Carrie Coon

Carrie Alexandra Coon (born January 24, 1981) is an American actress. In television, she is known for her starring roles as grieving mother Nora Durst in the HBO drama series The Leftovers (2014–2017) and as Gloria Burgle in the third season of the FX anthology series Fargo (2017). She won the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama for both performances, won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for The Leftovers and was nominated for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for Fargo. She also had a leading role in the second season of the anthology drama series The Sinner (2018), and is known for playing Bertha Russell in the HBO series The Gilded Age.

Carrie Coon
Coon at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Carrie Alexandra Coon (1981-01-24) January 24, 1981 (age 41) Copley, Ohio, U.S.
Education	University of Mount Union (BA) University of Wisconsin–Madison (MFA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2006–present
Known for	The Leftovers Fargo The Gilded Age
Spouse	Tracy Letts ​ (m. 2013)​
Children	2

On stage, Coon was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in the 2012 revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? She has also appeared in numerous films, including the psychological thriller Gone Girl (2014), the political drama The Post (2017), the heist thriller Widows (2018), the superhero film Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the period drama The Nest (2020), and the supernatural comedy Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021).

Early life

Coon was born in Copley, Ohio^[1] on January 24, 1981,^[2] to Paula (née Ploenes) and John Coon.^[3] She has an older sister, an older brother, and two younger brothers.^[1] She graduated from Copley High School in 1999, next attending the University of Mount Union, graduating in 2003 with a BA in English and Spanish. In 2006, she earned her M.F.A. in acting from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.^[4][5]

Career

Early career

Coon began her career in regional theater. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Coon was immediately recruited by the Madison Repertory Theatre and made her professional stage debut in a production of Our Town. After her debut with the Madison Repertory Theatre, Coon joined the American Players Theatre and stayed with them for four seasons. Coon moved to Chicago in 2008 and made her Chicago debut with a production of Brontë at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company. Coon commuted between Chicago and Wisconsin for several years, alternating between Chicago productions, productions in Milwaukee, and seasons with the American Players Theatre. During these years, Coon provided for herself by performing motion capture work for a video game company based in Wisconsin.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]}

Coon's breakthrough came in 2010 when she was cast as Honey in the Steppenwolf Theatre Company production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The role immediately resulted in further parts in Chicago productions, and she followed the production to performances in Washington, D.C. and New York City, making her Broadway debut. For her performance, she won a Theatre World Award and received a Tony Award nomination.^[14][15][16]

Coon made her screen debut in an episode of the short-lived NBC series The Playboy Club in 2011. She later guest-starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Ironside, and Intelligence.

Breakthrough with Gone Girl and The Leftovers

Following her Tony Award nomination, in 2014 Coon was cast as one of the main characters in the HBO drama series The Leftovers, alongside Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, and Ann Dowd.^[17] That same year, she made her film debut in Gone Girl, based on the 2012 novel of same name and directed by David Fincher.^[18][19]

In early 2015, Coon starred in the lead role of the Off-Broadway production of Placebo at Playwrights Horizons.^[20] She also participated in readings for her husband Tracy Letts' 2015–2016 season play Mary Page Marlowe and was in talks to perform in the production in Chicago if her filming schedule with The Leftovers permits;^[21] in December 2015, it was announced that Coon would be one of six actresses portraying the title character in Mary Page Marlowe for the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago from March to May 2016.^[22] In April 2015, Coon left The Gersh Agency for United Talent Agency.^[23] In October and November 2015, Coon filmed the movie Strange Weather alongside actress Holly Hunter for director Katherine Dieckmann in Mississippi.^[24] In December 2015, she filmed the horror romance The Keeping Hours for director Karen Moncrieff and Blumhouse Productions.^[25]

Coon starred in the lead role of Gloria Burgle in the third season of the FX anthology series Fargo.^[26] She received a nomination for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her role and won the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama for both Fargo and The Leftovers. In 2017, she played real life journalist Meg Greenfield in the Steven Spielberg-directed historical drama film The Post.^[27] In 2018, Coon co-starred in the Steve McQueen heist thriller film Widows.^[28]

