Téa Leoni

Career In 1988, Leoni was cast as one of the stars of Angels 88, an updated version of the 1970s show Charlie's Angels. After production delays, the show never aired. The following year, she was cast as Lisa DiNapoli in the NBC daytime soap opera Santa Barbara. In 1991, she made her film debut with a small role in the comedy Switch and later played another small part in A League of Their Own (1992).

From 1992 to 1993, Leoni starred with Corey Parker in the short-lived Fox sitcom Flying Blind. In February 1995, she appeared in the sitcom Frasier, a spinoff from Cheers, as the fiancée of Sam Malone (played by Ted Danson).

Later in that year, she landed the lead role in the ABC/NBC sitcom The Naked Truth, playing Nora Wilde, a tabloid news journalist. The show ran through 1998. She was also offered the role of Rachel Green on the hit sitcom Friends, which she had turned down in favor of The Naked Truth. Leoni had the female lead role in the 1995 action comedy film Bad Boys, which was a box office success, grossing over $141 million worldwide.

After leaving television, Leoni had a leading role in Deep Impact (1998), a big-budget disaster film featuring projected effects of a comet hurtling towards Earth. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was a success at the box office, grossing $349 million worldwide. She later had main roles in two other big budget movies: romantic comedy The Family Man (2000), co-starring alongside Nicolas Cage, and science fiction film Jurassic Park III (2001) as William H. Macy's character's ex-wife. In 2002, she starred as a film studio executive in Hollywood Ending, directed by Woody Allen and had a supporting role in the box office bomb crime drama People I Know. In 2004, she appeared as the wife of Adam Sandler's character in the financially unsuccessful comedy-drama Spanglish. In 2005, Leoni starred alongside Jim Carrey in the comedy film Fun with Dick and Jane. The movie grossed $202 million at the box office worldwide.

Leoni co-starred in a number of small films in the late 2000s, including You Kill Me and The Smell of Success. She co-starred opposite Ricky Gervais in the 2008 supernatural comedy-drama Ghost Town. In 2011, she had a supporting role in the heist comedy film, Tower Heist. In 2011, she was also cast alongside Hope Davis as leads in the HBO comedy pilot, Spring/Fall; however, the pilot was not picked up.

Leoni starred as Elizabeth McCord in the CBS political drama Madam Secretary, which ran from September 21, 2014, to December 8, 2019.

Personal life Leoni married Neil Joseph Tardio Jr., a television commercial producer, on June 8, 1991, at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Hope Township, New Jersey. They divorced in 1995.

Leoni married actor David Duchovny on May 13, 1997, after an eight-week courtship. They have two children, daughter Madelaine West Duchovny and a son Kyd Miller Duchovny. In 2008, Leoni and Duchovny separated. The couple reconciled in 2009 but separated again in June 2011. Duchovny filed for divorce in June 2014, and the couple had agreed to settlement terms by that August.

Leoni began dating Tim Daly, her Madam Secretary co-star, in December 2014. They are both alumni of The Putney School. Leoni and Daly were married on July 12, 2025, in New York in an intimate family wedding.

Humanitarian work Leoni was named a UNICEF goodwill ambassador in 2001. She has been a member of UNICEF's national board since 2004. Landeene Also executive producer; also known as Life in the Fast Lane 2000 The Family Man Kate Reynolds 2001 Jurassic Park III Amanda Kirby

People I Know Jilli Hopper Hollywood Ending Ellie

House of D Mrs. Warshaw Spanglish Deborah Clasky 2005 Fun with Dick and Jane Jane Harper 2007 You Kill Me Laurel Pearson Also executive producer 2008 Ghost Town Gwen 2009 The Smell of Success Rosemary Rose 2011 Tower Heist Special Agent Claire Denham

Death of a Unicorn Belinda Leopold Bird Boy Emmie Khumalo Television Year Title Role Notes 1989 Santa Barbara Lisa DiNapoli Temporary replacement for Tawny Kitaen 1992–1993 Flying Blind Alicia Main cast 1994 The Counterfeit Contessa Gina Leonarda Nardino Television film 1995 Frasier Sheila Episode: "The Show Where Sam Shows Up" 1995–1998 The Naked Truth Nora Wilde Main cast 2000 The X-Files Herself Episode: "Hollywood A.D." 2011 Spring/Fall Margo Television film 2014–2019 Madam Secretary Elizabeth McCord Main cast; also producer 2024–2025 Only Murders in the Building Sofia Caccimelio Recurring cast

Awards and nominations