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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
Movies and shows, newest first
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2026
Street Smart
Movie Dr. Partovi
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2026
Margo's Got Money Troubles
TV show Elizabeth Gable
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2026
The Dreadful
Movie Morwen
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2025
This Ordinary Thing
Movie Self (voice)
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2025
Renner
Movie Salenus (voice)
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2024
Murder in a Small Town
TV show Mayor Christie Holman
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2024
Knox Goes Away
Movie Ruby Knox
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2023
Daughter of the Bride
Movie Diane
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2022
Tell It Like a Woman
Movie Dr. Partovi
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2022
So Help Me Todd
TV show Margaret
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2022
Confess, Fletch
Movie Countess Sylvia de Grassi
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2022
The Sherri Shepherd Show
TV show Self - Guest
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2022
Gigi & Nate
Movie Claire Gibson
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2022
Uncoupled
TV show Claire Lewis
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2022
The Cuphead Show!
TV show Sally Stageplay (voice)
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2021
Money, Explained
TV show Self - Narrator
More credits
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2021
Moxie
Movie Principal Shelly
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2020
Pink Skies Ahead
Movie Pamela
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2020
Barkskins
TV show Mathilde Geffard
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2020
Together in Pride: You Are Not Alone
Movie Self
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2019
The Morning Show
TV show Maggie Brener
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2019
The Kelly Clarkson Show
TV show Self
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2019
Tamron Hall
TV show Self - Guest
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2019
Point Blank
Movie Lieutenant Lewis
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2019
Reef Break
TV show Betty Ann Miller
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2019
RuPaul
TV show Self
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2019
The Cold Open
Movie
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2019
Love You to Death
Movie Camile Stoller
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2018
The Oil Fund
TV show USA Ambassadør
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2018
A Million Little Things
TV show Alice Mendez
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2018
In the Night I Remember Your Name
Movie Pastor Joyce Speegle (voice)
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2018
Fifty Shades Freed
Movie Grace Grey
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2017
Fifty Shades Darker
Movie Grace Trevelyan Grey
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2016
Get a Job
Movie Katherine Dunn
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2015
Code Black
TV show Dr. Leanne Rorish
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2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TV show Self - Guest
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2015
After Words
Movie Jane Taylor
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2015
Unity
Movie Narrator (voice)
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2015
Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant
Movie President of the FAFAFA
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2015
Grandma
Movie Judy