Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski (born May 3, 1968) known professionally as Amy Ryan, is an American actress. She has been nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Gone Baby Gone (2007) and is also known for her role in HBO's The Wire, playing Port Authority Officer Beadie Russell.
Early life[]
Born in Queens, New York City, Ryan is her mother's maiden name.[1][2] She is of English, Irish, and Polish descent.[3] Ryan and her sister delivered the Daily News by bike growing up in the 1970s. At a young age, she attended the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Center in upstate New York.[1][2] At 17, she graduated from New York's High School of Performing Arts.[1][2] Hired for the national tour of Biloxi Blues right out of high school, Ryan worked steadily Off-Broadway for the next decade.[2][4]
Theatre[]
Ryan made her off-Broadway debut in the Westside Theatre's 1987 production of A Shayna Maidel, playing the role of Hanna. The following year she was seen in the Second Stage Theatre Company's revival of The Rimers of Eldritch.[5][6] Additional off-Broadway credits include As Bees In Honey Drown, Crimes of the Heart and Saved.[7][8][9][10] She also worked in regional theater, where she originated roles in new plays by Neil LaBute, Arthur Miller and Neil Simon. On Broadway she has appeared as Tess in The Sisters Rosensweig, Natasha in the 1997 revival of The Three Sisters, and Peggy in the 2001–2002 revival of The Women.[2][11]
Ryan has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play twice, in 2000 for her portrayal of Sonya Alexandrovna in Uncle Vanya and in 2005 for her performance as Stella Kowalski opposite John C. Reilly in A Streetcar Named Desire.[2][11][12][13]
Television[]
Following a brief stint playing a runaway on As the World Turns, Ryan was cast in television series such as I'll Fly Away,[2][14] in which she played a high school temptress, and Brooklyn Bridge, where she played Marion Ross' character in flashbacks.[15] After roles on ER and Chicago Hope, Ryan became a series regular on The Naked Truth as Téa Leoni's spoiled stepdaughter.[14][16][17] In 1993, she made her first appearance on NBC's Law & Order, appearing in several episodes over the years.[2][14]
By 2001, director Sidney Lumet cast her in 100 Centre Street playing three different roles (Ellen, Paris and Rebecca).[1][18] Ryan went on to feature prominently in the second season of HBO's The Wire, playing Port Authority Officer Beadie Russell.[14][19][20] She appeared for a six-episode arc on The Office as dorky HR rep Holly Flax. She reprised her role on The Office in the Season 5 finale.[14][17] According to Mindy Kaling, "She’s definitely coming back," for the seventh season with a much larger role. In reference to the season 6 finale, Kaling stated “We set her return up in the finale, so it would be the biggest [cop-out] of all time if we didn’t [follow through] on it."[21] She is set to return for at least eight episodes of season 7.[22]
Ryan joined the cast of HBO's In Treatment for its third season, playing the therapist of Dr. Paul Weston.[23]
In 2021, Amy Ryan played Jan Bellows, a main role, in the first season of Hulu series Only Murders in the Building co-starring with Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez.[24]
Film[]
Due to the deletion of the scene wherein she played Eric Stoltz's wife in Allison Anders' Grace of my Heart,[1] Ryan made her 1999 movie debut in Roberta.[14][17] She then appeared in You Can Count on Me with Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo,[2][24] and the mystery/thriller Keane.[2][25][17] Albert Brooks chose her to play his wife in Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World in 2005, and 2007 brought both Dan in Real Life and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.[2][14][18] Her role as a star-struck sheriff's wife in Capote[2][14] earned her positive reviews, but it was playing a hardened welfare mom in Ben Affleck's Gone Baby Gone that finally brought her national attention.[2][4][18][20]
After being voted Best Supporting Actress for Gone Baby Gone by the National Board of Review,[26] as well as the critics circles in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, DC, Ryan's performance was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award,[27] and an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting role at the 80th Academy Awards.[28]
Ryan appeared in Changeling (2008), directed by Clint Eastwood,[2][14] and opposite Matt Damon in Paul Greengrass's Green Zone (2010).[2][29][30] In September 2010 she completed filming a role in Philip Seymour Hoffman's directorial film debut, Jack Goes Boating, taking over the role of Connie originally played by Beth Cole in the stage version.[19][31]
In 2018, Ryan co-starred in Beautiful Boy, a dark family drama, with her The Office co-star Steve Carell, and Timothée Chalamet. She was then among the ensemble cast of 2019's Late Night, the Mindy Kaling-penned (a writer and producer of The Office) comedy starring Emma Thompson; and Strange but True, a noir-thriller based on the novel by John Searles. In 2020, Ryan starred as Mari Gilbert, a real-life woman searching for her missing daughter, in Netflix's mystery thriller Lost Girls.
