Gretchen Mol
Encyclopedia
Gretchen Mol is an American
actress and former model. She is known for her roles in films like Rounders, Celebrity
, 3:10 to Yuma
, The Thirteenth Floor
,and The Notorious Bettie Page
, where she played the title character. She is recently seen as Gillian Darmody in HBO's Boardwalk Empire.
, where her mother, Janet, is an artist and teacher and her father is a school teacher at RHAM
. She went to high school with Broadway actor Peter Lockyer
, with whom she performed in school musicals and plays. Her brother, Jim Mol, is a director and editor in the film industry. Mol attended The American Musical and Dramatic Academy and graduated from the William Esper Studio
. After summer stock
in Vermont
, she took a job for a while as an usher at Angelika Film Center. She was living in a Hell's Kitchen walk-up when she was noticed by a talent agent who spotted her working as a hat check girl at Michael's Restaurant in New York.
in Vermont where she played a variety of roles including Godspell
and 110 In The Shade
. She played Jenny in Neil LaBute
's The Shape of Things
on stage in both London and New York in 2001, in a role she reprised in the film version, released in 2003. The New York Times critic Ben Brantley
, in his review of the play (which he disliked), wrote, "[Mol] gives by far the most persuasive performance as the unworldly Jenny, and you wind up feeling for her disproportionately, only because she seems to be entirely there, in the present tense". In 2004, Mol spent a year singing and dancing as Roxie in the Broadway production of Chicago
.
In 1994, Mol was spotted by photographer Davis Powell. He photographed her in New York's Central Park
and replaced her unrepresentative portfolio with professional-looking black & white images which landed her on the cover of W
magazine within weeks and foreshadowed her "It Girl
" and "Bettie Page
" looks. Shortly afterwards, she ended her brief modeling career and entered acting full time.
, starring Matt Damon
and Woody Allen
's Celebrity
opposite Leonardo DiCaprio
. It was in 1998 that she also came to prominence and notoriety when she was featured on the cover of Vanity Fair
magazine. Her appearance was both a triumph and a failure — it brought her great attention, but her movies bombed. Dubbed the "It Girl of the Nineties" by the magazine, her career did not live up to the hype – her early success was not sustained and she faced several lean years before a notable comeback with The Notorious Bettie Page
in 2006.
While major roles have been sporadic, Mol has been in more than 30 feature films. She made her film debut in Spike Lee
's 1996 film, Girl 6
. She said "I was auditioning for Guiding Light
and I was happy I got a Spike Lee movie, which was a tiny part, but all of a sudden I had Spike Lee on my resume. I didn't audition for day player
anymore".
After Girl 6, New York filmmaker Abel Ferrara
took notice and cast her in two movies, The Funeral
(1996) and New Rose Hotel
(1998). She had a small role in Donnie Brasco
(1998). But by now, she was being typecast as "the girlfriend," which she attempted to change by taking a role opposite Jude Law
in Music From Another Room
(1998), a romantic comedy. Unfortunately, the film went virtually unnoticed by critics and audiences.
For her second film with Woody Allen, 1999's Sweet and Lowdown
, she played a minor role which the Greenwich Village Gazette called "notable". She played the female lead role in the 1999 film The Thirteenth Floor
. She played the victim of a con artist in the 2003 film, Heavy Put-Away, based on the Terry Southern
story. In 2006, she shared the lead in a romantic comedy, Puccini for Beginners
, in which her character has a lesbian
affair.
Mol worked with Mary Harron for two years as the director struggled to finance The Notorious Bettie Page
: "I kind of felt like I lived with it for a while; certainly not as long as Mary Harron did but I got a good chance to really feel like I knew something about Bettie so by the time the role was mine and I was on set I was pretty confident. I felt like I really worked for it."
The next year, 2007, was one of her busiest, with four films in production or in release, including a remake of 3:10 to Yuma
starring Russell Crowe
, and An American Affair
, in which her character, Catherine Caswell, has an affair with John F. Kennedy
. When released in February 2009, the film was harshly criticized by New York Times critic Stephen Holden, though he said that Mol's part was "quite well acted".
