Carrie Preston

Carrie Preston (born June 21, 1967) is an American actress, director, and producer. She is best known for her roles as Arlene Fowler in the HBO fantasy drama series True Blood (2008–2014) and as Elsbeth Tascioni in the CBS legal drama series The Good Wife (2010–2016) and the two spinoffs The Good Fight (2017–2022) and Elsbeth (2024–present). For her work on The Good Wife, Preston received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.

Preston also appeared in the CBS crime drama series Person of Interest (2012–2016), the NBC comedy series Crowded (2016), and the TNT crime drama series Claws (2017–2022). She has starred in films such as the romantic comedy My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), the comedy-drama Transamerica (2005), the romantic comedy Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), the drama Doubt (2008), the drama To the Bone (2017), the slasher horror They/Them (2022), and the comedy-drama The Holdovers (2023).

Early life and education Preston was born in Macon, Georgia, the daughter of Pam and Ray Preston. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Evansville (1990), followed by an acting diploma from the Juilliard School's Drama Division (Group 23: 1990–1994).

Career Preston has worked on numerous projects with her husband, actor Michael Emerson, whom she married in 1998. Emerson played Ben Linus on television's Lost, and Preston was a guest star in episode 20 of season 3, "The Man Behind the Curtain" as Ben's mother Emily in flashback scenes, though she and Emerson never shared scenes together. The couple were featured in the 2004 comedy film Straight-Jacket and the 2008 feature film, Ready? OK!. She appeared in several episodes of Person of Interest as Grace Hendricks, the former fiancée of Emerson's character, Harold Finch.

Preston is co-owner of the production company Daisy 3 Pictures with James Vasquez and Mark Holmes. For seven seasons she played Arlene Fowler on True Blood. On July 31, 2010, Preston and Emerson read A. R. Gurney's play Love Letters at the Charleston Stage; they performed it as a fundraiser for the venue.

Preston had a recurring role playing Elsbeth Tascioni, an eccentric but extremely effective trial lawyer on CBS's The Good Wife. First introduced in season one and recurring on seasons three through seven, the character was a fan favorite, and Preston won the 2013 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her work on the show.

Preston later had a recurring character in the 2014 second season of the Kevin Bacon-led thriller, The Following. She portrayed Judy, a prostitute and ill-fated groupie of Joe Carroll. Preston has appeared in a number of films as a supporting character. Including several critically acclaimed films such as Doubt and Duplicity, where she starred alongside stars such as Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Clive Owen, and Julia Roberts.

In 2015, she landed a leading role on the short-lived NBC comedy series Crowded where she starred opposite Patrick Warburton. In the 2015 final season of The Good Wife, she earned her second Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series nomination. Preston was originally slated for a four-episode arc, but due to commitments on her new show, she was able to appear only in one episode.

Preston was then cast in the drama-comedy Claws playing Polly Marks (Polly-Pol), a mild-mannered preppy with an "ankle bracelet" who recently served time in prison for identity theft. The series was greenlit for a 10-episode first season.

In 2016, Preston reprised her role as Elsbeth Tascioni on The Good Wife spin-off The Good Fight.

In 2023, CBS announced a spin-off series, Elsbeth, in which Preston would reprise her role, though as the central character. It was ordered to series on May 9, 2023, and premiered on February 29, 2024. On April 18, 2024, CBS renewed the series for a second season.

Filmography

Film

Television Actress

Director

Stage Year Title Role Notes 1995 Indiscretions Madeleine (standby) Ethel Barrymore Theatre The Tempest Miranda Broadhurst Theatre 1997 Antony and Cleopatra Octavia the Younger The Public Theater 1998 Freedomland Polly Underfinger Playwrights Horizons 2000 Straight-Jacket Sally Stone Playhouse 91 She Stoops to Conquer Kate Hardcastle Center Stage 2001 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Honey Guthrie Theater Chaucer in Rome Sarah Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater 2002 Boys and Girls Shelly Duke on 42nd Street No Foreigners Beyond This Point Paula Wheaton Center Stage 2004–05 The Rivals Julia Melville Vivian Beaumont Theater 2005 Cycling Past the Matterhorn Amy Harold Clurman Theater Hamlet Ophelia McCarter Theatre Center 2006 Festen Mette Music Box Theatre 2010 Love Letters Melissa Gardner Charleston Stage

Other works

Awards and nominations