In 2023, she appeared in Ari Aster's black comedy psychological horror film Beau Is Afraid starring Joaquin Phoenix. In the film she plays Grace, alongside Nathan Lane as Roger a couple who take in Beau for a brief period of time.
Personal life[]
Ryan gave birth to her first child with fiancé Eric Slovin. Daughter, Georgia Gracie was born on October 15, 2009.[32] She is best friends with actress Patricia Clarkson.[1][19][20][33]
Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Roberta | Judy | |
| 2000 | You Can Count on Me | Rachel Louise Prescott | |
| A Pork Chop for Larry | Beth | ||
| Law and Order: SVU | Lorraine Hansen | Bad Blood - Season 1 Episode 11 | |
| 2002–2008 | The Wire | Beadie Russell | |
| 2004 | Keane | Lynn Bedik | |
| 2005 | War of the Worlds | Neighbor with Toddler | |
| Capote | Marie Dewey | ||
| Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World | Emily Brooks | ||
| 2006 | Shiner | Mom | |
| Marvelous | Queenie | ||
| 2007 | Gone Baby Gone | Helene McCready | For her role, Amy Ryan won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress, Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Supporting Actress, National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress, and many other critics' awards. She was also nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role at the 80th Academy Awards, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress (Motion Picture), Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, and other awards. |
| Forward | |||
| Neal Cassady | Carolyn Cassady | ||
| Before the Devil Knows You're Dead | Martha Hanson | For her performance, Ryan won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress (also for Gone Baby Gone), and the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress (also for Gone Baby Gone). | |
| Dan in Real Life | Eileen Burns | ||
| 2008 | Changeling | Carol Dexter | |
| 2008–2011 | The Office | Holly Flax | 17 episodes; Guest in Season 4, recurring in Season 5, and starring in Season 7 as Holly Flax. |
| 2009 | Bob Funk | Ms. Wright | |
| The Missing Person | Miss Charley | ||
| Green Zone | Lawrie Dayne | ||
| 2010 | Jack Goes Boating | Connie | The film was released in USA on September 23, 2010. |
| 2013 | Escape Plan | Abigail Ross | |
| 2014 | Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) | Sylvia | For her performance, Amy Ryan won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble, Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Ensemble, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards for Best Acting Ensemble and many other accolades. |
| 2015 | Don Verdean | Carol | |
| Louder Than Bombs | Hannah | ||
| Goosebumps | Gale Cooper | Directed by Rob Letterman and written by Darren Lemke. The film was a commercial success, grossing $158 million against its $84 million budget, and received positive reviews from critics. | |
| Bridge of Spies | Mary McKenna Donovan | Directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg starring Tom Hanks in the lead role. It received critical acclaim and was a box-office success. The film received six Academy Award nominations and won Best Supporting Actor. | |
| 2016 | Central Intelligence | Agent Pamela Harris | |
| The Infiltrator | Bonni Tischler | ||
| Monster Trucks | Cindy Coley | ||
| 2017 | Abundant Acreage Available | Tracy Ledbetter | |
| 2018 | Beautiful Boy | Vicki Sheff | The film stars Steve Carell (played Michael Scott in The Office) and Timothée Chalamet with Amy Ryan and Maura Tierney. |
| 2019 | Late Night | Caroline Morton | Directed by Nisha Ganatra from a screenplay also produced by Mindy Kaling (who was a writer in The Office, and played Kelly Kapoor in the show). It stars Emma Thompson. |
| Strange but True | Charlene Chase | ||
| 2020 | Worth | Camille Biros | |
| Lost Girls | Mari Gilbert | ||
| 2021-2022 | Only Murders in the Building | Jan Bellows | Main role (Season 1); The Hulu series also stars Steve Martin (Amy Ryan and Steve Carell both cited him as inspiration), Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. |
| 2023 | Beau Is Afraid | Grace | |
| TBD | Wolves | Filming |
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