In April 2008, she began filming Tenure
in Philadelphia, working opposite Luke Wilson
, and Andrew Daly
. Though it had received some good reviews after being screened at several film festivals, it was released direct-to-video
in February 2010.
commercial. Mol had a small role of Maggie Tilton
in the 1996 miniseries Dead Man's Walk
, based on the Larry McMurtry novel. She also was in a few episodes of Spin City
. She was the star of the short-lived David E. Kelley series Girls Club
(2002), a drama about three women lawyers. The series was not well received and it was cancelled after two episodes.
She appeared in two TV remakes of classic films: Picnic (2000), in the role of Madge Owens, and The Magnificent Ambersons as Lucy Morgan (2002). She made a Hallmark Hall of Fame
television movie
in January 2007, starring in The Valley of Light, a story set in post-World War II based on a novel by Terry Kay. It was her second Hallmark production. She had a minor role in Calm at Sunset in 1996.
She played Norah in The Memory Keeper's Daughter
which aired in the U.S. on The Lifetime Channel
in the U.S. in April 2008.
She played Annie in the ABC
series Life on Mars
, the U.S. remake of the British show of the same name
. It started airing in the U.S. on October 9, 2008 and ran 17 episodes, concluding on April 1, 2009.
She has a recurring role on HBO's Boardwalk Empire as Gillian Darmody, a showgirl at the Beaux Arts and mother to Jimmy Darmody (played by Michael Pitt
)
in Baltimore in December 2006, Mol commented about how she maintained her confidence as an actress: "It is an ongoing struggle. Confidence is something that sometimes you have and sometimes you don't. And the older you get, hopefully, the more you have some tools to at least fake it".
She married film director Kip Williams
on June 1, 2004. Their first child, Ptolemy John Williams, was born September 10, 2007. On February 17, 2011, Mol and Williams welcomed their second child, daughter Winter Morgan Williams. While raising Ptolemy, Mol has only taken jobs close to her home in New York City. "I told my agent I didn't want to work in L.A., even if it was the greatest job in the world. I didn't want to compromise." She is also the national spokesperson in the United States for the PMD Foundation, which funds research and awareness of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease
, a neurological disorder afflicting children worldwide.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress and former model. She is known for her roles in films like Rounders, Celebrity
Celebrity (film)
Celebrity is a 1998 comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. The screenplay focuses on the divergent paths a couple takes following their divorce.-Plot:...
, 3:10 to Yuma
3:10 to Yuma (2007 film)
3:10 to Yuma is the 2007 remake of the 1957 film of the same name, making it the second adaptation of Elmore Leonard's short story Three-Ten to Yuma. It is directed by James Mangold and produced by Cathy Konrad, and stars Academy Award winners Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in the lead roles. ...
, The Thirteenth Floor
The Thirteenth Floor
The Thirteenth Floor is a 1999 science fiction film directed by Josef Rusnak and loosely based upon Simulacron-3 , a novel by Daniel F. Galouye...
,and The Notorious Bettie Page
The Notorious Bettie Page
The Notorious Bettie Page is a 2005 American biographical film directed by Mary Harron. The screenplay by Harron and Guinevere Turner focuses on 1950s pinup and bondage model Bettie Page.-Plot:...
, where she played the title character. She is recently seen as Gillian Darmody in HBO's Boardwalk Empire.
Early life
Mol was born in Deep River, ConnecticutDeep River, Connecticut
Deep River is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 4,629 at the 2010 census. The town center is also designated by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place...
, where her mother, Janet, is an artist and teacher and her father is a school teacher at RHAM
RHAM High School
RHAM High School is a regional, public high school located in Hebron, Connecticut, United States. Students from the Region 8 public school area of Connecticut, which includes Marlborough and Andover, attend the school...
. She went to high school with Broadway actor Peter Lockyer
Peter Lockyer
Peter Lockyer is an American actor and singer. He was born in Westbrook, Connecticut. As a child, he split his time between Toronto and Connecticut, and went to the same high school as actress Gretchen Mol. Lockyer has appeared in numerous productions, including Miss Saigon as Chris, Les Misérables...
