Celia Keenan-Bolger

Celia Keenan-Bolger (born January 26, 1978) is an American actress and singer. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for portraying Scout Finch in the play To Kill a Mockingbird. She has also been Tony-nominated for her roles in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2005), Peter and the Starcatcher (2012), The Glass Menagerie (2014), and Mother Play (2024).

Early life and education Keenan-Bolger was born in Detroit, Michigan, the eldest of three children. She has a sister, Maggie, and a brother, Andrew.

She trained as a youth at the Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit and the Detroit School of Arts High School. She also attended Interlochen Center for the Arts. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan's musical theatre performance program.

Career Keenan-Bolger's regional credits include Johanna in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration in 2002, along with productions at the Goodman Theatre, TheatreWorks and Sundance Theatre Program. In 2003, she originated the role of Clara Johnson in the pre-Broadway world premiere of the Craig Lucas/Adam Guettel musical The Light in the Piazza at Seattle's Intiman Theatre and Chicago's Goodman Theatre. Her Off-Broadway credits include Kindertransport, Little Fish and Summer of '42.

She appeared on the concept cast album of Bright Lights, Big City. She has sung in concert at the Lincoln Center American Songbook Series and at the Michigan Theatre with Audra McDonald. Keenan-Bolger performed as Martha in the 2005 The Secret Garden World AIDS Day benefit concert.

In 2005, Keenan-Bolger made her Broadway debut starring in William Finn's musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, where she originated the role of Olive Ostrovsky. For this performance, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She had appeared in the musical from its beginning at the Barrington Stage Company (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) in July 2004, to the Off-Broadway production at the Second Stage Theatre in January through March 2005. With the original Broadway cast, she returned to The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for a four-week limited engagement run at the Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles from May through June 2007.

She appeared on Broadway in the revival of Les Misérables as street waif Éponine from October 2006 to April 2007, for which she received a Drama Desk Award nomination. She also participated in a reading of Shrek The Musical as Princess Fiona in 2007.

Keenan-Bolger appeared in the Playwrights Horizons production of the new musical Saved with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and a book by John Dempsey and Rinne Groff in 2008. She appeared in Bachelorette at the Second Stage Theatre and in Adam Bock's A Small Fire, opposite Michele Pawk and Reed Birney.

Keenan-Bolger starred as Mary Flynn in the Encores! production of Merrily We Roll Along, which played at the New York City Center from February 8 through 19, 2012.

In 2011, she starred in the New York Theatre Workshop production of Peter and the Starcatcher, a stage adaptation of the 2004 best-selling children's novel of a similar name. She reprised the role of Molly in the Broadway transfer production of Peter and the Starcatcher, which played at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre from March 28, 2012, through January 20, 2013. Keenan-Bolger received Drama Desk Award and Tony Award nominations for her performance.

Keenan-Bolger played Laura Wingfield in the American Repertory Theater production of The Glass Menagerie alongside Cherry Jones, Zachary Quinto and Brian J. Smith, from February 2, 2013, through March 17, 2013. Keenan-Bolger reprised her role in the production's Broadway transfer, which ran from September 5, 2013, through February 23, 2014, at the Booth Theatre. She received a third Tony Award nomination for her performance.

Keenan-Bolger starred in the Lincoln Center production of Sarah Ruhl's The Oldest Boy, which began performances at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater on October 9, 2014.

She participated in a reading of The Brave Little Toaster: The Musical as the titular character. Others involved included Carol Channing, reprising her role as the Ceiling Fan. In early 2015, she appeared in a live reading of Eric Carle's Animals, Animals for the Autistic Children's Trust in Bangor, Maine.

In 2016, Keenan-Bolger played Varya in the Roundabout Theatre Company production of The Cherry Orchard.

She starred on Broadway in To Kill a Mockingbird as Scout, which opened in December 2018 and closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She received a Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Play, a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Drama League Award nomination for her performance. Keenan-Bolger reprised her role when the Broadway production reopened in October 2021 and played her final performance on January 2, 2022.

In November 2020, Keenan-Bolger was announced as part of the cast of HBO's new series The Gilded Age. She played Mrs. Bruce in the first season of the show, and it was announced that she would return as a series regular for season 2, which was filmed in 2022.

In 2024, Keenan-Bolger starred on Broadway in Paula Vogel's Mother Play, opposite Jessica Lange and Jim Parsons. The production, a part of Second Stage Theatre's 2023–2024 season, ran at the Hayes Theatre, with previews beginning April 3, before opening on April 25th, 2024. She received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play. The production closed on June 16, 2024, after its limited run.

