Table of Contents

Early life and education
Career
2006–2013: Early roles and theater work
2014–2019: Acclaim in prestige television
2020–present: Career expansion
Personal life
Acting credits
Film
Television
Theatre
Awards and nominations
Notes
References
External links

Carrie Coon

NameCarrie Coon
Image
CaptionCoon in 2025
Birth NameCarrie Alexandra Coon
Birth Date1981-01-24
Birth PlaceCopley, Ohio, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Mount Union (BA)
University of Wisconsin–Madison (MFA)
OccupationActress
Yearsactive2006–present
SpouseTracy Letts (2013 – now)
Children2

Carrie Alexandra Coon (born January 24, 1981) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complex women on stage and screen, she has received a Critics' Choice Television Award, as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a Tony Award.

On television, her breakout role was as widow Nora Durst in the drama series The Leftovers (2014–2017), for which she won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series. She would later receive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her role as a police chief in the third season of the black comedy crime anthology series Fargo (2017), Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for playing the matriarch of a wealthy family in the period drama series The Gilded Age (2022–present), and her third for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as a divorced lawyer in the third season of the satirical dramedy anthology series The White Lotus (2025).

She made her film debut in Gone Girl (2014), with further roles in films such as The Post (2017), Widows (2018), The Nest (2020), Boston Strangler (2023), and His Three Daughters (2024). She has also portrayed characters in blockbuster films such as Proxima Midnight in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and its sequel Avengers: Endgame (2019), and the daughter of Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) and its sequel Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024). On stage, Coon made her Broadway debut as a naive newlywed in the revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (2012), for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.

Early life and education

Carrie Alexandra Coon was born in Copley, Ohio, on January 24, 1981, to Paula (née Ploenes) and John Coon. She has an older sister, an older brother, and two younger brothers. She graduated from Copley High School in 1999, next attending the University of Mount Union, graduating in 2003 with a BA in English and Spanish. In 2006, she earned her MFA in acting from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Career

2006–2013: Early roles and theater work

Coon began her career in regional theater. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Coon was immediately recruited by the Madison Repertory Theatre and made her professional stage debut in a production of Our Town. After her debut with the Madison Repertory Theatre, Coon joined the American Players Theatre and stayed with them for four seasons. Coon moved to Chicago in 2008 and made her Chicago debut with a production of Brontë at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company. Coon commuted between Chicago and Wisconsin for several years, alternating between Chicago productions, productions in Milwaukee, and seasons with the American Players Theatre. During these years, Coon provided for herself by performing motion capture work for a video game company based in Wisconsin.

Coon's breakthrough came in 2010 when she was cast as Honey in the Steppenwolf Theatre Company production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The role immediately resulted in further parts in Chicago productions, and she followed the production to performances in Washington, D.C. and New York City, making her Broadway debut. For her performance, she won a Theatre World Award and received a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Steven Oxman of Variety described the Broadway revival as an "relentlessly intense" production adding that "Carrie Coon makes an especially sensitive, sympathetic Honey". Mark Kennedy of The Associated Press labelled the revival "astonishing" citing Coon as giving a performance of "great fragility". Coon made her screen debut in an episode of the short-lived NBC series The Playboy Club in 2011. She later guest-starred on TV series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Ironside, and Intelligence.

2014–2019: Acclaim in prestige television

Following her Tony Award nomination in 2014, Coon was cast as one of the main characters in the HBO drama series The Leftovers, alongside Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, and Ann Dowd. That same year, she made her film debut in Gone Girl, based on the 2012 novel of same name and directed by David Fincher.

In early 2015, Coon starred in the lead role of the Off-Broadway production of Placebo at Playwrights Horizons. She also participated in readings for her husband Tracy Letts' 2015–2016 season play Mary Page Marlowe and was in talks to perform in the production in Chicago if her filming schedule with The Leftovers permitted; in December 2015, it was announced that Coon would be one of six actresses portraying the title character in Mary Page Marlowe for the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago from March to May 2016. In April 2015, Coon left The Gersh Agency for United Talent Agency. In October and November 2015, Coon filmed the movie Strange Weather alongside actress Holly Hunter for director Katherine Dieckmann in Mississippi. In December 2015, she filmed the horror romance The Keeping Hours for director Karen Moncrieff and Blumhouse Productions.

Coon starred in the lead role of Gloria Burgle in the third season of the FX anthology series Fargo. She received a nomination for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her role and won the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama for both Fargo and The Leftovers. In 2017, she filmed Great Choice, a horror short mimicking a 1990s Red Lobster commercial. The same year she played real life journalist Meg Greenfield in the Steven Spielberg–directed historical drama film The Post. In 2018, Coon co-starred in the Steve McQueen heist thriller film Widows. Coon provided the voice and motion capture for Proxima Midnight, a member of the Black Order and a child of Thanos, in the superhero film Avengers: Infinity War (2018) directed by the Russo brothers.

2020–present: Career expansion

Coon received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actress at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021 for her work in the film The Nest. On April 30, 2020, Coon joined the cast of the HBO drama series The Gilded Age as Bertha Russell, which began airing in 2022. She starred in the Azazel Jacobs family drama His Three Daughters (2023). The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film follows three estranged daughters as they care for their dying father. Jon Frosch of The Hollywood Reporter wrote "Coon is masterful at conveying the space between those inner and outer selves." The film was picked up for distribution by Netflix and released in September 2024. In January 2024, Coon joined the cast of the third season of the HBO anthology series The White Lotus, which premiered in February 2025. In August 2025, it was announced that Coon would return to Broadway in Tracy Letts' play Bug at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater with performances starting in December 2025, reprising the role she played at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 2020 and 2021.

Personal life

Coon married actor and playwright Tracy Letts in 2013. They have a son born in 2018 and a daughter born in 2021.

