Laura Linney biography

Also in 1998, Linney had her largest mainstream film role yet, appearing as Meryl, the too-good-to-be-true wife of Jim Carrey's Truman Burbank in The Truman Show, co-starring Ed Harris and directed by Peter Weir. Playing a loyal wife and product pitchwoman on the ultimate reality television show,

Linney displayed considerable comic ability that caught the attention of many critics.

Mid-Career

In 2000, Linney starred opposite Derek Jacobi in Uncle Vanya. But she turned in her most critically acclaimed performance of that year in her first bona fide movie lead, starring as the practical single mother Sammy Prescott in the independent film You Can Count on Me (2000). The movie, co-starring Mark Ruffalo as Sammy's rebellious brother, Terry, and Matthew Broderick as her uptight bank manager boss, shared the top prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Linney's performance in particular won raves and numerous critics' awards, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

In addition to her triumph in You Can Count on Me, Linney appeared as the scheming society wife Bertha Dorset in the film adaptation of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth (2000). The drama also starred Gillian Anderson as the ill-fated woman who gets on Bertha's bad side. That same year, she starred in the well-reviewed TV movie Running Mates.

Awards and Recognition

Linney won her first Emmy Award in 2002, for her performance in another TV movie, Wild Iris. The film told the story of a single mother who moves back in with her mother to run the family bridal business. In 2004, Linney won her second Emmy Award for her role as the love interest for Frasier Crane in the TV sitcom Frasier, and in 2008 she was honored for her acting abilities once again when she was awarded yet another Emmy, as well as a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors' Guild award, for her portrayal of First Lady Abigail Adams in the HBO mini-series John Adams.

The actress also performed in a series of critically acclaimed film roles around this time. Her 2004 performance in Kinsey, a biopic about sexual behavior researcher Alfred Kinsey, earned her an Academy Award nomination that year. The next year, her performance in The Squid and the Whale, an indie drama, received a Golden Globe nomination. Her 2008 turn in The Savages, also starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, garnered a third Academy Award nomination.

In 2010, Linney was tapped to star in the Showtime series The Big C, for which she received another Golden Globe award. The show addresses a suburban mother's struggles with cancer, and her desire to live a truly fulfilling life. The show was renewed in 2012 for its fourth and final season.

In addition to her television work, Linney appeared on Broadway in Time Stands Still in 2010. She has also made several films in recent years, including the 2012 dramatic comedy Hyde Park on Hudson.