Carla Gugino Biography

Carla Gugino (; ; born August 29, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Ingrid Cortez in the Spy Kids trilogy, Sally Jupiter in Watchmen (2009), Dr. Vera Gorski in Sucker Punch (2011), and as the lead characters of the television series Karen Sisco and Threshold. Her feature film work includes starring roles in Son in Law (1993), Sin City (2005), Night at the Museum (2006), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), San Andreas (2015), and The Space Between Us (2017) as well as Kelor in the DC Extended Universe. Gugino has had lead roles in the TV series Political Animals (2012), Wayward Pines (2015), and Roadies (2016).

She is a frequent collaborator with filmmaker Zack Snyder.

Early life

Gugino was born in Sarasota, Florida, to Carl Gugino, an orthodontist of Italian descent, and a mother of English-Irish descent described as "Bohemian". Her parents separated when she was two, after which she traveled between her father and half-brother Carl Jr.'s home in Sarasota, and her Paradise, California home, to which her mother moved her when she was four. She has said of her upbringing, "I lived in a tepee in Northern California and a van in Big Sur. With my dad, I lived in a beautiful house with a swimming pool and a tennis court and went to Europe for the summers. So I feel like I lived two childhoods." She worked as a teenage fashion model, and took acting classes at the suggestion of her aunt, former Let's Make a Deal spokesmodel Carol Merrill. She eventually came to support herself, and with her parents' support, was legally emancipated by the time she was 16.

Career

Gugino's television work during the late 1980s and early 1990s included appearances on Saved by the Bell, Who's the Boss?, ALF, Doogie Howser, M.D., The Wonder Years and a recurring role on Falcon Crest.

In film, Gugino appeared in the Shelley Long film Troop Beverly Hills, and co-starred with Pauly Shore in the 1993 romantic comedy Son in Law. She later appeared in the video to Bon Jovi's 1994 song "Always".

In 1995, Gugino appeared as Nan St. George (later the Duchess of Trevenick) with Greg Wise and James Frain in the BBC miniseries The Buccaneers, an adaptation of Edith Wharton's last novel.

After playing Michael J. Fox's love interest, Ashley Schaeffer, during the first season of the sitcom Spin City in 1996, Gugino starred with Nicolas Cage in Brian De Palma's Snake Eyes, and in Judas Kiss, which she also co-produced. She appeared as Dr. Gina Simon during the 1999-2000 final season of Chicago Hope.

In 2001, she appeared as family matriarch Ingrid Cortez in the first Spy Kids film (as well as the film's two sequels in 2002 and 2003). That same year she appeared as Jet Li's love interest in the martial arts action thriller The One.

She starred in two short-lived TV series: ABC's Elmore Leonard crime drama Karen Sisco in 2003, and CBS's science fiction series Threshold in 2005. That same year, Gugino appeared as Lucille in the feature film adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel, Sin City. The following year, she appeared in the movie Night at the Museum.

Gugino appeared in the Roundabout Theatre Company play After the Fall opposite Six Feet Under's Peter Krause. In late 2006, she appeared in an Off-Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer opposite Blythe Danner.

Gugino appeared as Amanda, Vincent Chase's agent, in a dozen episodes of the cable television series Entourage. Gugino appeared nude in the May 2007 issue of Allure. That same year she appeared in the action-horror film Rise: Blood Hunter and the feature film American Gangster. The following year, she played the female lead in the thriller Righteous Kill, opposite Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.

Gugino starred in Chicago's Goodman Theater production of Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms from January 17 to February 17, 2009, in the role of Abby. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times praised Gugino's performance, saying, "Ms. Gugino displays a depth and range of expression that I cannot imagine any other actress achieving with such blazing honesty and wrenching truth. She is simply magnificent." During the first three months of 2009, three feature films premiered featuring Gugino: the thriller The Unborn, the film Watchmen, in which she played Sally Jupiter, and the adventure remake Race to Witch Mountain, in which she starred opposite Dwayne Johnson. That April, she received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding Actress In a Play for her performance in Desire Under the Elms. Later in November of that year, she appeared as a pornographic actress in the comedy film Women in Trouble, which spawned a sequel in 2010, Elektra Luxx, titled after her character.

In 2011, Gugino appeared as Madame Vera Gorsky in Zack Snyder's action-fantasy film Sucker Punch alongside Abbie Cornish and Emily Browning. Gugino sang a duet with co-star Oscar Isaac, which appeared in the end credits and in the film's soundtrack. She also guest starred on the fourth season of Californication as Abby Rhodes, Hank Moody's attorney and love interest.

In the mid-2012, Gugino had a lead role as Susan Berg, a Washington D.C. investigative reporter, on the USA Network's miniseries Political Animals.

Personal life

As of 2005, Gugino was dating her collaborator, writer/producer/director Sebastian Gutierrez. She stated in 2009 that they had no plans to marry, commenting, "[Marriage] isn't important for us. We like being boyfriend and girlfriend; there's something sexy and fun about that. We're very much about, 'There"?s nothing holding us here other than our desire to be together.'"

