Carrie Preston
Carrie Preston | |
---|---|
![]() Preston in 2016 | |
Born | Macon, Georgia, U.S. | June 21, 1967
Education | University of Evansville (BFA 1990), Juilliard School (Diploma 1994) |
Occupation(s) | Actress, director, producer |
Years active | 1995–present |
Spouse | |
Website | CarriePreston.com |
Carrie Preston (born June 21, 1967)[1] is an American film and television actress, producer and director. She is known for her work on the television series True Blood and Person of Interest, as well as The Good Wife, which earned her the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.
Early life and education
Preston was born and raised in Macon, Georgia. Her mother is an artist and art therapist, and her father is a geo-technical engineer. She began performing in community theater shows at age 8, and by age 12 she had begun her own front-yard theater company with other neighborhood kids.[2] Her brother is actor John G. Preston. Both are graduates of Central High School in Macon, Georgia.
She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Evansville (1990), followed by an acting diploma from the Juilliard School's Drama Division[3][4] (Group 23: 1990–1994).[5]
Career
Preston has worked with her husband, actor Michael Emerson, on a number of projects. Emerson played Ben Linus on television's Lost, and Preston was a guest star in episode 20 of season 3, "The Man Behind the Curtain" as Ben's mother Emily in flashback scenes, though she and Emerson never shared scenes together. The couple were featured in the 2004 comedy film Straight-Jacket and the 2008 feature film, Ready? OK!. Most recently, she has appeared in several episodes of Person of Interest as Grace Hendricks, the former fiancée of Emerson's character, Harold Finch.
Preston is co-owner of the production company Daisy 3 Pictures with James Vasquez and Mark Holmes. For seven seasons she played Arlene Fowler on True Blood.[6] On July 31, 2010, Carrie Preston and her husband, Michael Emerson, read A. R. Gurney's Love Letters, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, at the Charleston Stage. They performed it as a fundraiser for the South Carolina's theatre. The reading was followed by a brief "Question and Answer" session.
Preston has a recurring role playing Elsbeth Tascioni, an eccentric but extremely effective trial lawyer on CBS's The Good Wife. [7] First introduced in season one and recurring on seasons three through seven the character is a fan favorite, and Preston won the 2013 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her work on the show.
On September 6, 2013, it was announced that Preston signed on to play a recurring character in the second season of the Kevin Bacon-led thriller, The Following. She portrayed Judy, a prostitute and ill-fated groupie of Joe Carroll. The show's second season premiered in January 2014.[8]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1985 | Just a Friend | Mint Jennifer | |
1997 | My Best Friend's Wedding | Mandy Newhouse | |
1997 | The Journey | Laura Singh | |
1997 | For Richer or Poorer | Rebecca Yoder | |
1998 | Mercury Rising | Emily Lang | |
1999 | Guinevere | Patty | |
1999 | Cradle Will Rock | VTA – Administrator | |
2000 | Woman Wanted | Monica | |
2000 | The Legend of Bagger Vance | Idalyn Greaves | |
2004 | Straight Jacket | Sally Stone | |
2004 | The Stepford Wives | Barbara | |
2005 | Transamerica | Sydney | |
2007 | Lovely by Surprise | Marian | |
2007 | Towelhead | Evelyn Vuoso | |
2008 | Ready? OK! | Andy Dowd | |
2008 | Vicky Cristina Barcelona | Sally | |
2008 | Doubt | Christine Hurley | |
2009 | Duplicity | Barbara Bofferd | |
2009 | That Evening Sun | Ludie Choat | |
2010 | Virginia | Betty | |
2011 | The Carrier | Sister (voice) | Short film |
2011 | A Bag of Hammers | Lynette | |
2011 | Sironia | Grace | |
2012 | Vino Veritas | Claire | |
2012 | Who's Afraid of Vagina Wolf? | Chloe | |
2013 | Beneath the Harvest Sky (previously known as Blue Potato) | Kim | |
2014 | 5 Flights Up |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1996 | Cutty Whitman | Sheriff | TV film |
1997 | Union Square | Jester | Episode: "Michael's First Stand" |
1998 | Five Houses | TV film | |
1998 | Significant Others | Patti Pasternak | Episode: "My Left Kidney" |
1998 | Grace & Glorie | Charlene Stiles | TV film |
