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Amanda Plummer

Amanda Plummer has built a career around characters who rarely feel settled, predictable or easily contained. Born in New York City on March 23, 1957, the American actress has worked across film, television and theatre, bringing an unconventional intensity to roles that can turn from vulnerable to unsettling in a moment. Plummer is the only child of actors Tammy Grimes and Christopher Plummer, but her own career quickly developed a distinct shape. After studying acting at New York City’s Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, she made her Broadway debut as Jo in the 1981 revival of A Taste of Honey. The performance brought her a Tony Award nomination, as well as Theatre World, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle recognition. She later won a Tony Award for her performance as Agnes in Agnes of God and earned another nomination for playing Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion. Her early film work included Cattle Annie and Little Britches, The World According to Garp, Daniel and The Hotel New Hampshire. In The Fisher King, her performance received a BAFTA nomination and recognition from critics’ groups in Chicago and Los Angeles. She also appeared in Pulp Fiction, earning an American Comedy Award nomination, and took on films including Butterfly Kiss, My Life Without Me, Ken Park and Needful Things, for which she received a Saturn Award. Television has offered Plummer similarly demanding parts. She won Emmys for guest performances in The Outer Limits and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and received another Emmy for Miss Rose White. Later roles include Wiress in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, an appearance in Ratched and Vadic, the principal villain of Star Trek: Picard’s third and final season. Across those performances, Plummer’s appeal lies in her refusal to smooth away a character’s odd angles. Whether onstage or onscreen, she makes discomfort, fragility and volatility part of the performance rather than something to disguise.