We love you: Amy Ryan
Amy Ryan (born November 30, 1969) is an American actress. She has been nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for her performance in Gone Baby Gone (2007) and is also known for her roles in HBO’s The Wire, playing Port Authority Officer Beadie Russell; HBO’s In Treatment, playing psychiatrist Adele Brousse; and NBC’s The Office, playing human resources representative Holly Flax.The capable and effective actress Amy Ryan proved herself adept at a myriad of portrayals in many genres. Ryan was often, though not always, cast as a solid and dependable housewife, mother, or girlfriend, per her contributions to the 2004 Keane (as the impoverished single mother of a young girl, who unwittingly entrusts her daughter to a schizophrenic), the 2006 Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (as Albert Brooks’ wife and straight man), and the 2005 Capote (as the wife of Chris Cooper’s no-nonsense sheriff). On television, Ryan gained notice as Officer Beatrice “Beadie” Russell on the critically acclaimed HBO drama series The Wire. In 2007, Ryan ascended several notches in terms of feature billing with her portrayal of Carolyn Cassady, the wife of 1950s icon Neal Cassady, in director Noah Buschel’s eponymous biopic of the legendary beatnik.
Ryan also tackled a small supporting role in the Steve Carell comedy Dan in Real Life. That same year, her work in two crime films catapulted her even further into the limelight. As the mother of the missing girl in Gone Baby Gone, Ryan earned rave reviews and dominated the year-end critics awards for Best Supporting Actress, garnering Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe, and Oscar nominations in the process. Her work as Ethan Hawke’s dissatisfied ex-wife in Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead helped cement her new status as a rising star.She appeared in Clint Eastwood’s period drama Changeling, and had a major part in the action thriller Green Zone in 2010. She joined the cast of In Treatment for that program’s thirds and final season on HBO. Philip Seymour Hoffman cast her as his leading lady for his directorial debut Jack Goes Boating, and she was Paul Giamatti’s loving wife in Win Win.
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Ryan made her off-Broadway debut in the Westside Theatre’s 1987 production of A Shayna Maidel, playing the role of Hanna. The following year she was seen in the Second Stage Theatre Company’s revival of The Rimers of Eldritch. Additional off-Broadway credits include As Bees In Honey Drown, Crimes of the Heart and Saved. She also worked in regional theater, where she originated roles in new plays by Neil LaBute, Arthur Miller and Neil Simon. On Broadway she has appeared as Tess in The Sisters Rosensweig, Natasha in the 1997 revival of The Three Sisters, and Peggy in the 2001–2002 revival of The Women.Ryan has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play twice: in 2000, for her portrayal of Sonya Alexandrovna in Uncle Vanya, and in 2005, for her performance as Stella Kowalski opposite John C. Reilly in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Following a brief stint playing a runaway on As the World Turns, Ryan was cast in television series such as I’ll Fly Away, in which she played a high school temptress, and Brooklyn Bridge, where she played Marion Ross’s character in flashbacks. After roles on ER and Chicago Hope, Ryan became a series regular on The Naked Truth as Téa Leoni’s spoiled stepdaughter. In 1993, she made her first appearance on NBC’s Law & Order, appearing in several episodes over the years.By 2001, director Sidney Lumet cast her in 100 Centre Street playing three different roles (Ellen, Paris and Rebecca). Ryan went on to feature prominently in the second season of HBO’s The Wire, playing Port Authority Officer Beadie Russell. She appeared for a six-episode arc on The Office as dorky HR rep Holly Flax. She reprised her role on The Office in seasons 5 and 7.Ryan joined the cast of HBO’s In Treatment for its third season, playing the therapist of Dr. Paul Weston.