Acting credits

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2014Gone GirlMargo "Go" Dunne
2016Strange WeatherByrd
2017The Keeping HoursElizabeth
Izzy Gets the F*ck Across TownVirginia
The PostMeg Greenfield
2018The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer HunterLinda Ferguson
Avengers: Infinity WarProxima Midnight
KinMorgan Hunter
WidowsAmanda Nunn
2020The NestAllison O'Hara
2021Ghostbusters: AfterlifeCallie Spengler
2023Boston StranglerJean Cole
His Three DaughtersKatie
Another Happy DayIreneAlso executive producer
2024Ghostbusters: Frozen EmpireCallie Spengler
Lake GeorgePhyllis
2026HarmoniaRita CooperPost-production

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2011The Playboy ClubDoris HallEpisode: "An Act of Simple Duplicity"
2013Law & Order: Special Victims UnitTalia BlaineEpisode: "Girl Dishonored"
2013IronsideRachel RyanEpisode: "Pilot"
2014IntelligenceLuanne VickEpisode: "Patient Zero"
2014–2017The LeftoversNora DurstMain role
2017FargoGloria BurgleMain role (season 3)
2018The SinnerVera WalkerMain role (season 2)
2021What If...?Proxima Midnight (voice)Episode: "What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?"
2022–presentThe Gilded AgeBertha RussellMain role
2023Teenage EuthanasiaMichelle's Mother (voice)Episode: "Viva La Flappanista"
2025The White LotusLaurie DuffyMain role (season 3)
2025The SimpsonsBeatrice Bouvier (voice)Episode: "Sashes to Sashes"

Theatre

YearTitleRoleNotes
2006Our TownEmilyOverture Center for the Arts (Madison Repertory Theatre)
Romeo and JulietEnsembleAmerican Players Theatre (Spring Green, Wisconsin)
The MatchmakerErmengardeAmerican Players Theatre (Spring Green, Wisconsin)
Measure for MeasureJulietAmerican Players Theatre (Spring Green, Wisconsin)
2007Anna ChristieAnnaOverture Center for the Arts
MisallianceHypatiaAmerican Players Theatre
The Merchant of VeniceEnsembleAmerican Players Theatre
The Night of the IguanaCharlotteAmerican Players Theatre
2008The Diary of Anne FrankMiep GiesOverture Center for the Arts
BrontëEmilyRemy Bumppo Theatre Company (Chicago debut)
A Midsummer Night's DreamHelenaAmerican Players Theatre
Henry IVLady PercyAmerican Players Theatre
The Belle's StratagemMiss OgleAmerican Players Theatre
2009MagnoliaArielGoodman Theatre (Chicago)
Henry VKateAmerican Players Theatre
2010BlackbirdUnaRenaissance Theatreworks (Milwaukee)
Reasons to Be PrettyStephanieRenaissance Theatreworks (Milwaukee)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?HoneySteppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago)
2011Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?HoneyArena Stage (Washington, D.C.)
The Real ThingAnnieWriters Theatre (Glencoe)
2012The Girl in the Yellow DressCeliaNext Theatre (Evanston)
Pretty PennyCrystalWriters Theatre
The MarchEmily ThompsonSteppenwolf Theatre Company
Three SistersMashaSteppenwolf Theatre Company
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?HoneyBooth Theatre (Broadway debut)
2015PlaceboLouisePlaywrights Horizons (Off-Broadway)
2016Mary Page MarloweMary Page Marlowe (ages 27–36)Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago)
2017Mary JaneMary JaneNew York Theatre Workshop (Off-Broadway)
2020BugAgnes WhiteSteppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago)
2025BugAgnes WhiteSamuel J. Friedman Theater, Broadway

Awards and nominations

OrganizationsYearCategoryWorkResult
Canadian Screen Awards2021Best ActressThe Nest
Chicago Film Critics Association2020Best ActressThe Nest
Chlotrudis Awards2018Best Supporting ActressStrange Weather
Critics' Choice Television Awards2015Best Supporting Actress in a Drama SeriesThe Leftovers
2016Best Actress in a Drama SeriesThe Leftovers
2017Best Actress in a Movie/MiniseriesFargo
2018Best Actress in a Movie/MiniseriesThe Sinner
Drama Desk Award2018Outstanding Actress in a PlayMary Jane
Empire Awards2015Best Female NewcomerGone Girl
Golden Globe Awards2026Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television FilmThe White Lotus
Gotham Awards2020Best ActressThe Nest
Jeff Award2019Performer in a Principal Role – PlayBug
Lucille Lortel Awards2018Outstanding Lead Actress in a PlayMary Jane
MTV Movie & TV Awards2018Best FightAvengers: Infinity War
Obie Award2018Distinguished Performance by an ActressMary Jane
Primetime Emmy Awards2017Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or MovieFargo
2024Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama SeriesThe Gilded Age (episode: "Head to Head")
2025Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama SeriesThe White Lotus (episode: "Amor Fati")
Satellite Awards2018Best Actress in a Drama SeriesThe Leftovers
Saturn Awards2022Best Supporting ActressGhostbusters: Afterlife
Screen Actors Guild Awards2023Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama SeriesThe Gilded Age
2026Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama SeriesThe White Lotus
TCA Awards2017Individual Achievement in DramaThe Leftovers / Fargo
Theatre World Award2013Distinguished Performance AwardWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Tony Award2013Best Featured Actress in a PlayWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Notes

References


External links


Category:1981 births
Category:Living people
Category:American film actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:University of Mount Union alumni
Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
Category:Theatre World Award winners
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:People from Copley, Ohio
Category:Actresses from Ohio
Category:Obie Award recipients
Category:Motion capture actresses