Anna Gunn
Birthday:
11 August 1968, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
Height:
177 cm
An actress on both stage and screen, Anna Gunn has portrayed a vast array of complex and powerful characters throughout her career.Anna grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico after her parents transplanted the family from Cleveland, Ohio to the Southwest in the late seventies. She discovered acting in a drama class at the Santa Fe Preparatory School and w...
Show more »
An actress on both stage and screen, Anna Gunn has portrayed a vast array of complex and powerful characters throughout her career.Anna grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico after her parents transplanted the family from Cleveland, Ohio to the Southwest in the late seventies. She discovered acting in a drama class at the Santa Fe Preparatory School and was fortunate to study with two formidable teachers from the Actor's Studio as a teenager. She continued her education and training at Northwestern University's renowned theatre department, winning a coveted scholarship award in her junior year. During her time at Northwestern, Anna went abroad for a semester to study with the British American Drama Academy and had the marvelous opportunity to perform in the school's final project at the famed Royal Court Theatre in London.Anna has moved between television, film, and theatre with much ease. In 2004, Anna landed her breakout television role, playing Martha Bullock on HBO's seminal show, Deadwood (2004) and later received a SAG nomination for Best Ensemble Cast in 2006. Anna's association with Deadwood (2004) creator David Milch began early on when she first worked with him on his hit drama NYPD Blue (1993), giving a memorable performance as Kimmy, a junkie longing to escape New York to swim with the dolphins. Anna made such an indelible impression on Milch, that almost nine years later she became the template for the pivotal and complex character of Martha. Another major recurring role for Anna was on David E. Kelley's The Practice (1997), delivering a notable turn as ADA Jean Ward opposite Dylan McDermott and Lara Flynn Boyle. Her extensive television credits also include starring roles in several made for TV movies and major guest starring appearances on such shows as Six Feet Under (2001), ER (1994), Boston Legal (2004), Law & Order (1990) and Seinfeld (1989).Highlights of Anna's feature film work include the dark comedy, Nobody's Baby (2001), in which she starred with Gary Oldman and Mary Steenburgen; the film premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. In 1998, she played opposite Jon Voight in Tony Scott's summer blockbuster, Enemy of the State (1998). Her first starring role was in 1995's independent thriller, Without Evidence (1995), along side Angelina Jolie. Anna was recently in Kevin Smith's Red State (2011). Her upcoming films include Little Red Wagon (2012) and Sassy Pants (2012), for which she received a nomination at the 2012 Milan Film Festival for Best Supporting Actress.Anna is also a highly regarded and much sought after actress of the stage. In early 2009 she created the leading role of photojournalist Sarah Goodwin in Donald Margulies' world premiere production of Time Stands Still, directed by Daniel Sullivan at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. In 1999 she starred as Isabella in Measure for Measure at the Ahmanson Theatre helmed by the famed director Sir Peter Hall. In 1997, Anna was brought east to make her Broadway debut alongside Roger Rees in The Rehearsal at the Roundabout Theater. Before that she played on the LA circuit, including the 1995 American premiere of Hysteria directed by Phyllida Lloyd at the Mark Taper Forum. Before settling in Los Angeles, Anna built an impressive background performing on stage in Chicago. She received exceptional reviews in Uncommon Ground at the Northlight Theatre, and playing opposite Jeremy Piven in Keith Reddin's Peacekeeper at the American Blues Theatre. She even landed her first professional acting role, playing Lucy Lockit in the critically acclaimed production of The Beggar's Opera at the Court Theatre while still an undergraduate at Northwestern University. In late 2011, Anna immersed herself in the role of Marie Curie for Alan Alda's world premiere of Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie, directed by Daniel Sullivan at the Geffen Playhouse and received rave reviews.She starring as Skyler White on AMC's Emmy award-winning series Breaking Bad (2008); a role that garnered Anna a 2012 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Emmy Nomination until she won in 2013-2014, a 2012 Best Supporting Actress nomination by the Broadcast Television Journalist Association for a Critics' Choice Television Award, and a 2012 & 2013 Screen Actor's Guild Award for Best Ensemble Cast. The cast was also the recipient of the 2008 Peabody Award and won an AFI Award both in 2008 and 2011. The show was also nominated in 2013 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Golden Globe's as Best Television Drama until it won in 2014. Show less «
[2013: Excerpts from column about her Breaking Bad (2008) character] I was unprepared for the vitriolic response she inspired. Thousands of ...Show more »
[2013: Excerpts from column about her Breaking Bad (2008) character] I was unprepared for the vitriolic response she inspired. Thousands of people have 'liked' the Facebook page 'I Hate Skyler White'. Tens of thousands have 'liked' a similar Facebook page with a name that cannot be printed here. When people started telling me about the 'hate boards' for Skyler on the Web site for AMC, the network that broadcasts the show, I knew it was probably best not to look, but I wanted to understand what was happening. A typical online post complained that Skyler was a 'shrieking, hypocritical harpy' and didn't 'deserve the great life she has'. 'I have never hated a TV-show character as much as I hate her', one poster wrote. The consensus among the haters was clear: Skyler was a ball-and-chain, a drag, a shrew, an 'annoying bitch wife'...As an actress, I realize that viewers are entitled to have whatever feelings they want about the characters they watch. But as a human being, I'm concerned that so many people react to Skyler with such venom. Could it be that they can't stand a woman who won't suffer silently or 'stand by her man'? That they despise her because she won't back down or give up? Or because she is, in fact, Walter's equal?...At some point on the message boards, the character of Skyler seemed to drop out of the conversation, and people transferred their negative feelings directly to me. The already harsh online comments became outright personal attacks. One such post read: 'Could somebody tell me where I can find 'Anna Gunn' so I can kill her?' Besides being frightened (and taking steps to ensure my safety), I was also astonished: how had disliking a character spiraled into homicidal rage at the actress playing her?But I finally realized that most people's hatred of Skyler had little to do with me and a lot to do with their own perception of women and wives. Because Skyler didn't conform to a comfortable ideal of the archetypical female, she had become a kind of Rorschach test for society, a measure of our attitudes toward gender. I can't say that I have enjoyed being the center of the storm of Skyler hate. But in the end, I'm glad that this discussion has happened, that it has taken place in public and that it has illuminated some of the dark and murky corners that we often ignore or pretend aren't still there in our everyday lives. Show less «
NEXT PAGE
Naomi Bishop
Elizabeth Davis
Skyler White
Lily Lambert
Liz
Martha Bullock
DS Ellie Miller