Coon provided the voice and motion capture for Proxima Midnight, a member of the Black Order and a child of Thanos, in the Russo brothers-directed superhero film Avengers: Infinity War (2018).^[29]

On April 30, 2020, Coon joined the cast of the HBO drama series The Gilded Age as Bertha Russell, replacing Amanda Peet.^[30]

She received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actress at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021, for her work in the film The Nest.^[31]

Personal life

Coon married actor and playwright Tracy Letts in 2013.^[32] They have a son who was born in 2018^[33] and a daughter born in 2021.^[34]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	One in a Million	Bix	Short film
2014	Gone Girl	Margo "Go" Dunne
2016	Strange Weather	Byrd
2017	Great Choice	Jen	Short film
	The Keeping Hours	Elizabeth
	Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town	Virginia
	The Post	Meg Greenfield
2018	The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter	Linda Ferguson
	Avengers: Infinity War	Proxima Midnight
	Kin	Morgan Hunter
	Widows	Amanda Nunn
2020	The Nest	Allison O'Hara
2021	Ghostbusters: Afterlife	Callie Spengler
2023	Boston Strangler	Jean Cole	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	The Playboy Club	Doris Hall	Episode: "An Act of Simple Duplicity"
2013	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Talia Blaine	Episode: "Girl Dishonored"
2013	Ironside	Rachel Ryan	Episode: "Pilot"
2014	Intelligence	Luanne Vick	Episode: "Patient Zero"
2014–2017	The Leftovers	Nora Durst	Main role
2017	Fargo	Gloria Burgle	Main role (season 3)
2018	The Sinner	Vera Walker	Main role (season 2)
2021	What If...?	Proxima Midnight (voice)	Episode: "What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?"
2022–present	The Gilded Age	Bertha Russell	Main role

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Our Town^[35]	Emily	Overture Center for the Arts (Madison Repertory Theatre) February 17 – March 12, 2006
	Romeo and Juliet^[36]	Ensemble	American Players Theatre (Spring Green, Wisconsin) July 2 – October 7, 2006 July 4 – October 8, 2006 July 5 – September 23, 2006
	The Matchmaker^[37]	Ermengarde
	Measure for Measure^[38]	Juliet
2007	Anna Christie^[39]	Anna	Overture Center for the Arts February 2–25, 2007
	Misalliance^[39]	Hypatia	American Players Theatre June 15 – October 6, 2007 June 22 – October 5, 2007 August 3 – October 6, 2007
	The Merchant of Venice^[40]	Ensemble
	The Night of the Iguana^[41]	Charlotte
2008	The Diary of Anne Frank^[42]	Miep Gies	Overture Center for the Arts January 11 – February 3, 2008
	Brontë^[43]	Emily	Remy Bumppo Theatre Company (Chicago debut) March 20 – May 4, 2008
	A Midsummer Night's Dream^[44]	Helena	American Players Theatre June 7 – October 5, 2008 June 20 – September 20, 2008 August 1 – October 4, 2008
	Henry IV^[45]	Lady Percy
	The Belle's Stratagem^[46]	Miss Ogle
2009	Magnolia^[47]	Ariel	Goodman Theatre (Chicago) March 14 – April 19, 2009
	Henry V^[35]	Kate	American Players Theatre August 7 – October 2, 2009
2010	Blackbird^[48]	Una	Renaissance Theatreworks (Milwaukee) January 15 – February 7, 2010 October 1–24, 2010
	Reasons to Be Pretty^[49]	Stephanie
	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?^[50]	Honey	Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago) December 2, 2010 – February 13, 2011
2011	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?^[50]	Honey	Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.) February 25 – April 10, 2011
	The Real Thing^[51]	Annie	Writers Theatre (Glencoe) September 13 – December 4, 2011
2012	The Girl in the Yellow Dress^[52]	Celia	Next Theatre (Evanston) January 19 – February 26, 2012
	Pretty Penny^[53]	Crystal	Writers Theatre March 12, 2012
	The March^[54]	Emily Thompson	Steppenwolf Theatre Company April 5 – June 10, 2012 June 28 – August 26, 2012
	Three Sisters^[55]	Masha
	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	Honey	Booth Theatre (Broadway debut) September 27, 2012 – March 3, 2013
2015	Placebo^[56]	Louise	Playwrights Horizons (Off-Broadway) February 20 – April 6, 2015
2016	Mary Page Marlowe^[22]	Mary Page Marlowe (ages 27–36)	Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago) March 31 – June 5, 2016
2017	Mary Jane^[57]	Mary Jane	New York Theatre Workshop (Off-Broadway) September 6 – October 15, 2017
2020	Bug^[58]	Agnes White	Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago) January 23 – March 8, 2020 November 11 – December 12, 2021

