Amy Ryan

Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski (born May 3, 1968),^[1] known professionally as Amy Ryan, is an American actress. She began her professional stage career in 1987 and made her Broadway debut in 1993 as a replacement in the original production of Wendy Wasserstein's The Sisters Rosensweig. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performances in Uncle Vanya (2000) and A Streetcar Named Desire (2005), and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for Doubt: A Parable (2024).

For her breakthrough film role as a troubled single mother in the thriller Gone Baby Gone (2007), Ryan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her other films include You Can Count on Me (2000), Capote (2005), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), Changeling (2008), Birdman (2014), Bridge of Spies (2015), The Infiltrator (2016), Beautiful Boy (2018), and Beau Is Afraid (2023).

On television, she played Beadie Russell in the HBO crime series The Wire (2002–2008) and Holly Flax in the NBC sitcom The Office (2008–2011), and has also featured in the HBO drama series In Treatment (2010), the Hulu mystery comedy series Only Murders in the Building (2021–2024), and the Apple TV+ neo-noir mystery series Sugar (2024).

Early life

Ryan was born Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski in Flushing, Queens, in New York City, the daughter of Pamela (née Ryan),^[2][3] a nurse, and John Dziewiontkowski, a trucking business owner. She is of Polish, Irish, and English descent.^[4] Growing up in the 1970s, Ryan and her sister Laura delivered the Daily News by bike. At a young age, Ryan attended the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Center in upstate New York. At 17, she graduated from New York's High School of Performing Arts.^[5] Hired for the national tour of Biloxi Blues right out of high school, Ryan worked steadily off-Broadway for the next decade. She chose her mother's maiden name as her stage name.^[5]

Career

1987–2005: Broadway debut and early roles

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.^[6][7] Additional off-Broadway credits include As Bees In Honey Drown, Crimes of the Heart and Saved.^{[8][9][10][11]} 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.^[5][12]

Following a brief stint playing a runaway on As the World Turns, Ryan was cast in television series such as I'll Fly Away,^[5] After roles on ER and Chicago Hope, Ryan became a series regular on The Naked Truth as Téa Leoni's spoiled stepdaughter.^[13][14] In 1993, she made her first appearance on NBC's Law & Order, appearing in several episodes over the years.^[5]

Ryan was 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.^{[5][12][15][16]}

Because of the deletion of the scene where she played Eric Stoltz's wife in Allison Anders's Grace of My Heart, Ryan made her 1999 film debut in Roberta.^[14] She then briefly appeared in You Can Count on Me, which starred Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo,^[5] and the mystery/thriller Keane.^[5][14] By 2001, director Sidney Lumet cast her in 100 Centre Street playing three different roles (Ellen, Paris and Rebecca).^[17] From 2003 to 2008 Ryan went on to feature prominently in HBO's crime drama series The Wire, playing Port Authority Officer Beadie Russell.^[18][19] 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.^[5][17] Her role as a star-struck sheriff's wife in Capote^[5] 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.^[5][17][19]

2006–2017: Breakthrough and acclaim

After being voted Best Supporting Actress for Gone Baby Gone by the National Board of Review,^[20] as well as the critics circles in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., Ryan's performance was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award,^[21] and an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting role at the 80th Academy Awards.^[22]

Ryan appeared in Changeling (2008), directed by Clint Eastwood,^[5] and opposite Matt Damon in Paul Greengrass's Green Zone (2010).^[5][23] 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.^[18] Ryan received strong notices for her performance in Tom McCarthy's Win Win the next year, winning Best Supporting Actress awards from multiple regional critics groups. From 2008 to 2011 She appeared for a six-episode arc on The Office as dorky HR rep Holly Flax. She reprised her role on The Office in seasons 5 and 7.^[24] Ryan joined the cast of HBO's In Treatment for its third season in 2010, playing the therapist of Dr. Paul Weston.^[25]

Ryan was a part of the core ensemble of the 2014 Best Picture Academy Award winning film Birdman, sharing in the cast's Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture victory. In 2015, she starred as Mary Donovan opposite Tom Hanks in the film Bridge of Spies, and reunited with her In Treatment co-star Gabriel Byrne in Louder Than Bombs, the English-language debut of Joachim Trier. Early the next year, Ryan was cast as Tracy, her first on-screen leading role,^[26] in Abundant Acreage Available, a rural family drama from Junebug screenwriter Angus MacLachlan. Upon the film's premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, Ryan drew universal acclaim for her performance, with The Wrap noting that she "holds the screen no matter what she's doing and who she's with"^[27] and Flavorwire raving that Ryan "sounds notes that are quietly dazzling in their complexity."^[28] Variety chief film critic Peter Debruge dubbed the performance a career highlight:

