Lily Rabe

Lily Rabe is an American actress born on June 29, 1982, on the Upper West Side of New York City. She is the daughter of playwright David Rabe and actress Jill Clayburgh, and grew up in Bedford, New York before relocating to Lakeville, Connecticut in seventh grade, where she attended the Hotchkiss School. Her siblings include a younger brother, Michael, who works as an actor and playwright, and an older paternal half-brother, Jason, a musician. Her father is Roman Catholic, her maternal grandfather was Jewish, and her maternal grandmother was Protestant.

Rabe studied dance for ten years and was teaching ballet at a summer arts program in Connecticut when the program's acting instructor invited her to perform a monologue. She delivered a piece from Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart, an experience she has described as the moment that made her consider acting as a profession. She went on to study acting at Northwestern University, graduating in 2004.

Her screen debut came in 2001, when she appeared opposite her mother in the film Never Again. That same period saw her make her professional stage debut alongside Clayburgh at the Gloucester Stage Company in Massachusetts, performing in two one-act plays — Speaking Well of the Dead by Israel Horovitz and The Crazy Girl by Frank Pugliese — work that earned her an Equity Card. She returned to the Gloucester Stage Company in July 2003 for a production of Proof by David Auburn and also appeared that year in the film Mona Lisa Smile. Following her graduation from Northwestern, she moved back to New York and in late 2004 appeared in White Jesus by Deirdre O'Connor, presented as part of The Democracy Project by the Naked Angels Theater Company.

In January 2005, Rabe participated in a workshop production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas at the Roundabout Theatre Company, directed by Joe Mantello. She made her Broadway debut later that year as Annelle Dupuy-Desoto in the 2005 revival of Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling, directed by Jason Moore, a performance that earned her a Drama Desk Award nomination. From September to December 2006, she played Ellie Dunn in the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of Heartbreak House by George Bernard Shaw. In the fall of 2007, she appeared in Crimes of the Heart at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, directed by Kathleen Turner in her directorial debut, and the production subsequently moved Off-Broadway to the Laura Pels Theatre in early 2008. From January to March 2009, she appeared on Broadway in the premiere of Richard Greenberg's The American Plan at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

In 2010, Rabe made her Shakespeare in the Park debut playing Portia in a production of The Merchant of Venice directed by Daniel J. Sullivan, which ran from June 30 to August 1. The production subsequently transferred to Broadway at the Broadhurst Theater, where it ran from October 19, 2010, to February 20, 2011, with Al Pacino starring as Shylock. For her performance as Portia, Rabe received a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play in 2011, as well as a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play.

Rabe's Broadway credits span from 2005 to 2011 and include Steel Magnolias, Heartbreak House, The American Plan, and The Merchant of Venice. Beyond Broadway, she appeared at the Golden Theatre in Seminar by Theresa Rebeck, directed by Sam Gold, alongside Alan Rickman, Jerry O'Connell, Hamish Linklater, and Hettienne Park, which opened November 20, 2011, and closed May 6, 2012. She has also performed in multiple Shakespeare in the Park productions, including As You Like It in 2012, where she played Rosalind, and Much Ado About Nothing in 2014.

In August 2011, Rabe joined the FX anthology horror series American Horror Story as Nora Montgomery, beginning a recurring presence on the show that extended through 2021. She appeared across multiple seasons in distinct roles, including Sister Mary Eunice McKee in the second season — a role she reprised in the fourth — the witch Misty Day in the third season, Aileen Wuornos as a special guest in the fifth season, Shelby Miller in the sixth season, and Lavinia Richter in the ninth installment, titled 1984. She is one of only three actors to appear in the show's first six seasons. For her work in the second season, she received a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries.

Her film work includes What Just Happened (2008), All Good Things (2010), Pawn Sacrifice (2014) — in which she played Joan Targ, sister of chess player Bobby Fischer — Miss Stevens (2016), Golden Exits (2017), Vice (2018), Fractured (2019), and The Tender Bar (2021). On television, her credits include The Whispers (2015), The Undoing (2020), The Underground Railroad (2021), and The First Lady (2022). Rabe was born and raised in New York, New York.