, with whom she performed in school musicals and plays. Her brother, Jim Mol, is a director and editor in the film industry. Mol attended The American Musical and Dramatic Academy and graduated from the William Esper Studio
William Esper Studio
The William Esper Studio is a school for the performing arts located in Manhattan, New York; the school was founded in 1965.-Background:When William "Bill" Esper was a young man, he saw Eli Wallach and Maureen Stapleton in a touring production of The Rose Tattoo ... "[I] was so struck by the...
. After summer stock
Summer Stock
For the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...
in Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, she took a job for a while as an usher at Angelika Film Center. She was living in a Hell's Kitchen walk-up when she was noticed by a talent agent who spotted her working as a hat check girl at Michael's Restaurant in New York.
Stage work
Mol's acting career began in summer stock theatreSummer stock theatre
Summer stock theatre is any theatre that presents stage productions only in the summer within the United States. The name combines both the seasonal time of year with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes...
in Vermont where she played a variety of roles including Godspell
Godspell
Godspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival now playing on Broadway...
and 110 In The Shade
110 in the Shade
110 in the Shade is a musical with a book by N. Richard Nash, lyrics by Tom Jones, and music by Harvey Schmidt.Based on Nash's 1954 play The Rainmaker, it focuses on Lizzie Curry, a spinster living on a ranch in the American southwest, and her relationships with local sheriff File, a cautious...
. She played Jenny in Neil LaBute
Neil LaBute
Neil N. LaBute is an American film director, screenwriter and playwright.-Early life:LaBute was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Marian, a hospital receptionist, and Richard LaBute, a long-haul truck driver. LaBute is of French Canadian, English and Irish ancestry, and was raised in Spokane,...
's The Shape of Things
The Shape of Things
The Shape of Things is a 2001 play by American author and film director Neil LaBute and a 2003 American romantic comedy-drama film. It premièred at the Almeida Theatre, London in 2001 with Paul Rudd as Adam, Rachel Weisz as Evelyn, Gretchen Mol as Jenny, and Fred Weller as Phillip. The play was...
on stage in both London and New York in 2001, in a role she reprised in the film version, released in 2003. The New York Times critic Ben Brantley
Ben Brantley
Benjamin D. "Ben" Brantley is an American journalist and the chief theater critic of The New York Times.-Life and career:...
, in his review of the play (which he disliked), wrote, "[Mol] gives by far the most persuasive performance as the unworldly Jenny, and you wind up feeling for her disproportionately, only because she seems to be entirely there, in the present tense". In 2004, Mol spent a year singing and dancing as Roxie in the Broadway production of Chicago
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...
.
In 1994, Mol was spotted by photographer Davis Powell. He photographed her in New York's Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
and replaced her unrepresentative portfolio with professional-looking black & white images which landed her on the cover of W
W (magazine)
W is a monthly American fashion magazine published by Condé Nast Publications, who purchased original owner Fairchild Publications in 1999. It was created in 1971 by the publisher of sister magazine Woman's Wear Daily, James Brady. The magazine is an oversize format – ten inches wide and...
magazine within weeks and foreshadowed her "It Girl
It girl
"It girl" is a term for a young woman who possess the quality "It", absolute attraction.The early usage of the concept "it" in this meaning may be seen in a story by Rudyard Kipling: "It isn't beauty, so to speak, nor good talk necessarily. It's just 'It'."...
" and "Bettie Page
Bettie Page
Bettie Mae Page was an American model who became famous in the 1950s for her fetish modeling and pin-up photos. She has often been called the "Queen of Pinups"...
" looks. Shortly afterwards, she ended her brief modeling career and entered acting full time.
Film
In 1998, she appeared in several notable films including RoundersRounders (film)
Rounders is a 1998 film about the underground world of high-stakes poker. Directed by John Dahl and starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton, the movie follows two friends who need to quickly earn enough cash playing poker to pay off a large debt...