1999 | Spin City | Gayle | Episode: "Carter & Stuart & Bennett & Deirdre" |
1999 | Sex and the City | Madeline Dunn | Episode: "The Chicken Dance" |
2001 | Emeril | B.D. Benson | 10 episodes |
2003 | Good Morning, Miami | Kiera | Episode: "The Slow and the Furious" |
2003 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Megan Colby | Episode: "Zoonotic" |
2004 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Doreen Whitlock | Episode: "Magnificat" |
2004 | Wonderfalls | Sister Katrina | Episode: "Wound-Up Penguin" |
2004 | Hope & Faith | Sally Jones | Episode: "Queer as Hope" |
2005 | Numb3rs | Vicky Sites | Episode: "Dirty Bomb" |
2005 | The Inside | Kelly Comack | Episode: "Pre-Filer" |
2006 | Arrested Development | Jan Eagleman | Episode: "Fakin' It" |
2006 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Lena Copeland | Episode: "Bedfellows" |
2007 | Lost | Emily Linus | Episode: "The Man Behind the Curtain" |
2007 | Desperate Housewives | Lucy | Episode: "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover" |
2008–14 | True Blood | Arlene Fowler | Main role (76 episodes) |
2009 | Private Practice | Miss Pierce | Episode: "Do the Right Thing" |
2010–16 | The Good Wife | Elsbeth Tascioni | Recurring role (14 episodes) Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series Nominated—Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series |
2011 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Bella Zane | Episode: "Educated Guess" |
2012 | Royal Pains | Jackie Van Ark | Episode: "Hurts Like a Mother" |
2012–14 | Person of Interest | Grace Hendricks | Episodes: "No Good Deed," "The High Road," "Til Death," "Zero Day," "God Mode," "Beta" |
2014 | The Following | Judy | 3 episodes |
2014 | Getting On | Denya Thorp | Episode: "The 7th Annual Christmas Card Competition" |
2015 | Crowded | Martina Gunn | Main cast |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1995 | Indiscretions | Madeleine | |
1995 | The Tempest | Miranda | Broadway |
1997 | Antony and Cleopatra | Octavia | The Public Theater |
1998 | Freedomland | Polly | Playwrights Horizons |
2000 | Straight Jacket | Sally | Playhouse 91 |
2000 | She Stoops to Conquer | Kate Hardcastle | Center Stage |
2001 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Honey | Guthrie Theater |
2001 | Chaucer in Rome | Sarah | Lincoln Center |
2002 | Boys and Girls | Shelly | Duke on 42nd Street |
2002 | No Foreigners Beyond This Point | Paula Wheaton | Center Stage |
2004–05 | The Rivals | Julia | Broadway |
2005 | Cycling Past the Matterhorn | Amy | Clurman Theatre |
2005 | Hamlet | Ophelia | McCarter Theatre Center |
2006 | Festen | Mette | Broadway |
2008 | Esther Demsac | Reluctant Nanny | NY Theatre Workshop's 4th Street Theatre |
2008 | Likeness | Primary Stages | |
2010 | Love Letters | Melissa Gardner | Charleston Stage |
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
2005 | 29th and Gay | Director, executive producer, editor |
2007 | Feet of Clay | Director, executive producer |
2008 | Ready? OK! | Executive producer |
2008 | Girl Talk | Director |
2012 | That's What She Said | Director, producer |
References
- ^ Carrie Preston at IMDb
- ^ "Carrie Preston". Movies & TV. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
- ^ "About Carrie Preston". CarriePreston.com. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
- ^ "Carrie Preston". TV Guide. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
- ^ "Alumni News". The Juilliard School. May 2008. Archived from the original on 2011-11-11.
- ^ Eramo, Steven. Actress Goes Through Transformation on "True Blood", Newsarama.com, November 7, 2008; retrieved June 25, 2011.
- ^ "Filmography by TV series for Elsbeth Tascioni (Character) from "The Good Wife" (2009)". Retrieved January 15, 2013.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ "The Following Casting Scoop: True Blood's Carrie Preston to Guest Star as Joe Carroll's Groupie". E!. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
External links
- American film actresses
- American stage actresses
- American television actresses
- Juilliard School alumni
- Actresses from Georgia (U.S. state)
- Actors from Macon, Georgia
- 1967 births
- Living people
- University of Evansville alumni
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- Primetime Emmy Award winners