Rachel Brosnahan

Rachel Elizabeth Brosnahan (born July 12, 1990) is an American actress.[3][4] She stars as aspiring stand-up comedian Miriam "Midge" Maisel in the critically acclaimed Prime Video period comedy series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017–present), for which she has won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2018 and two consecutive Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy in 2018 and 2019.[5][6] She also had a recurring role in the Netflix political thriller series House of Cards (2013–2015), for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination[7] and played a lead role in the WGN drama series Manhattan (2014–15).

Rachel Brosnahan
Brosnahan in 2014
Born	July 12, 1990[1][2] Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Citizenship	United States United Kingdom
Alma mater	New York University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2009–present
Spouse(s)	Jason Ralph ​ (m. 2016)​
Relatives	Kate Spade (aunt)

Brosnahan made her film debut in the horror film The Unborn (2009) and has subsequently appeared in films including Beautiful Creatures (2013), Louder Than Bombs (2015), The Finest Hours (2016), and Patriots Day (2016).

Early life

Brosnahan was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the daughter of Carol and Earl Brosnahan, who worked in children's publishing.[1][8][9] Her mother is British. Her father is American and of Irish descent.[10][11] From the age of four, Brosnahan was raised in Highland Park, Illinois.[8][12] She has a younger brother and sister.[13] Brosnahan is the niece of the late fashion designer Kate Spade (née Brosnahan).[14]

Brosnahan is not religious. However, while she is not Jewish, she was "happily immersed" in the Jewish culture because of Highland Park's Jewish community; she attended many Passover Seders, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, and Hanukkah observances in Chicago's North Shore.[15]

Brosnahan attended Wayne Thomas Elementary School and then Northwood Junior High School.[13][8] She performed in musical theater during junior high school and high school.[13][8] At Highland Park High School, she was on the wrestling team for two years and was a snowboarding instructor.[13][10] When Brosnahan was 16, she took a class with Carole Dibo, director of Wilmette's Actors Training Center and now Brosnahan's manager.[8] Brosnahan graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2012.[16][17]

Career

Brosnahan was cast in her first movie role as Lisa in the Michael Bay-produced horror film The Unborn (2009) while she was still in high school. During college, she performed in single episodes of television series such as Gossip Girl, The Good Wife, Grey's Anatomy,[13] and In Treatment. After college, she began landing recurring roles in series such as the crime thriller The Blacklist (2014), and the short-lived medical drama Black Box (2014).

She first appeared on stage in 2009 in Up at Steppenwolf Theatre[8] followed by her Broadway debut in The Big Knife with Roundabout Theatre Company in 2013.[18] In 2016 she played Desdemona in Othello at New York Theatre Workshop opposite David Oyelowo and Daniel Craig.[19]

In 2013, she starred in the critically acclaimed Netflix political drama House of Cards with Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. Although she was initially booked for only two episodes, she caught the eye of showrunner Beau Willimon,[20] and her character was significantly expanded. Her role brought her career prominence and received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.

In 2016, she appeared in Woody Allen's Amazon series Crisis in Six Scenes with Allen, Elaine May, and Miley Cyrus.[21]

Since 2017, she has appeared as the title character in the Amazon period comedy series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Brosnahan said that, while she is not Jewish, her exposure to Jewish culture growing up helped prepare her for the role of Midge Maisel, a 1950s Jewish housewife who pursues a career in stand-up comedy when her marriage falls apart.[15] Her performance earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series,[22][23] two Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Critics' Choice Television Awards, among others.[24][25][26][27]

The cast of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in 2018

After her Emmy Award win, Brosnahan stated that The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel resonated with viewers because "the show is equal parts fantasy and reality. It has beautiful clothes, beautiful sets. I think in some ways it's aspirational too. It's about a woman who's reinventing herself after completing the dream she had laid out for herself. Everything falls apart; she finds herself anew. It's never too late to do that. And it's funny and, I think, filled with joy at its core, and that's something we need a lot more of in the world right now."[28]

