Gretchen Mol

Gretchen Mol (born November 8, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Gillian Darmody in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014). She also appeared in the films Rounders, Celebrity (1998), The Thirteenth Floor (1999), The Notorious Bettie Page (2005) – in which she played the title character – 3:10 to Yuma (2007), and Manchester by the Sea (2016).

Early life and education Mol was born on November 8, 1972, in Deep River, Connecticut, where her mother, Janet (née Morgan), is an artist and teacher, and her father James was a teacher at RHAM High School. She went to high school with Broadway actor Peter Lockyer, with whom she performed in school musicals and plays. Her brother, Jim Mol, is a director and editor in the film industry. Mol attended The American Musical and Dramatic Academy and graduated from the William Esper Studio. She took a job for a while as an usher at Angelika Film Center in New York. She had followed her brother there when he was in NYU film school.

Stage

Mol's acting career began in summer stock theatre in Vermont where she played a variety of roles, including Godspell and 110 in the Shade. in a role she reprised in the film version, released in 2003. The New York Times critic Ben Brantley, in his review of the play (which he disliked), wrote, "[Mol] gives by far the most persuasive performance as the unworldly Jenny, and you wind up feeling for her disproportionately, only because she seems to be entirely there, in the present tense". In 2004, Mol spent a year singing and dancing as Roxie Hart in the Broadway production of Chicago. In 2014–2015, Mol played the role of Emily in the Broadway debut of Ayad Akhtar's Pulitzer-Prize-winning play, Disgraced.

Film

While major roles have been sporadic, Mol has been in more than 30 feature films. She made her film debut in Spike Lee's 1996 film, Girl 6. She said, "I was auditioning for Guiding Light and I was happy I got a Spike Lee movie, which was a tiny part, but all of a sudden I had Spike Lee on my resume. I didn't audition for day player anymore".

In 1998, she appeared in several notable films, including Rounders, starring Matt Damon and Woody Allen's Celebrity opposite Leonardo DiCaprio. In 1998, she also came to prominence when she was featured on the cover of Vanity Fair, dubbed the "It Girl of the Nineties" by the magazine.

For her second film with Woody Allen, 1999's Sweet and Lowdown, she played a minor role which the Greenwich Village Gazette called "notable". She played the female lead role in the 1999 film The Thirteenth Floor. She played the victim of a con artist in the 2003 short film Heavy Put-Away, based on the Terry Southern story. In 2006, she shared the lead in a romantic comedy, Puccini for Beginners, in which her character has a lesbian affair.

Mol worked with Mary Harron for two years as the director struggled to finance The Notorious Bettie Page: "I kind of felt like I lived with it for a while; certainly not as long as Mary Harron did but I got a good chance to really feel like I knew something about Bettie so by the time the role was mine and I was on set, I was pretty confident. I felt like I really worked for it."

The next year, 2007, was one of her busiest, with four films in production or in release, including a remake of 3:10 to Yuma starring Russell Crowe, and An American Affair, in which her character, Catherine Caswell, has an affair with John F. Kennedy. When released in February 2009, the film was harshly criticized by New York Times critic Stephen Holden, though he said that Mol's part was "quite well acted".

In April 2008, she began filming Tenure in Philadelphia, working opposite Luke Wilson and Andrew Daly. Though it had received some good reviews after being screened at several film festivals, it was released direct-to-video in February 2010. She appeared in Kenneth Lonergan's acclaimed film Manchester by the Sea in 2016.

Television Mol's first television work was in a Coca-Cola commercial. Mol played the small role of Maggie Tilton in the 1996 miniseries Dead Man's Walk, based on the Larry McMurtry novel. She also was in a few episodes of Spin City. It was her second Hallmark production. She had a minor role in Calm at Sunset in 1996.

She played Norah in The Memory Keeper's Daughter which aired on The Lifetime Channel in April 2008.

She played NYPD officer Annie Norris in the ABC series Life on Mars, the US remake of the British series of the same name.

Mol had a recurring role on HBO's Boardwalk Empire as Gillian Darmody, a showgirl at the Beaux Arts and mother and incestuous lover of gangster Jimmy Darmody (played by Michael Pitt). Mol shared two SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series with the cast in 2010 and 2011.

In February 2018, she played attorney Sam Henessy in the Netflix series Seven Seconds.

Personal life Interviewed by the Associated Press in Baltimore in December 2006, Mol commented about how she maintained her confidence as an actress: "It is an ongoing struggle. Confidence is something that sometimes you have and sometimes you don't. And the older you get, hopefully, the more you have some tools to at least fake it".

She married film director Tod Williams on June 1, 2004. Their first child, a son, was born in September 2007. In February 2011, Mol gave birth to their second child, a daughter. Since becoming a mother, Mol has taken only those jobs that are close to her home in New York City. "I told my agent I didn't want to work in L.A., even if it was the greatest job in the world. I didn't want to compromise."

Mol serves as the national spokesperson in the United States for the PMD Foundation, which funds research and awareness of Pelizaeus–Merzbacher disease, a neurological disorder which affects children worldwide. Mol became involved with PMD after one of her cousins died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (familiarly known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease").

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1996 Girl 6 Girl #12 Helen 1997 Donnie Brasco Sonny's girlfriend Mary Greenway The Deli Mary 1998 Too Tired to Die Capri Music from Another Room Anna Swann Rounders Jo New Rose Hotel Hiroshi's wife Celebrity Vicky Finding Graceland Beatrice Gruman Bleach Gwen Short film 1999 Jane Fuller / Natasha Molinaro Cradle Will Rock Marion Davies Sweet and Lowdown Ellie Forever Mine Ella Brice Just Looking Hedy Coletti 2000 Zoe Loses It Amber Short film Attraction Liz Get Carter Audrey Uncredited 2003 The Shape of Things Jenny 2004 Heavy Put-Away Mary Short film 2005 Bettie Page 2006 Puccini for Beginners Grace 2007 Gloria Jennings Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot Lynn 3:10 to Yuma Alice Evans 2008 Catherine Caswell Tenure Elaine Grasso 2014 Laggies Bethany 2015 True Story Karen Hannen Anesthesia Sarah 2016 Manchester by the Sea Elise Chandler A Family Man Elise Jensen 2019 Arara Grace 2021 False Positive Dawn2022 Palm Trees and Power Lines Sandra 2024 Millers in Marriage Eve Miller The Invisibles Hanna 2025 Play Dirty Grace Webb 2026 Rain Reign

Television Year Title Role Notes 1996 Dead Man's Walk Maggie 2 episodes Spin City Gwen Episode: "Pride and Prejudice" Calm at Sunset Emily Television film 2000 Picnic Madge Owens The Magnificent Ambersons Lucy Morgan 2002 Girls Club Lynne Camden 9 episodes Freshening Up Janelle Television short 2007 Eleanor Television film 2008 Norah Henry 2008–2009 Life on Mars Annie Norris 17 episodes 2010–2014 Boardwalk Empire Gillian Darmody 39 episodes 2015 Mozart in the Jungle Nina 8 episodes 2016 Chance Jaclyn Blackstone 10 episodes 2018 Nightflyers Dr. Agatha Matheson Yellowstone Evelyn Dutton 2 episodes Seven Seconds Sam Hennessy 3 episodes 2020 The Twilight Zone Mrs. Warren Episode: "You Might Also Like" 2020–2023 Perry Mason Linda 5 episodes 2022 American Gigolo Michelle 8 episodes