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Aimee Mann

Aimee Mann has always been a musician first, but her screen work carries the same dry intelligence and understated edge found in her songwriting. Born in Richmond, Virginia, on September 8, 1960, she emerged as the bassist and vocalist of the new wave band 'Til Tuesday before beginning a solo career in the 1990s. Her ability to sketch complicated people in sharply observed songs eventually made her a particularly natural fit for film. That connection became central to Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia. Mann contributed several songs to the 1999 film, including "Save Me," "Wise Up" and "You Do," while Anderson incorporated her lyrics into the dialogue and built a sequence around the cast singing "Wise Up." "Save Me" received Academy Award and Grammy nominations, and the film brought wider recognition to Mann's work. As an actor, Mann often appears with a welcome sense of deadpan mischief. She made a cameo as a German nihilist in The Big Lebowski and played versions of herself in television series including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The West Wing and Portlandia. The Portlandia appearance made especially good use of her low-key comic presence, casting her as a cleaner who claims she needs a second job to support her music career. Her voice has also found a home in animation. Mann played Opal in Steven Universe and returned for Steven Universe: The Movie, where she performed "Independent Together" with Ted Leo. Elsewhere, she appeared as a bar singer in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, performing the Cars song "Drive." Mann's screen career is selective rather than conventional. Whether contributing songs that shape a film's emotional structure, stepping into a sly cameo or voicing an animated character, she brings a recognizably thoughtful, wry presence—one that never feels disconnected from the songwriter behind it.