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2013	Theatre World Award	N/A	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	Won
	Tony Award	Best Featured Actress in a Play	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	Nominated
2014	St. Louis Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress	Gone Girl	Nominated
	San Diego Film Critics Society	Best Supporting Actress	Gone Girl	Nominated
	Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role	Gone Girl	Nominated
	Awards Circuit Community Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role	Gone Girl	Nominated
	Golden Schmoes Awards	Best Supporting Actress of the Year	Gone Girl	Nominated
	IGN Summer Movie Awards	Best Movie Supporting Actress	Gone Girl	Nominated
	IndieWire Critics Poll	Best Supporting Actress	Gone Girl	6th place
	Village Voice Film Poll	Best Supporting Actress	Gone Girl	6th place
2015	Empire Awards	Best Female Newcomer	Gone Girl	Nominated
	Central Ohio Film Critics Association	Best Ensemble (shared with cast)	Gone Girl	Nominated
	Georgia Film Critics Association	Best Ensemble (shared with cast)	Gone Girl	Nominated
	Gold Derby Awards	Ensemble Cast (shared with cast)	Gone Girl	Nominated
		Breakthrough Performer	—	Nominated
	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	The Leftovers	Nominated
2016	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Actress in a Drama Series	The Leftovers	Won^[59]
2017	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie	Fargo	Nominated^[60]
	TCA Awards	Individual Achievement in Drama	The Leftovers and Fargo	Won^[61]
2018	Chlotrudis Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Strange Weather	Nominated^[62]
	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries	Fargo	Nominated
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Actress in a Play	Mary Jane	Nominated
	Lucille Lortel Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play	Mary Jane	Won^[63]
	MTV Movie & TV Awards	Best Fight (shared with Scarlett Johansson, Danai Gurira, and Elizabeth Olsen)	Avengers: Infinity War	Nominated^[64]
	Obie Award	Distinguished Performance by an Actress	Mary Jane	Won^[65]
	Satellite Awards	Best Actress in a Drama / Genre Series	The Leftovers	Nominated
2019	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries	The Sinner	Nominated
2020	Chicago Film Critics Association	Best Actress	The Nest	Nominated
	Florida Film Critics Circle	Best Actress	The Nest	Nominated
	Gotham Awards	Best Actress	The Nest	Nominated
	Indiana Film Journalists Association	Best Actress	The Nest	Nominated
	Jeff Award	Performer in a Principal Role – Play	Bug	Won^[66]
2021	Canadian Screen Awards	Best Actress	The Nest	Nominated
2022	Saturn Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Ghostbusters: Afterlife	Nominated

References

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2. "Carrie Coon". Empire Online. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
3. "Darleen Ploenes Obituary – Akron, OH | Akron Beacon Journal". Legacy.com. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
4. . University of Mount Union. 2015. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
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External links

• Carrie Coon at IMDb  
• Carrie Coon at the Internet Broadway Database  
• Carrie Coon at the Internet Off-Broadway Database  
• Carrie Coon at Playbill Vault