It's a pleasure to see such a fine actress navigate the nuances of her role ... Only on the big screen are we able to fully appreciate the minutely detailed nature of Ryan's performance, revealing Tracy's soul via the slightest narrowing of the eyes or the almost-subliminal tensing of her cheekbones. As we know, Junebug earned Amy Adams an Oscar nomination, and if the world were fair, this role would bring another Amy similar attention.^[29]

Ryan received some of the best reviews of her career for her leading role in the Roundabout Theater Company's 2016 production of Love, Love, Love. Ben Brantley of The New York Times praised her "smashing comic performance,"^[30] The Hollywood Reporter called her work "emotionally vital,"^[31] and The Associated Press raved that "Ryan is absolutely magnetic ... nailing her charming, unpredictable character with perfect comedic timing."^[32] In an article exploring various famous actresses working on the stage, The Washington Post theater critic Peter Marks highlighted Ryan's work in the play:

The revelation is not that Amy Ryan is good. It's that she's this good ... Ryan, whose range has been apparent for years, in dramatic performances nominated for Tonys (Uncle Vanya) and Oscars (Gone Baby Gone), as well as in nuanced comic turns on television shows like The Office, manages a feat in Love, Love, Love that she's never accomplished so fluidly before: taking charge. She delivers a front-and-center performance of such beguiling dynamism (in a thoroughly convincing English accent) that you feel this Roundabout Theatre Company production has done for her precisely what was intended. It exposes a new facet of her talent — and leaves us with that uplifting itch, to be there the next time she's on a stage.^[33]

For her performance in Love, Love, Love, Ryan won the Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress, and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play^[34] and the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance.^[35]

2018–present

In 2018, Ryan co-starred in Beautiful Boy for Amazon Studios, 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 comedy about a female late-night talk show host (Emma Thompson); and Strange but True, a noir-thriller based on the novel by John Searles.^[36][37] In 2020, Ryan starred as Mari Gilbert, a real life woman searching for her missing daughter, in Netflix's mystery thriller Lost Girls.

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.^[38][39] In 2023 she appeared in Ari Aster's A24 black comedy psychological horror film Beau Is Afraid starring Joaquin Phoenix. In the film she played Grace, who, alongside Nathan Lane's Roger, takes Beau in for a brief period of time.^[40]

Personal life

Ryan married Eric Slovin^[2][41][42] in 2011.^[43] They have one daughter born in October 2009.^[44][3]

