subscribe to newsletter

Academy Award-winning and Emmy nominated actress Marcia Gay Harden has forged an incomparable body of work, and like a chameleon she transforms into each character she plays. Her critically lauded performances are myriad, from glamorous Ava Gardner in SINATRA, to artist Lee Krasner in POLLOCK, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, to the down-and-out Celeste in MYSTIC RIVER, Oscar-nominated in the same category. Her versatility has been praised in films including MILLER'S CROSSING, THE FIRST WIVES CLUB, MEET JOE BLACK, MONA LISA SMILE, THE HOAX and USED PEOPLE.
 
Harden currently stars as 'Mayor Christine Holman' in Fox's MURDER IN A SMALL TOWN, joining the series in its second season opposite Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk. A practicing doctor and consummate political operator in the coastal town of Gibsons, Holman is a beloved figure whose own agenda complicates life for the chief of police. Seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Netflix in the US, and a third season has wrapped filming in British Columbia.
 
She most recently earned an Emmy nomination for Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her recurring role as 'Maggie Brener' on the Golden Globe-nominated series THE MORNING SHOW on Apple TV+, opposite Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. She also starred as 'Margaret' in the mother-son dramedy SO HELP ME TODD with Skylar Astin on CBS, and in Netflix's UNCOUPLED, co-created by Darren Star and Jeffrey Richman, opposite Neil Patrick Harris.
 
On film, Harden recently starred as 'Morwen' in the Gothic horror THE DREADFUL, reuniting GAME OF THRONES stars Sophie Turner and Kit Harington, which she also executive produced and in which The Hollywood Reporter called her performance the film's redeeming force. She appeared in Michael Keaton's thriller KNOX GOES AWAY, voiced the AI life coach 'Salenus' in the sci-fi thriller RENNER opposite Frankie Muniz, and starred in Greg Mottola's CONFESS, FLETCH opposite Jon Hamm, the family comedy DAUGHTER OF THE BRIDE and Roadside's GIGI & NATE. She also starred in NatGeo's BARKSKINS, based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Pulitzer Prize-winner Annie Proulx, as innkeeper and power player 'Mathilde Geffard', and in Amy Poehler's Netflix comedy MOXIE.
 
Harden completed a 3-season run as 'Dr. Leanne Rorish' in the CBS drama CODE BLACK, for which she was nominated for a People's Choice Award as Favorite Actress in a New TV Series, and had a memorable arc on ABC's HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER. Past television includes the ABC comedy TROPHY WIFE, Lifetime's THE AMANDA KNOX STORY, the critically acclaimed FX drama DAMAGES opposite William Hurt and Glenn Close, and a guest star turn as First Amendment attorney 'Rebecca Halliday' on Aaron Sorkin's HBO series THE NEWSROOM. In 2009 she was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for THE COURAGEOUS HEART OF IRENA SENDLER, and received an earlier Emmy nomination for her guest appearance on LAW & ORDER: SVU.
 
On the big screen she reprised her role as Christian Grey's mother in Universal's FIFTY SHADES FREED, following FIFTY SHADES OF GREY and FIFTY SHADES DARKER, a trilogy that grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide. Notable past films include the Paul Weitz comedy GRANDMA alongside Lily Tomlin, PARKLAND with Billy Bob Thornton and Paul Giamatti, DETACHMENT with Adrien Brody and Lucy Liu, AMERICAN GUN with Forest Whitaker, which earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination, Drew Barrymore's directorial debut WHIP IT, in which her daughter Eulala Scheel also co-starred, Frank Darabont's THE MIST, Sean Penn's INTO THE WILD, Richard Linklater's BAD NEWS BEARS and Joel Coen's MILLER'S CROSSING.
 
Harden has chosen a life away from mainstream Hollywood, moving between independent and studio films, and between television and theatre. In 2009 her Broadway performance in GOD OF CARNAGE earned her the Best Actress Tony Award, alongside fellow nominees James Gandolfini, Hope Davis and Jeff Daniels, and she reprised the role in 2011 at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles. She also received an Outer Critics Circle Award for the performance, with nominations from the Drama Desk and Drama League, and an earlier Tony nomination for ANGELS IN AMERICA, for which she won the Drama Desk and Theatre World Awards. In 2017 she made her UK theatre debut in Chichester Festival Theatre's SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH.
 
Adding author to her professional oeuvre, Harden published THE SEASONS OF MY MOTHER: A MEMOIR OF LOVE, FAMILY, AND FLOWERS with Atria in 2018. Written about her mother's Alzheimer's, it is a poignant personal story which Publishers Weekly called a graceful memoir.
 
Harden graduated from the University of Texas with a BA in Theatre and holds an MFA from the Graduate Acting program at New York University. She is a mother of three and a passionate advocate for LGBTQ rights.