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.
MovieStreet Smart
2026
as Dr. Partovi
TVMargo's Got Money Troubles
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as Elizabeth Gable
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as Morwen
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as Self (voice)
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as Salenus (voice)
TVMurder in a Small Town
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as Mayor Christie Holman
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as Ruby Knox
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as Diane
MovieTell It Like a Woman
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as Dr. Partovi
TVSo Help Me Todd
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as Margaret
MovieConfess, Fletch
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as Countess Sylvia de Grassi
TVSherri
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as Self - Guest
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as Claire Gibson
TVUncoupled
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as Claire Lewis
TVThe Cuphead Show!
2022
as Sally Stageplay (voice)
TVMoney, Explained
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as Self - Narrator
MovieMoxie
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as Principal Shelly
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2020
as Pamela
TVBarkskins
2020
as Mathilde Geffard
MovieTogether in Pride: You Are Not Alone
2020
as Self
TVThe Morning Show
2019
as Maggie Brener
TVTamron Hall
2019
as Self - Guest
TVThe Kelly Clarkson Show
2019
as Self
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2019
as Lieutenant Lewis
TVReef Break
2019
as Betty Ann Miller
TVRuPaul
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as Self
MovieThe Cold Open
2019
MovieLove You to Death
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as Camile Stoller
TVThe Oil Fund
2018
as USA Ambassadør
TVA Million Little Things
2018
as Alice Mendez
MovieIn the Night I Remember Your Name
2018
as Pastor Joyce Speegle (voice)
MovieFifty Shades Freed
2018
as Grace Grey
MovieFifty Shades Darker
2017
as Grace Trevelyan Grey
MovieGet a Job
2016
as Katherine Dunn
TVCode Black
2015
as Dr. Leanne Rorish
TVThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
as Self - Guest
MovieAfter Words
2015
as Jane Taylor
MovieUnity
2015
as Narrator (voice)
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as President of the FAFAFA
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as Judy
MovieFifty Shades of Grey
2015
as Dr. Grey
MovieYou're Not You
2014
as Elizabeth
TVHow to Get Away with Murder
2014
as Hannah Keating
TVBoJack Horseman
2014
as Denise (voice)
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2014
as Mrs. Baker
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2014
as Lydia
MovieParkland
2013
as Doris Nelson
TVTrophy Wife
2013
as Dr. Diane Buckley
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2013
as Shelley
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2013
as Self
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2013
as Madelyn
TVThe Newsroom
2012
as Rebecca Halliday
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2012
as Vanessa Carter
MovieSomeday This Pain Will Be Useful to You
2012
as Marjorie Dunfour
MovieInnocent
2011
as Barbara Sabich
MovieDetachment
2011
as Principal Carol Dearden
TVBody of Proof
2011
as Sheila Temple
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as Edda Mellas
MovieSex and Lies in Sin City
2009
as Becky Binion
TVWatch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
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as Self - Guest
TVRoyal Pains
2009
as Dr. Elizabeth Blair
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as Rose Barlow
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2009
as Inga
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as Janina Krzyżanowska
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2009
as Brooke Cavendar
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2008
as Maryanne Kinkade
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2008
as Self
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2008
as Zoe Cafritz
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2007
as Mrs. Carmody
MovieFog City Mavericks
2007
as Self
MovieInto the Wild
2007
as Billie McCandless
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2007
as Megan Stark
TVDamages
2007
as Claire Maddox
MovieThe Invisible
2007
as Diane Powell
MovieCanvas
2006
as Mary Marino
MovieThe Dead Girl
2006
as Melora
MovieThe Hoax
2006
as Edith Irving
MovieIn from the Night
2006
as Vicki Miller
MovieAmerican Dreamz
2006
as First Lady
MovieWrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner
2006
as Self
Sweet Tornado: Margo Jones and the American Theater
2006
as Narrator
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as Mrs. Martha Merriman
MovieAmerican Gun
2005
as Janet Huttenson
MovieWilla Cather: The Road Is All
2005
as Voice of Willa Cather
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2005
as Self - Presenter
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2005
as Liz Whitewood
MovieP.S.
2004
as Missy Goldberg
MovieSee You in My Dreams
2004
as Angela Brown
Mystic River: Beneath the Surface
2004
as Self
MovieWelcome to Mooseport
2004
as Grace Sutherland
MovieShe's Too Young
2004
as Trish Vogul
MovieMona Lisa Smile
2003
as Nancy Abbey
Mystic River: From Page to Screen
2003
as Self
MovieMystic River
2003
as Celeste Boyle
MovieCasa de los Babys
2003
as Nan
MovieKing of Texas
2002
as Mrs. Susannah Lear Tumlinson
MovieGuilty Hearts
2002
as Jenny Moran
TVThe Education of Max Bickford
2001
as Andrea Haskell
MovieWalking Shadow
2001
as Susan Silverman
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2001
as Frankie
MovieThin Air
2000
as Susan Silverman
MoviePollock
2000
as Lee Krasner
MovieSpace Cowboys
2000
as Sara Holland
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2000
as Sharon
TVLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999
as Dana Lewis
MovieSmall Vices
1999
as Susan Silverman
MovieCurtain Call
1998
as Michelle Tippet
MovieMeet Joe Black
1998
as Allison
MovieLabor of Love
1998
as Annie Pines
MovieDesperate Measures
1998
as Dr. Samantha Hawkins
MovieFlubber
1997
as Dr. Sara Jean Reynolds
TVThe View
1997
as Self
MoviePath to Paradise: The Untold Story of the World Trade Center Bombing
1997
as Nancy Floyd
MovieThe Daytrippers
1997
as Libby
MovieFar Harbor
1996
as Arabella
MovieThe First Wives Club
1996
as Dr. Leslie Rosen
MovieThe Spitfire Grill
1996
as Shelby Goddard
MovieSpy Hard
1996
as Miss Cheevus
MovieConvict Cowboy
1995
as Maggie Sinclair
MovieTalking With
1995
as Laurie (segment "Clear Glass Marbles")
MovieFever
1994
as Lacy
MovieSafe Passage
1994
as Cynthia
TVChicago Hope
1994
as Barbara Tomilson
TVFallen Angels
1993
as Marie
MovieIn the Wings: Angels in America On Broadway
1993
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1993
TVHomicide: Life on the Street
1993
as Joan Garbarek
MovieUsed People
1992
as Norma
TVSinatra
1992
as Ava Gardner
MovieCrush
1992
as Lane
TVThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
MovieLate for Dinner
1991
as Joy Husband
MovieIn Broad Daylight
1991
as Adina Rowan
MovieMiller's Crossing
1990
as Verna
MovieKojak: None So Blind
1990
as Angelina
Gideon Oliver
1989
as Lila
MovieSuperman's 50th Anniversary: A Celebration of the Man of Steel
1988
as Marcia Connelly
TVAmerican Playhouse
1982
as Self
TVSimon & Simon
1981
MovieNot Only Strangers
1979
as Jennie
TVPeople's Choice Awards
1975
as Self - Presenter
TVGreat Performances
1971
as Self
TVThe Oscars
1953
as Self
TVHallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Vicki Miller
In the Echo
as Marcia
Drift
TVTRINITY
as Margaret Vandenburg