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Troop Beverly Hills	Chica Barnfell
1990	Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael	Young Roxy Carmichael
1993	This Boy's Life	Norma Hansen
1993	Red Hot	Valentina
1993	Son in Law	Rebecca 'Becca' Warner
1995	Miami Rhapsody	Leslie Marcus
1996	Jaded	Megan 'Meg' Harris
1996	Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco	Delilah	Voice role
1996	The War at Home	Melissa
1996	Wedding Bell Blues	Violet
1996	Michael	Bride
1997	Lovelife	Amy
1998	Snake Eyes	Julia Costello
1998	Judas Kiss	Coco Chavez
2001	Spy Kids	Ingrid Cortez
2001	The Center of the World	Jerri
2001	The Jimmy Show	Annie
2001	The One	T. K. Law/Massie Walsh
2002	Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams	Ingrid Cortez
2003	The Singing Detective	Betty Dark/Hooker
2003	Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over	Ingrid Cortez
2005	The Life Coach	Carla
2005	Sin City	Lucille
2006	Even Money	Veronica
2006	Night at the Museum	Rebecca Hutman
2007	The Lookout	Janet
2007	Rise: Blood Hunter	Eve
2007	American Gangster	Laurie Roberts
2008	Righteous Kill	Det. Karen Corelli
2009	The Unborn	Janet Beldon
2009	Sparks	Robin	Short film
2009	Watchmen	Sally Jupiter / Silk Spectre
2009	Race to Witch Mountain	Dr. Alex Friedman
2009	Women in Trouble	Elektra Luxx
2009	Under the Hood	Sally Jupiter / Silk Spectre	Short film
2010	The Mighty Macs	Cathy Rush
2010	Elektra Luxx	Elektra Luxx
2010	Every Day	Robin
2010	Faster	Cicero
2011	I Melt With You	Laura
2011	Girl Walks into a Bar	Francine Driver
2011	Sucker Punch	Dr. Vera Gorski
2011	Mr. Popper's Penguins	Amanda Popper
2011	New Year's Eve	Dr. Morriset
2012	Hotel Noir	Hanna Click
2013	By Virtue Fall	Actress
2013	Man of Steel	Kelor	Voice role
2014	Match	Lisa
2015	San Andreas	Emma
2016	Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice	Kelor	Voice role
2016	Wolves	Jenny Keller
2016	Bling	Catherine	Voice role
2017	The Space Between Us	Kendra
2017	Gerald's Game	Jessie Burlingame	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Who's the Boss?	Jane	Episode: "Prom Night II"
1988	Good Morning, Miss Bliss	Karen	Episode: "Summer Love"
1989	ALF	Laura	Episode: "Standing in the Shadows of Love"
1989-1990	Falcon Crest	Sydney St. James	11 episodes
1990	Ferris Bueller	Ann Peyson	Episode: "Stand-In Deliver"
1991	Doogie Howser, M.D.	Sara Newman	Episode: "Planet of the Dateless"
1991	The Wonder Years	Sandy Tyler	Episode: "Triangle"
1992	Murder Without Motive: The Edmund Perry Story	Allison Connors	Movie
1992	Quantum Leap	Michelle Temple Cutter	Episode: "Ghost Ship"
1992	Davis Rules	Kathi	2 episodes
1992	A Private Matter	Mary Beth	Movie
1994	Motorcycle Gang	Leann	Movie
1995	The Buccaneers	Nan St. George	5 episodes
1996, 1998	Spin City	Ashley Schaeffer	Main role in season 1 (13 episodes)
1999	A Season for Miracles	Emilie Thompson	Movie
1999-2000	Chicago Hope	Dr. Gina Simon	Main role in season 6 (23 episodes)
2001	She Creature	Lily	Television film
2003-2004	Karen Sisco	Karen Sisco	Lead role (10 episodes)
2005-2006	Threshold	Dr. Molly Anne Caffrey	Main role (13 episodes)
2007-2010	Entourage	Amanda Daniels	12 episodes
2010	Californication	Abby	10 episodes
2011	Hide	Warren	Movie
2012	Justified	Karen Goodall	Episode: "Cut Ties"
2012	Political Animals	Susan Berg	Miniseries; main role
2012	New Girl	Emma	3 episodes
2013	Doubt	Linda	Pilot
2015-2016	Wayward Pines	Kate Hewson	Main role in season 1 (11 episodes)
2015	The Brink	Joanne "Jo" Larson	6 episodes
2016	Supergirl	Kelor (voice)	Episode: "Solitude"; uncredited
2016	Roadies	Shelli	Main role
2017	Nashville	Virginia Wyatt	Episode: "If Tomorrow Never Comes"

Accolades

In 2009, Gugino was honored by the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF). During the Foundation's 34th Anniversary Gala in Washington, D.C., she received NIAF's Special Achievement Award for Entertainment, presented by her close friend, actress Connie Britton.

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result
2008	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	American Gangster