Please Rewind Talent Wall

Beth Grant

Beth Grant has built a career out of making every corner of the frame feel occupied. Whether playing a stern authority figure, an anxious parent or someone operating on her own peculiar wavelength, she brings specificity to roles that might otherwise pass as simple plot mechanics. Her film work stretches from the farmhouse sequence in Rain Man and the escalating tension of Speed to Cora Mae Cobb in A Time to Kill and Kitty Farmer, Donnie Darko’s fiercely committed teacher. She also appeared as Pageant Official Jenkins in Little Miss Sunshine and as Carla Jean’s dying mother in No Country for Old Men. Born September 18, 1949, in Gadsden, Alabama, Grant grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina. She has credited her mother, an Equal Rights Amendment activist, with inspiring her to become an actress. After graduating from East Carolina University in 1973 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and Directing, she moved to New York City to pursue acting. Grant’s screen career is notable for its range as much as its longevity. Her film credits include Child’s Play 2, The Wizard, Love Field, City Slickers II, Matchstick Men, Factory Girl, The Rookie, Extract and Crazy Heart. She also contributed voice work to Rango. Television has given her just as much room to move between comedy, drama and the strange territory in between. She has appeared in The Golden Girls, The X-Files, Friends, Six Feet Under, The Office, True Blood, Modern Family and The Mentalist. She was a series regular as Beverly Janoszewski on The Mindy Project, played Gracie Leigh in Jericho and took roles in Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies. Later work includes A Series of Unfortunate Events, Dollface, Grace and Frankie, Mayfair Witches, Carol & the End of the World and The Bondsman. Across those projects, Grant’s gift is consistent: she knows how to turn a few scenes into a fully inhabited life.