, starring Matt Damon
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
and Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
's Celebrity
Celebrity (film)
Celebrity is a 1998 comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. The screenplay focuses on the divergent paths a couple takes following their divorce.-Plot:...
opposite Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
. It was in 1998 that she also came to prominence and notoriety when she was featured on the cover of Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
magazine. Her appearance was both a triumph and a failure — it brought her great attention, but her movies bombed. Dubbed the "It Girl of the Nineties" by the magazine, her career did not live up to the hype – her early success was not sustained and she faced several lean years before a notable comeback with The Notorious Bettie Page
The Notorious Bettie Page
The Notorious Bettie Page is a 2005 American biographical film directed by Mary Harron. The screenplay by Harron and Guinevere Turner focuses on 1950s pinup and bondage model Bettie Page.-Plot:...
in 2006.
While major roles have been sporadic, Mol has been in more than 30 feature films. She made her film debut in Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
's 1996 film, Girl 6
Girl 6
Girl 6 may refer to:*Girl 6, a 1996 film by Spike Lee*Girl 6 , the soundtrack for the film, composed by Prince*“Girl 6” , the title song for the soundtrack...
. She said "I was auditioning for Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
and I was happy I got a Spike Lee movie, which was a tiny part, but all of a sudden I had Spike Lee on my resume. I didn't audition for day player
Supporting actor
A supporting actor is an actor who performs roles in a play or film other than that of the leads.These roles range from bit parts to secondary leads. They are sometimes but not necessarily character roles. A supporting actor must also use restraint not to upstage the main actor/actress in the...
anymore".
After Girl 6, New York filmmaker Abel Ferrara
Abel Ferrara
Abel Ferrara is an American film screenwriter and director. He is best known as an independent filmmaker of such films as The Driller Killer , Ms. 45 , King of New York , Bad Lieutenant and The Funeral .-Early life:Ferrara was born in the Bronx of Italian and Irish descent...
took notice and cast her in two movies, The Funeral
The Funeral (1996 film)
The Funeral is a 1996 American crime-drama film directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Christopher Walken, Chris Penn, Annabella Sciorra, Isabella Rossellini, Vincent Gallo, Benicio del Toro and Gretchen Mol....
(1996) and New Rose Hotel
New Rose Hotel (1998 film)
New Rose Hotel is a 1998 Cyberpunk film by director Abel Ferrara, based on a William Gibson story of the same name, starring Christopher Walken, Willem Dafoe and Asia Argento.-Plot synopsis:...
(1998). She had a small role in Donnie Brasco
Donnie Brasco (film)
Donnie Brasco is a 1997 crime drama film directed by Mike Newell, starring Al Pacino, Johnny Depp and Michael Madsen. It is loosely based on the real-life events of Joseph D. Pistone, an FBI agent who infiltrated the Bonanno crime family, one of the Mafia's Five Families based in New York City...
(1998). But by now, she was being typecast as "the girlfriend," which she attempted to change by taking a role opposite Jude Law
Jude Law
David Jude Heyworth Law , known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989...
in Music From Another Room
Music From Another Room
Music From Another Room is a 1998 romantic comedy that follows the exploits of Danny , a young man who grew up believing he was destined to marry the girl he helped deliver as a five-year-old boy when a family friend went into emergency labor...
(1998), a romantic comedy. Unfortunately, the film went virtually unnoticed by critics and audiences.
For her second film with Woody Allen, 1999's Sweet and Lowdown
Sweet and Lowdown
Sweet and Lowdown is a 1999 American comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen which tells the story of a fictional arrogant, obnoxious, alcoholic jazz guitarist named Emmet Ray who regards himself as perhaps the best guitarist in the world, or second best, after his idol, Django Reinhardt...
, she played a minor role which the Greenwich Village Gazette called "notable". She played the female lead role in the 1999 film The Thirteenth Floor
The Thirteenth Floor
The Thirteenth Floor is a 1999 science fiction film directed by Josef Rusnak and loosely based upon Simulacron-3 , a novel by Daniel F. Galouye...