Brosnahan appeared in the drama film The Courier, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch. The film was released in January 2020.[29] In December 2020, Amazon released I'm Your Woman where Brosnahan starred alongside Arinzé Kene.[30]

Personal life

It was reported in 2018 that Brosnahan had married actor Jason Ralph,[31] but she later revealed in January 2019 that they had been married "for years" before their relationship became public.[32] Both attended the 76th Golden Globe Awards ceremony in 2019, where she thanked him during her acceptance speech.[33]

Activism

Brosnahan has twice completed the "Live Below the Line" challenge.[34]

Filmography

Film

Year	Work	Role	Notes
2009	The Unborn	Lisa
2009	The Truth About Average Guys	Molly
2011	Coming Up Roses	Alice
2012	Nor'easter	Abby Green
2012	Adrift	Alex	Short film
2013	Beautiful Creatures	Genevieve Duchannes
2013	Care	Drea	Short film
2013	A New York Heartbeat	Tamara
2013	Munchausen	Girl	Short film
2014	Basically	Shandy
2014	I'm Obsessed with You	Nell Fitzpatrick
2014	The Smut Locker	Jamie White	Short film
2015	James White	Woman (Ellen)
2015	Louder Than Bombs	Erin
2016	The Finest Hours	Bea Hansen
2016	Burn Country	Sandra
2016	Patriots Day	Jessica Kensky
2017	Boomtown	Jamie
2018	Fifteen Years Later	Amy	Short film
2018	Change in the Air	Wren
2019	Spies in Disguise	Wendy Beckett	Voice role
2020	The Courier	Emily Donovan
2020	I'm Your Woman	Jean

Television

Year	Work	Role	Notes
2010	Mercy	Samantha	Episode: "We're All Adults"
2010	Gossip Girl	Girl	Episode: "It's a Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad World"
2010	The Good Wife	Caitlin Fenton	Episode: "Poisoned Pill"
2010	In Treatment	Eating Disorder Girl	Episode: "Jesse: Week Six"
2011	CSI: Miami	Melanie Garland	Episode: "Countermeasures"
2013–2015	House of Cards	Rachel Posner	19 episodes
2013	Grey's Anatomy	Brian Weston	Episode: "The Face of Change"
2013	Orange Is the New Black	Little Allie	Episode: "Bora Bora Bora"
2014	Olive Kitteridge	Patty Howe	Episode: "Incoming Tide"
2014	The Blacklist	Jolene Parker / Lucy Brooks	6 episodes
2014	Black Box	Delilah Buchanan	5 episodes
2014–2015	Manhattan	Abby Isaacs	23 episodes
2015	The Dovekeepers	Yael	2 episodes
2016	Crisis in Six Scenes	Ellie	4 episodes
2017–present	The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel	Miriam "Midge" Maisel	26 episodes
2019	Saturday Night Live	Herself (host)	Episode: "Rachel Brosnahan/Greta Van Fleet"
2019–2020	Elena of Avalor	Princess Chloe (voice)	2 episodes
2020	50 States of Fright	Heather	3 episodes
2020	Saturday Night Seder	Herself	Television special

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Venue
2009	Up	Maria	Steppenwolf Theatre Company
2013	The Big Knife	Dixie Evans	Roundabout Theatre Company
2016	Othello	Desdemona	New York Theatre Workshop

