Amy Ryan

Amy Ryan, born Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski on May 3, 1968, in Flushing, Queens, New York City, is an American actress whose career spans Broadway, film, and television. The daughter of Pamela Ryan, a nurse, and John Dziewiontkowski, a trucking business owner, she is of Polish, Irish, and English descent. She adopted her mother's maiden name as her stage name. As a child, she and her sister Laura delivered the Daily News by bicycle. Ryan attended the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Center in upstate New York and graduated from New York's High School of Performing Arts at age 17. Immediately after graduation, she was hired for the national tour of Biloxi Blues.

Ryan launched her professional stage career in 1987, making her off-Broadway debut at the Westside Theatre in A Shayna Maidel, where she played the role of Hanna. The following year she appeared in the Second Stage Theatre Company's revival of The Rimers of Eldritch. Her additional off-Broadway credits include As Bees In Honey Drown, Crimes of the Heart, and Saved. She also worked extensively in regional theater, originating roles in new plays by Neil LaBute, Arthur Miller, and Neil Simon. She made her Broadway debut in 1993 as a replacement in Wendy Wasserstein's The Sisters Rosensweig, playing the role of Tess. Subsequent Broadway appearances included Natasha in the 1997 revival of The Three Sisters, Peggy in the 2001–2002 revival of The Women, and The 24 Hour Plays 2004.

Ryan received two Tony Award nominations for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play: the first in 2000 for her portrayal of Sonya Alexandrovna in Uncle Vanya, and the second in 2005 for her performance as Stella Kowalski opposite John C. Reilly in A Streetcar Named Desire. In 2024, she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for her work in Doubt: A Parable. That same year she also appeared in The Old Women on Broadway.

Ryan made her film debut in 1999 in Roberta, after a scene she filmed for Allison Anders's Grace of My Heart was deleted. She subsequently appeared in You Can Count on Me, starring Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo, and the mystery thriller Keane. Her role in Capote as a star-struck sheriff's wife earned positive notices, but it was her portrayal of a hardened welfare mother in Ben Affleck's 2007 thriller Gone Baby Gone that brought her widespread recognition. The performance was voted Best Supporting Actress by the National Board of Review and by critics circles in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. It also earned her nominations for a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 80th Academy Awards. Additional film credits include Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Changeling, directed by Clint Eastwood, Green Zone opposite Matt Damon, Jack Goes Boating, Win Win, Birdman, Bridge of Spies opposite Tom Hanks, The Infiltrator, Abundant Acreage Available, and Beau Is Afraid.

Ryan was part of the ensemble cast of Birdman, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2014, and she shared in the cast's Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. In Bridge of Spies she played Mary Donovan. Her leading role in the Roundabout Theater Company's 2016 production of Love, Love, Love drew some of the strongest reviews of her stage career.

On television, Ryan spent a brief period on the soap opera As the World Turns before appearing in series including I'll Fly Away, ER, Chicago Hope, and The Naked Truth, where she played a series regular role as Téa Leoni's spoiled stepdaughter. She made her first appearance on NBC's Law & Order in 1993 and returned to the series across multiple episodes over the years. From 2002 to 2008 she played Port Authority Officer Beadie Russell in HBO's crime drama The Wire. From 2008 to 2011 she appeared as Holly Flax, an HR representative, in the NBC sitcom The Office, reprising the role in seasons five and seven. In 2010 she joined the cast of HBO's In Treatment for its third season. She has also appeared in the Hulu mystery comedy series Only Murders in the Building from 2021 to 2024 and in the Apple TV+ neo-noir mystery series Sugar in 2024. Ryan's Broadway career spans from 1985 to 2024, reflecting a sustained presence on the stage alongside her work in film and television.