. She played the victim of a con artist in the 2003 film, Heavy Put-Away, based on the Terry Southern
Terry Southern
Terry Southern was an American author, essayist, screenwriter and university lecturer, noted for his distinctive satirical style...
story. In 2006, she shared the lead in a romantic comedy, Puccini for Beginners
Puccini for Beginners
Puccini for Beginners is a 2006 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Maria Maggenti. The film debuted at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival...
, in which her character has a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
affair.
Mol worked with Mary Harron for two years as the director struggled to finance The Notorious Bettie Page
The Notorious Bettie Page
The Notorious Bettie Page is a 2005 American biographical film directed by Mary Harron. The screenplay by Harron and Guinevere Turner focuses on 1950s pinup and bondage model Bettie Page.-Plot:...
: "I kind of felt like I lived with it for a while; certainly not as long as Mary Harron did but I got a good chance to really feel like I knew something about Bettie so by the time the role was mine and I was on set I was pretty confident. I felt like I really worked for it."
The next year, 2007, was one of her busiest, with four films in production or in release, including a remake of 3:10 to Yuma
3:10 to Yuma (2007 film)
3:10 to Yuma is the 2007 remake of the 1957 film of the same name, making it the second adaptation of Elmore Leonard's short story Three-Ten to Yuma. It is directed by James Mangold and produced by Cathy Konrad, and stars Academy Award winners Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in the lead roles. ...
starring Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
, and An American Affair
An American Affair
An American Affair is an independent film starring Gretchen Mol, James Rebhorn, Noah Wyle, Perrey Reeves, Mark Pellegrino, and Cameron Bright, which was released theatrically by on February 27, 2009....
, in which her character, Catherine Caswell, has an affair with John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. When released in February 2009, the film was harshly criticized by New York Times critic Stephen Holden, though he said that Mol's part was "quite well acted".
In April 2008, she began filming Tenure
Tenure (film)
Tenure is a 2009 American comedy film written and directed by Mike Million and starring Luke Wilson, David Koechner and Gretchen Mol. The film was produced by Paul Schiff and released by Blowtorch Entertainment as their first original production....
in Philadelphia, working opposite Luke Wilson
Luke Wilson
Luke Cunningham Wilson is an American film actor known for his roles in Old School, Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, Legally Blonde, Idiocracy and Death at a Funeral.-Early life:...
, and Andrew Daly
Andrew Daly
Andrew "Andy" Daly is an American actor, comedian and writer best known for playing Principal Terrence Cutler in the HBO comedy series Eastbound & Down.-Early life:Daly was born in Mount Kisco, New York and raised in New Jersey...
. Though it had received some good reviews after being screened at several film festivals, it was released direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
in February 2010.
Television
Mol's first television work was in a Coca-ColaCoca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
commercial. Mol had a small role of Maggie Tilton
Maggie Tilton
Maggie Tilton is a fictional character appearing in two books in the Lonesome Dove series. She is a prostitute and the lover of Captain Woodrow F...
in the 1996 miniseries Dead Man's Walk
Dead Man's Walk
Dead Man's Walk is a 1995 novel by Larry McMurtry. It is the third book published in the Lonesome Dove series, but the first installment in terms of chronology. McMurtry wrote a fourth segment to the Lonesome Dove chronicle, Comanche Moon, which describes the events of the central characters' lives...
, based on the Larry McMurtry novel. She also was in a few episodes of Spin City
Spin City
Spin City is an American sitcom television series that aired from September 17, 1996 until April 30, 2002 on the ABC network. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show was based on a fictional local government running New York City, and originally starred Michael J. Fox as Mike...
. She was the star of the short-lived David E. Kelley series Girls Club
Girls Club
girls club is an American television series created by David E. Kelley that was shown on Fox in the United States in October 2002. It is often compared to Ally McBeal, another series created by Kelley, which ended in May 2002.-Plot:...
(2002), a drama about three women lawyers. The series was not well received and it was cancelled after two episodes.
She appeared in two TV remakes of classic films: Picnic (2000), in the role of Madge Owens, and The Magnificent Ambersons as Lucy Morgan (2002). She made a Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
in January 2007, starring in The Valley of Light, a story set in post-World War II based on a novel by Terry Kay. It was her second Hallmark production. She had a minor role in Calm at Sunset in 1996.