References

1. Atad, Corey (July 30, 2019). "Jimmy Fallon And Rachel Brosnahan Guess How Long 7 Seconds Takes In Hilarious New Game". ET Canada.
2. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (July 30, 2019). Rachel Brosnahan's Fake Internet Birthday Fooled Benedict Cumberbatch. Retrieved July 25, 2020. Rachel Brosnahan explains how she wound up with two completely fake birthdays on the internet.
3. Ackerman, Naomi (November 23, 2018). "House Of Cards actress Rachel Brosnahan says #MeToo has not changed Hollywood enough". Evening Standard. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
4. Dweck, Sophie (December 14, 2018). "Rachel Brosnahan: 25 Things You Don't Know About Me ('For a Millennial, I'm Particularly Technologically Challenged')". US Magazine. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
5. "Golden Globes: Full list of nominees". BBC News. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
6. Huff, Lauren (January 6, 2019). "Golden Globes: Rachel Brosnahan Praises "Matriarchy" on 'Mrs. Maisel' Set in Best Actress Speech". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
7. "Rachel Brosnahan". Television Academy. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
8. Crowder, Courtney (February 19, 2014). "Rachel Brosnahan, from Highland Park to 'House of Cards'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
9. "Kate Spade's father: 'She'd be delighted' if her death sheds light on mental illness". kansascity. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
10. Symenov, Rachel (November 28, 2017). "Rachel Brosnahan's Comic Timing". The New York Times. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
11. "Irish American fashion designer Kate Spade dead of apparent suicide". IrishCentral. June 5, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
12. Handler, Rachel (July 19, 2013). "Rachel Brosnahan: Wild 'Card'". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2014. Brosnahan, 23
13. Doremus, Elaine (April 2, 2013). "Ingénue Rising". Modern Luxury (Spring 2013). Retrieved February 26, 2014.
14. Schmidt, Ingrid (October 13, 2015). "Rachel Brosnahan of 'Manhattan' undertakes her own special fashion project". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
15. Swartz, Tracy (November 27, 2017). "How Rachel Brosnahan's Highland Park roots influenced her 'Mrs. Maisel' role". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
16. "New York University". www.facebook.com. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
17. "Rachel Brosnahan". IMDb. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
18. "The Big Knife's Rachel Brosnahan on Bobby Cannavale, House of Cards and Singing Lessons with Bernadette Peters". Broadway.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
19. "'Othello': Theater Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
20. Donnelly, Elisabeth. "Rachel Brosnahan Talks Channeling Joan Rivers in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel". Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
21. Morabito, Andrea (September 27, 2016). "'Crisis in Six Scenes' stars break secrecy around Woody Allen's first TV show". NY Post. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
22. "Rachel Brosnahan". Television Academy. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
23. Whitten, Sarah (September 20, 2020). "'Schitt's Creek' has record-setting Emmy sweep, while HBO scores big with 'Watchmen,' 'Succession'". CNBC. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
24. Smith, Nigel (January 8, 2018). "First-Time Winner Rachel Brosnahan Pauses Globes Acceptance Speech for a Good Reason: 'Hi, Oprah!'". People. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
25. Plaugic, Lizzie (January 8, 2018). "Rachel Brosnahan wins 2018's Best Actress Golden Globe for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel". The Verge. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
26. Otterson, Joe (January 8, 2018). "'Mrs. Maisel' Star Rachel Brosnahan Advocates for More Women's Stories During Golden Globes Win". Variety. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
27. Perez, Lexy (January 8, 2018). "Golden Globes: Rachel Brosnahan Wins Best Actress for 'Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
28. Rachel Brosnahan (September 17, 2018). Rachel Brosnahan - Emmys 2018 - Full Backstage Speech. Los Angeles, California: Variety. Event occurs at 0:54-1:38. Retrieved September 18, 2018 – via Youtube.
29. Abbatescianni, Davide (October 10, 2018). "Dominic Cooke's new feature, Ironbark, now in production". People.
30. "In female-led 'I'm Your Woman,' Julia Hart flips the '70s crime genre on its head". Los Angeles Times. December 14, 2020.
31. Talarico, Brittany (September 25, 2018). "Did The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Star Rachel Brosnahan Marry Jason Ralph?". People. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
32. Farley, Rebecca. "Rachel Brosnahan Reveals She's Secretly Been Married For "Years"". Refinery29. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
33. Fernandez, Alexia (January 6, 2019). "Rachel Brosnahan Thanks Husband Jason Ralph as She Wins Golden Globe: 'I Love You'". People. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
34. "Stars,activists, and leaders at the Live Below the Line Launch". Global Citizen. Retrieved April 2, 2018.

External links

• Rachel Brosnahan at IMDb