On April 29, 2025, it was announced that Keenan-Bolger would be awarded the 2025 Isabelle Stevenson Award, a non-competitive Tony Award, in recognition for her long history of advocacy work through the arts.

Personal life Keenan-Bolger has been married to actor John Ellison Conlee since 2010. They have a son, born in 2015.

She became an end-of-life doula in 2022 and was the end-of-life doula for Gavin Creel, a close friend of hers.

Acting credits Film Year Title Role Notes 2012 Mariachi Gringo Tammy 2015 The Visit Stacey 2017 Breakable You Jenny 2018 Diane Tally

Television Year Title Role Notes 2002 The Education of Max Bickford Episode: "Murder of the First" 2007 Law & Order Elaine Fowler Episode: "Murder Book" Heartland Alice Episode: "Smile" 2008 The Battery's Down Voter Registration Girl Episode: "The Bronx is Up" 2012 Submissions Only Michelle Loudon Episode: "Another Interruption" 2014 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Mavis Summers Episode: "Reasonable Doubt" Nurse Jackie Goth Patient Episode: "The Lady with the Lamp" 2015 Louie Julianne Episode: "Pot Luck" The Good Wife Wendy Searle Episode: "Driven" Elementary Amber Bova Episode: "The Cost of Doing Business" 2016 Good Behavior Daphne Rochefort Episode: "So You're Not an English Teacher" 2017 Blue Bloods Ellen Turner Episode: "A Deep Blue Goodbye" NCIS: New Orleans Jolene Sawyer Episode: "Sins of the Father" 2018 Bull Kristen Grayson Episode: "A Redemption" 2022–presentThe Gilded AgeMrs. Bruce 2003 Little Fish Young Girlu/s Charlotte / Cinder Second Stage Theatre 2005 The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Olive Ostrovsky Second Stage Theatre The Secret Garden Martha Manhattan Center Concert 2005-2006 The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Olive Ostrovsky Circle in the Square Theatre 2006–2007 Les Misérables Éponine Broadhurst Theatre 2007 The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Olive Ostrovsky Wadsworth Theatre 2008 Saved Mary Playwrights Horizons 2010 Bachelorette Katie McGinn-Cazale Theatre 2010–2011 A Small Fire Jenny Bridges Playwrights Horizons 2011 Peter and the Starcatcher Molly Aster New York Theatre Workshop 2012 Merrily We Roll Along Mary Flynn New York City Center Concert Peter and the Starcatcher Molly Aster Brooks Atkinson Theatre 2013–2014The Glass MenagerieLaura Wingfield American Repertory Theater Booth Theatre 2014 The Oldest Boy Mother Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater 2016 The Cherry Orchard Varya American Airlines Theatre 2017 A Parallelogram Bee Second Stage Theatre 2018–2022 To Kill a Mockingbird Scout Finch Shubert Theatre 2024 Mother Play Martha Helen Hayes Theater 2026 Antigone (This Play I Read in High School) Chorus Public Theater

Awards and nominations Organizations Year Category Work Result Ref. Actor Awards 2023 Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series The Gilded Age Broadway.com Audience Choice Award 2012 Favorite Actress in a Play Peter and the Starcatcher 2014 Favorite Featured Actress in a Play The Glass Menagerie 2019 Favorite Featured Actress in a Play To Kill a Mockingbird 2024 Favorite Featured Actress in a Play Mother Play Drama Desk Award 2005 Outstanding Ensemble Performance The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee 2007 Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Les Misérables 2011 Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play Peter and the Starcatcher 2014 Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play The Glass Menagerie 2019 Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play To Kill a Mockingbird 2024 Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play Mother Play Drama League Award 2012 Distinguished Performance Peter and the Starcatcher 2019 Distinguished Performance To Kill a Mockingbird Outer Critics Circle Award 2019 Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play To Kill a Mockingbird 2024 Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play Mother Play Theatre World Award 2005 Distinguished Performance The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee 2014 Excellence in the Theatre The Glass Menagerie Tony Award 2005 Best Featured Actress in a Musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee 2012 Best Featured Actress in a Play Peter and the Starcatcher 2014 Best Featured Actress in a Play The Glass Menagerie 2019 Best Featured Actress in a Play To Kill a Mockingbird 2024 Best Featured Actress in a Play Mother Play 2025 Isabelle Stevenson Award