She played Norah in The Memory Keeper's Daughter
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a novel by American author Kim Edwards that tells the story of a man who gives away his newborn baby, who has Down syndrome to one of the nurses. Published by Viking Press in June 2005, the novel garnered great interest via word of mouth in the summer of 2006 and...
which aired in the U.S. on The Lifetime Channel
Lifetime Television
Lifetime Television, often referred to as Lifetime TV, or most commonly, Lifetime, is an American cable television specialty channel devoted to movies, sitcoms and dramas, all of which are either geared toward women or feature women in lead roles. The cable network is owned by A&E Television Networks...
in the U.S. in April 2008.
She played Annie in the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
series Life on Mars
Life on Mars (U.S. TV series)
Life on Mars was a science fiction crime drama television series which originally aired on ABC from October 9, 2008 to April 1, 2009. It is an adaptation of the BAFTA-winning original UK series of the same name produced by the BBC...
, the U.S. remake of the British show of the same name
Life on Mars (TV series)
Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between January 2006 and April 2007. The series combines elements of science fiction and police procedural....
. It started airing in the U.S. on October 9, 2008 and ran 17 episodes, concluding on April 1, 2009.
She has a recurring role on HBO's Boardwalk Empire as Gillian Darmody, a showgirl at the Beaux Arts and mother to Jimmy Darmody (played by Michael Pitt
Michael Pitt
Michael Carmen Pitt is an American actor and musician. Pitt is best known in film for his role in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers, and in television for his portrayal of James "Jimmy" Darmody in the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire.-Personal life:Pitt was born in West Orange, New Jersey, the...
)
Personal life
Interviewed by the Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
in Baltimore in December 2006, Mol commented about how she maintained her confidence as an actress: "It is an ongoing struggle. Confidence is something that sometimes you have and sometimes you don't. And the older you get, hopefully, the more you have some tools to at least fake it".
She married film director Kip Williams
Tod Williams (filmmaker)
Tod Culpan "Kip" Williams is an American director, producer and screenwriter.-Life and career:Williams was born and raised in New York City, the son of architect Tod Williams and a mother who was a dancer...
on June 1, 2004. Their first child, Ptolemy John Williams, was born September 10, 2007. On February 17, 2011, Mol and Williams welcomed their second child, daughter Winter Morgan Williams. While raising Ptolemy, Mol has only taken jobs close to her home in New York City. "I told my agent I didn't want to work in L.A., even if it was the greatest job in the world. I didn't want to compromise." She is also the national spokesperson in the United States for the PMD Foundation, which funds research and awareness of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease
Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease
Pelizaeus–Merzbacher disease is a rare central nervous system disorder in which coordination, motor abilities, and intellectual function are delayed to variable extents.-Classification:...
, a neurological disorder afflicting children worldwide.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Girl 6 Girl 6 (film) Girl 6 is a 1996 American film by director Spike Lee about a phone sex operator. Theresa Randle played the title character, and playwright Suzan-Lori Parks wrote the screenplay. The soundtrack is composed entirely of songs written by Prince. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section... |
Girl #12 | |
| Dead Man's Walk Dead Man's Walk Dead Man's Walk is a 1995 novel by Larry McMurtry. It is the third book published in the Lonesome Dove series, but the first installment in terms of chronology. McMurtry wrote a fourth segment to the Lonesome Dove chronicle, Comanche Moon, which describes the events of the central characters' lives... |
Maggie | TV Mini-Series | |
| The Funeral The Funeral (1996 film) The Funeral is a 1996 American crime-drama film directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Christopher Walken, Chris Penn, Annabella Sciorra, Isabella Rossellini, Vincent Gallo, Benicio del Toro and Gretchen Mol.... |
