Marcia Gay Harden
Acting
Born August 14, 1959, La Jolla, California, USA
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
- Margo's Got Money Troubles — Elizabeth Gable
- 2026Street Smart — Dr. Partovi
- 2026The Dreadful — Morwen
- 2025Renner — Salenus (voice)
- 2024Knox Goes Away — Ruby Knox
- Murder in a Small Town — Mayor Christie Holman
- 2023Daughter of the Bride — Diane
- 2022Confess, Fletch — Countess Sylvia de Grassi
- 2022Gigi & Nate — Claire Gibson
- So Help Me Todd — Margaret, Producer
- 2022Tell It Like a Woman — Dr. Partovi
- The Cuphead Show! — Sally Stageplay (voice)
- Uncoupled — Claire Lewis
- 2021Moxie — Principal Shelly
- Barkskins — Mathilde Geffard
- 2020Pink Skies Ahead — Pamela
- 2019Love You to Death — Camile Stoller
- 2019Point Blank — Lieutenant Lewis
- Reef Break — Betty Ann Miller
- 2019The Cold Open
- The Morning Show — Maggie Brener
- A Million Little Things — Alice Mendez
- 2018Fifty Shades Freed — Grace Grey
- 2018In the Night I Remember Your Name — Pastor Joyce Speegle (voice)
- The Oil Fund — USA Ambassadør
- 2017Fifty Shades Darker — Grace Trevelyan Grey
- 2016Get a Job — Katherine Dunn
- 2015After Words — Jane Taylor
- Code Black — Dr. Leanne Rorish
- 2015Fifty Shades of Grey — Dr. Grey
- 2015Grandma — Judy
- 2015Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant — President of the FAFAFA
- 2015Unity — Narrator (voice)
- BoJack Horseman — Denise (voice), Denise / McCaitlyn (voice)
- 2014Elsa & Fred — Lydia
- How to Get Away with Murder — Hannah Keating
- 2014Magic in the Moonlight — Mrs. Baker
- 2014You're Not You — Elizabeth
- 2013If I Were You — Madelyn
- 2013Parkland — Doris Nelson
- 2013The Wine of Summer — Shelley
- Trophy Wife — Dr. Diane Buckley
- Bent — Vanessa Carter
- 2012Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You — Marjorie Dunfour
- The Newsroom — Rebecca Halliday
- 2011Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy — Edda Mellas
- Body of Proof — Sheila Temple
- 2011Detachment — Principal Carol Dearden
- 2011Innocent — Barbara Sabich
- 2009Home — Inga
- Royal Pains — Dr. Elizabeth Blair
- 2009Sex and Lies in Sin City — Becky Binion
- 2009The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler — Janina Krzyżanowska
- 2009The Maiden Heist — Rose Barlow
- 2009Whip It — Brooke Cavendar
- 2008Christmas Cottage — Maryanne Kinkade
- 2008The Tower — Zoe Cafritz
- 2008When Darkness Came: The Making of 'The Mist' — Self, Thanks
- Damages — Claire Maddox
- 2007Into the Wild — Billie McCandless
- 2007Rails & Ties — Megan Stark
- 2007The Invisible — Diane Powell
- 2007The Mist — Mrs. Carmody
- 2006American Dreamz — First Lady
- 2006Canvas — Mary Marino
- 2006In from the Night — Vicki Miller
- 2006Sweet Tornado: Margo Jones and the American Theater — Narrator
- 2006The Dead Girl — Melora
- 2006The Hoax — Edith Irving
- 2005American Gun — Janet Huttenson
- 2005Bad News Bears — Liz Whitewood
- 2005Felicity: An American Girl Adventure — Mrs. Martha Merriman
- 2005Willa Cather: The Road Is All — Voice of Willa Cather
- 2004P.S. — Missy Goldberg
- 2004See You in My Dreams — Angela Brown
- 2004She's Too Young — Trish Vogul
- 2004Welcome to Mooseport — Grace Sutherland
- 2003Casa de los Babys — Nan
- 2003Mona Lisa Smile — Nancy Abbey
- 2003Mystic River — Celeste Boyle
- 2002Guilty Hearts — Jenny Moran
- 2002King of Texas — Mrs. Susannah Lear Tumlinson
- 2001Gaudi Afternoon — Frankie
- The Education of Max Bickford — Andrea Haskell
- 2001Walking Shadow — Susan Silverman
- 2000From Where I Sit — Sharon
- 2000Pollock — Lee Krasner
- 2000Space Cowboys — Sara Holland
- 2000Thin Air — Susan Silverman
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — Dana Lewis
- 1999Small Vices — Susan Silverman
- 1998Curtain Call — Michelle Tippet
- 1998Desperate Measures — Dr. Samantha Hawkins
- 1998Labor of Love — Annie Pines
- 1998Meet Joe Black — Allison
- 1997Flubber — Dr. Sara Jean Reynolds
- 1997Path to Paradise: The Untold Story of the World Trade Center Bombing — Nancy Floyd
- 1997The Daytrippers — Libby
- 1996Far Harbor — Arabella
- 1996Spy Hard — Miss Cheevus
- 1996The First Wives Club — Dr. Leslie Rosen
- 1996The Spitfire Grill — Shelby Goddard
- 1995Convict Cowboy — Maggie Sinclair
- 1995Talking With — Laurie (segment "Clear Glass Marbles")
- Chicago Hope — Barbara Tomilson
- 1994Safe Passage — Cynthia
- Fallen Angels — Marie
- 1993Geoffrey Beene 30
- Homicide: Life on the Street — Joan Garbarek
- 1993In the Wings: Angels in America On Broadway
- 1992Crush — Lane
- Sinatra — Ava Gardner
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
- 1992Used People — Norma
- 1991Fever — Lacy
- 1991In Broad Daylight — Adina Rowan
- 1991Late for Dinner — Joy Husband
- 1990Kojak: None So Blind — Angelina
- 1990Miller's Crossing — Verna
- Gideon Oliver — Lila
- 1988Superman's 50th Anniversary: A Celebration of the Man of Steel — Marcia Connelly
- Simon & Simon
- 1979Not Only Strangers — Jennie
- Hallmark Hall of Fame — Vicki Miller
- Drift
- Hystoria
- In the Echo — Marcia
- TRINITY — Margaret Vandenburg
Appearances as themselves (20)
- 2025This Ordinary Thing — Self (voice)
- Sherri — Self - Guest
- Money, Explained — Self - Narrator
- 2020Together in Pride: You Are Not Alone — Self
- RuPaul — Self
- The Kelly Clarkson Show — Self
- The Tamron Hall Show — Self - Guest
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — Self - Guest
- 2013Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story — Self
- Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen — Self - Guest
- 2007Fog City Mavericks — Self
- 2006Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner — Self
- 2005Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast — Self - Presenter
- 2004Mystic River: Beneath the Surface — Self
- 2003Mystic River: From Page to Screen — Self
- The View — Self
- American Playhouse — Self
- People's Choice Awards — Self - Presenter
- Great Performances — Self
- The Oscars — Self