ordinary Thing as Self (voice)
Renner as Salenus (voice)

2024

Murder in a Small Town as Mayor Christie Holman
Knox Goes Away as Ruby Knox

2023

Daughter of the Bride as Diane

2022

Sherri as Self - Guest
The Cuphead Show! as Sally Stageplay (voice)
So Help Me Todd as Margaret
Uncoupled as Claire Lewis
Confess, Fletch as Countess Sylvia de Grassi
Gigi & Nate as Claire Gibson
Tell It Like a Woman as Dr. Partovi

2021

Moxie as Principal Shelly
Money, Explained as Self - Narrator

2020

Barkskins as Mathilde Geffard
Pink Skies Ahead as Pamela
Together in Pride: You Are Not Alone as Self

2019

The Kelly Clarkson Show as Self
The Morning Show as Maggie Brener
Tamron Hall as Self - Guest
Reef Break as Betty Ann Miller
RuPaul as Self
Point Blank as Lieutenant Lewis
Love You to Death as Camile Stoller
The Cold Open

2018

Fifty Shades Freed as Grace Grey
A Million Little Things as Alice Mendez
The Oil Fund as USA Ambassadør
In the Night I Remember Your Name as Pastor Joyce Speegle (voice)

2017

Fifty Shades Darker as Grace Trevelyan Grey

2016

Get a Job as Katherine Dunn

2015

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self - Guest
Fifty Shades of Grey as Dr. Grey
Code Black as Dr. Leanne Rorish
Grandma as Judy
Unity as Narrator (voice)
After Words as Jane Taylor
Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant as President of the FAFAFA

2014

BoJack Horseman as Denise (voice)
How to Get Away with Murder as Hannah Keating
You're Not You as Elizabeth
Magic in the Moonlight as Mrs. Baker
Elsa & Fred as Lydia

2013

Parkland as Doris Nelson
Trophy Wife as Dr. Diane Buckley
Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story as Self
The Wine of Summer as Shelley
If I Were You as Madelyn

2012

The Newsroom as Rebecca Halliday
Bent as Vanessa Carter
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You as Marjorie Dunfour

2011

Body of Proof as Sheila Temple
Detachment as Principal Carol Dearden
Innocent as Barbara Sabich
Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy as Edda Mellas

2009

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen as Self - Guest
Royal Pains as Dr. Elizabeth Blair
Whip It as Brooke Cavendar
The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler as Janina Krzyżanowska
The Maiden Heist as Rose Barlow
Sex and Lies in Sin City as Becky Binion
Home as Inga

2008

Christmas Cottage as Maryanne Kinkade
When Darkness Came: The Making of 'The Mist' as Self
The Tower as Zoe Cafritz

2007

Damages as Claire Maddox
The Mist as Mrs. Carmody
Into the Wild as Billie McCandless
The Invisible as Diane Powell
Rails & Ties as Megan Stark
Fog City Mavericks as Self

2006

The Hoax as Edith Irving
The Dead Girl as Melora
American Dreamz as First Lady
Canvas as Mary Marino
Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner as Self
In from the Night as Vicki Miller
Sweet Tornado: Margo Jones and the American Theater as Narrator

2005

Bad News Bears as Liz Whitewood
American Gun as Janet Huttenson
Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast as Self - Presenter
Felicity: An American Girl Adventure as Mrs. Martha Merriman
Willa Cather: The Road Is All as Voice of Willa Cather

2004

P.S. as Missy Goldberg
Welcome to Mooseport as Grace Sutherland
She's Too Young as Trish Vogul
Mystic River: Beneath the Surface as Self
See You in My Dreams as Angela Brown

2003

Mystic River as Celeste Boyle
Mona Lisa Smile as Nancy Abbey
Casa de los Babys as Nan
Mystic River: From Page to Screen as Self

2002

King of Texas as Mrs. Susannah Lear Tumlinson
Guilty Hearts as Jenny Moran

2001

The Education of Max Bickford as Andrea Haskell
Gaudi Afternoon as Frankie
Walking Shadow as Susan Silverman

2000

Space Cowboys as Sara Holland
Pollock as Lee Krasner
From Where I Sit as Sharon
Thin Air as Susan Silverman

1999

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Dana Lewis
Small Vices as Susan Silverman

1998

Meet Joe Black as Allison
Desperate Measures as Dr. Samantha Hawkins
Curtain Call as Michelle Tippet
Labor of Love as Annie Pines

1997

The View as Self
Flubber as Dr. Sara Jean Reynolds
The Daytrippers as Libby
Path to Paradise: The Untold Story of the World Trade Center Bombing as Nancy Floyd

1996

Spy Hard as Miss Cheevus
The First Wives Club as Dr. Leslie Rosen
The Spitfire Grill as Shelby Goddard
Far Harbor as Arabella

1995

Convict Cowboy as Maggie Sinclair
Talking With as Laurie (segment "Clear Glass Marbles")

1994

Chicago Hope as Barbara Tomilson
Safe Passage as Cynthia

1993

Homicide: Life on the Street as Joan Garbarek
Fallen Angels as Marie
Geoffrey Beene 30
In the Wings: Angels in America On Broadway

1992

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Sinatra as Ava Gardner
Used People as Norma
Crush as Lane

1991

Fever as Lacy
Late for Dinner as Joy Husband
In Broad Daylight as Adina Rowan