Helen | ||
| Calm at Sunset Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn is the second novel by American author Paul Watkins. It was published in 1989 by Houghton Mifflin and shared the Encore Award the following year.-Plot introduction:... |
Emily | TV | |
| 1997 | Donnie Brasco Donnie Brasco (film) Donnie Brasco is a 1997 crime drama film directed by Mike Newell, starring Al Pacino, Johnny Depp and Michael Madsen. It is loosely based on the real-life events of Joseph D. Pistone, an FBI agent who infiltrated the Bonanno crime family, one of the Mafia's Five Families based in New York City... |
Sonny's girlfriend | |
| The Last Time I Committed Suicide The Last Time I Committed Suicide The Last Time I Committed Suicide is a 1997 drama directed by Stephen T. Kay. Based on a letter written by Neal Cassady to Jack Kerouac, it stars Thomas Jane as Cassady. The cast also includes Keanu Reeves, Adrien Brody, Gretchen Mol and Claire Forlani.... |
Mary Greenway | ||
| Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground | The Wife | TV Segment "Love on the A Train" |
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| The Deli | Mary | ||
| 1998 | Too Tired to Die | Capri | Uncredited |
| Celebrity Celebrity (film) Celebrity is a 1998 comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. The screenplay focuses on the divergent paths a couple takes following their divorce.-Plot:... |
Vicky | ||
| Rounders Rounders (film) Rounders is a 1998 film about the underground world of high-stakes poker. Directed by John Dahl and starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton, the movie follows two friends who need to quickly earn enough cash playing poker to pay off a large debt... |
Jo | ||
| Finding Graceland Finding Graceland Finding Graceland is a 1998 film starring Harvey Keitel, Johnathon Schaech, Bridget Fonda, and Gretchen Mol featuring a character alluding to be an alive-and-well Elvis years after staging his death.... |
Beatrice Gruman | ||
| New Rose Hotel New Rose Hotel (1998 film) New Rose Hotel is a 1998 Cyberpunk film by director Abel Ferrara, based on a William Gibson story of the same name, starring Christopher Walken, Willem Dafoe and Asia Argento.-Plot synopsis:... |
Hiroshi's Wife | ||
| Music From Another Room Music From Another Room Music From Another Room is a 1998 romantic comedy that follows the exploits of Danny , a young man who grew up believing he was destined to marry the girl he helped deliver as a five-year-old boy when a family friend went into emergency labor... |
Anna Swan | ||
| Bleach Bleach (short film) Bleach is a 30 minute sci-fi thriller about memory-suppressing drugs. The short film, directed by Bill Platt, won the Directors Guild of America Student Film Award, as well as the gold medal in the narrative category of the 25th Annual Student Academy Awards. The film also played at the 1998... |
Gwen | ||
| 1999 | The Thirteenth Floor The Thirteenth Floor The Thirteenth Floor is a 1999 science fiction film directed by Josef Rusnak and loosely based upon Simulacron-3 , a novel by Daniel F. Galouye... |
Jane Fuller / Natasha Molinaro | |
| Cradle Will Rock Cradle Will Rock Cradle Will Rock is a 1999 drama film which chronicles the process and events that surrounded the production of the original 1937 musical The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein... |
Marion Davies Marion Davies Marion Davies was an American film actress. Davies is best remembered for her relationship with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, as her high-profile social life often obscured her professional career.... |
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| Sweet and Lowdown Sweet and Lowdown Sweet and Lowdown is a 1999 American comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen which tells the story of a fictional arrogant, obnoxious, alcoholic jazz guitarist named Emmet Ray who regards himself as perhaps the best guitarist in the world, or second best, after his idol, Django Reinhardt... |
Ellie | ||
| Forever Mine Forever Mine Forever Mine is a 1999 film written and directed by Paul Schrader. It stars Joseph Fiennes, Gretchen Mol and Ray Liotta.-Plot:Alan Riply , a young cabana boy working at an opulent beach hotel, falls in love with Ellen Brice , the wife of business mogul Mark Brice . Ellen returns his love, but when... |