Acting credits

Film

Television

Audio

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

1. ^ "Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 3-9". Associated Press. May 27, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
2. ^ Marks, Peter (October 10, 2010). "Amy Ryan: A journeyman's actress co-stars in 'Jack Goes Boating'". The Washington Post
3. ^ "Saturday (Day 2) at the Fair". Njherald.mycapture.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2017. Pam Dziewiontkowski, left, ... Eric Slovin and Amy Ryan ...
4. ^ Gross, Terry (2010). "Amy Ryan: From 'The Office' To The 'Green Zone'". NPR. Archived March 14, 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
5. ^ "Amy Ryan". Hello. Archived September 23, 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
6. ^ "The Rimers of Eldritch". Lortel Archives—the Internet off-Broadway database. Archived from the original on October 26, 2007. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
7. ^ Review/Theater; Brooding Look at Dismal Lives in Wilson Revival, NY Times
8. ^ "Amy Ryan". Lortel Archives—the Internet off-Broadway database. Archived from the original on October 3, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
9. ^ As Bees in Honey Drown. (Lucille Lortel Theater, New York), Variety July 28, 1997.
10. ^ Crimes of the Heart, CurtainUp
11. ^ "Saved, a CurtainUp review". Curtainup.com. February 25, 2001. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
12. ^ "Amy Ryan". ibdb.com. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
13. ^ Tucker, Ken (November 3, 1995). "The Naked Truth" Archived December 20, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Entertainment Weekly.
14. ^ Amy Ryan Archived February 5, 2010 at the Wayback Machine
15. ^ "A Streetcar Named Desire, Studio 54". ibdb.com. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
16. ^ "IBDB Person Awards". ibdb.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
17. ^ Spotlight on Amy Ryan Archived October 30, 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Comingsoon.net
18. ^ Speakeasy AMY RYAN two.one.five magazine
19. ^ Actress Amy Ryan keeps things interesting, taking parts on stage, on screen and on TV Archived March 8, 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Monterey Herald
20. ^ "Past Awards". National Board of Review. Archived from the original on December 8, 2009. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
21. ^ Amy Ryan, Screen Actors Guild Award nominee Archived July 3, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
22. ^ "The 80th Academy Awards | 2008". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 7, 2014. Archived November 9, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
23. ^ Q&A – Amy Ryan on What Affleck, Eastwood, and the Green Zone Director Have in Common Archived July 8, 2010 at the Wayback Machine, FilmCritic.com
24. ^ Amy Ryan Returning to The Office, TVGuide.com
25. ^ "Amy Ryan Books Role on In Treatment". TV Guide
26. ^ "SAGindie Interview: AMY RYAN of ABUNDANT ACREAGE AVAILABLE". September 27, 2017.
27. ^ Pond, Steve (April 20, 2017). "Abundant Acreage Available Tribeca Review: Amy Ryan Owns This Quiet Family Drama". The Wrap. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
28. ^ Bailey, Jason (May 1, 2017). "The Best and Worst Movies of the Tribeca Film Festival". Flavorwire. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
29. ^ Debruge, Peter (2017-04-21). "Tribeca Film Review: Abundant Acreage Available". Variety. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
30. ^ Brantley, Ben (October 19, 2016). "Review: In 'Love, Love, Love,' All You Need Is Selfishness". The New York Times. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
31. ^ Scheck, Frank (October 19, 2016). "'Love, Love, Love': Theater Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
32. ^ Farrar, Jennifer (October 20, 2016). "Review: The Kids Are Not Alright in Play 'Love, Love, Love'". Associated Press. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
33. ^ Marks, Peter (2016-11-07). "When Casting About for Famous Actresses for the Stage, Choose Carefully". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
34. ^ Cox, Gordon (April 27, 2017). "'Hello, Dolly!' Dominates 2017 Drama Desk Nominations (Full List)". Variety. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
35. ^ Cox, Gordon (April 19, 2017). "Daniel Craig, Cate Blanchett, Allison Janney Nominated for Drama League Awards". Variety. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
36. ^ Hipes, Patrick (March 15, 2017). "Amy Ryan Reunites With Steve Carell For Amazon's Beautiful Boy". Deadline. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
37. ^ Mitchell, Robert (May 17, 2017). "La La Land's Fred Berger to Produce Noir Thriller Strange but True". Variety. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
38. ^ "The Cast of 'Only Murders in the Building': Everything to Know". Peoplemag. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
39. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (January 6, 2021). "Amy Ryan Joins Hulu Comedy Series 'Only Murders In The Building'". Deadline. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
40. ^ "'Beau Is Afraid' Review: Joaquin Phoenix Grapples With Mother Issues in Ari Aster's Bonkers Freudian Freakout". The Hollywood Reporter. April 11, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
41. ^ "Eric Slovin". Vulture. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
42. ^ "Eric Slovin". Television Academy. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
43. ^ Mottram, James (October 28, 2011). "Amy Ryan: Hollywood, motherhood and being unemployed". The Independent. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
44. ^ Everett, Cristina (October 21, 2009). "Amy Ryan and fiance Eric Slovin welcome baby girl, Georgia Gracie". New York Daily News. Archived October 24, 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
45. ^ "80th Academy Awards". Oscars.org. October 7, 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
46. ^ "Amy Ryan - Golden Globe Awards". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
47. ^ "14th Screen Actors Guild Awards". sagawards.org. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
48. ^ "21st Screen Actors Guild Awards". sagawards.org. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
49. ^ "28th Screen Actors Guild Awards". sagawards.org. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
50. ^ "2000 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
51. ^ "2005 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
52. ^ Sherman, Rachel (April 30, 2024). "Tony Awards Nominations 2024: The Complete List". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 30, 2024.