Ella Bryce | ||
| Just Looking Just Looking Just Looking is an American feature film from the year 1999. It starred Ryan Merriman, was directed by Jason Alexander and received a limited theatrical release.... |
Hedy | ||
| 2000 | Picnic | Madge Owens | TV |
| Attraction | Liz | ||
| Get Carter Get Carter (2000 film) Get Carter is the 2000 remake of the 1971 crime film of the same name, starring Sylvester Stallone in the title role. The film also features Miranda Richardson, Rachel Leigh Cook, Alan Cumming, Mickey Rourke, and Rhona Mitra. Michael Caine, who starred in the original, plays a supporting role... |
Audrey | Uncredited | |
| 2002 | The Magnificent Ambersons | Lucy Morgan | TV |
| Girls Club Girls Club girls club is an American television series created by David E. Kelley that was shown on Fox in the United States in October 2002. It is often compared to Ally McBeal, another series created by Kelley, which ended in May 2002.-Plot:... |
Lynn Camden | TV Series: 9 Episodes | |
| Freshening Up | Jannelle | TV Short | |
| 2003 | Heavy Put-Away | Mary | Short Film |
| The Shape of Things The Shape of Things The Shape of Things is a 2001 play by American author and film director Neil LaBute and a 2003 American romantic comedy-drama film. It premièred at the Almeida Theatre, London in 2001 with Paul Rudd as Adam, Rachel Weisz as Evelyn, Gretchen Mol as Jenny, and Fred Weller as Phillip. The play was... |
Jenny | ||
| 2006 | The Notorious Bettie Page The Notorious Bettie Page The Notorious Bettie Page is a 2005 American biographical film directed by Mary Harron. The screenplay by Harron and Guinevere Turner focuses on 1950s pinup and bondage model Bettie Page.-Plot:... |
Bettie Page Bettie Page Bettie Mae Page was an American model who became famous in the 1950s for her fetish modeling and pin-up photos. She has often been called the "Queen of Pinups"... |
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |
| Puccini for Beginners Puccini for Beginners Puccini for Beginners is a 2006 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Maria Maggenti. The film debuted at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival... |
Grace | ||
| 2007 | The Ten The Ten The Ten is a 2007 American comedy film, directed by David Wain and cowritten by Wain and Ken Marino, released through ThinkFilm. The film was released on August 3, 2007... |
Gloria | |
| The Valley of Light | Eleanor | TV | |
| Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot Trainwreck: My Life as an Idoit is a 2007 American comedy drama written and directed by Tod Harrison Williams and based upon the autobiographical book The Little Yellow Bus by Jeff Nichols.The film was premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival on 14 June 2007 and put on general release... |
Lynn | ||
| 3:10 to Yuma 3:10 to Yuma (2007 film) 3:10 to Yuma is the 2007 remake of the 1957 film of the same name, making it the second adaptation of Elmore Leonard's short story Three-Ten to Yuma. It is directed by James Mangold and produced by Cathy Konrad, and stars Academy Award winners Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in the lead roles. ... |
Alice Evans | Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | |
| 2008 | The Memory Keeper's Daughter | Nora Henry | TV |
| 2008–2009 | Life on Mars Life on Mars (U.S. TV series) Life on Mars was a science fiction crime drama television series which originally aired on ABC from October 9, 2008 to April 1, 2009. It is an adaptation of the BAFTA-winning original UK series of the same name produced by the BBC... |
Annie Norris | TV Series: 17 Episodes |
| 2009 | An American Affair An American Affair An American Affair is an independent film starring Gretchen Mol, James Rebhorn, Noah Wyle, Perrey Reeves, Mark Pellegrino, and Cameron Bright, which was released theatrically by on February 27, 2009.... |
Catherine Caswell | |
| Tenure Tenure (film) Tenure is a 2009 American comedy film written and directed by Mike Million and starring Luke Wilson, David Koechner and Gretchen Mol. The film was produced by Paul Schiff and released by Blowtorch Entertainment as their first original production.... |
Elaine Grasso | ||
| 2010 | Boardwalk Empire | Gillian | TV Series: 9 Episodes |
External links
- Gretchen Mol shares her favorite NY places at ontheinside.info
- Gretchen Mol gest notorious as pinup legend Bettie Page at Popentertainment.com, April 17, 2006. (accessed May 31, 2010)