Carrie Preston Biography

Carrie Preston (born June 21, 1967) is an American film and television actress, producer and director. Her husband is actor Michael Emerson, and her brother is actor John G. Preston. She is known for her work on True Blood , The Good Wife and Person of Interest.

Early life and education

Preston was born and raised in Macon, Georgia, by her mother, an artist and art therapist, and her father, a . A young Carrie Preston discovered her true calling in performing arts. She began performing in community theater shows at age 8, and by age 12 she had begun her own front-yard theater company with other neighborhood kids.

She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Evansville (1990), followed by an acting diploma from the Juilliard School's Drama Division (Group 23: 1990"1994).

Career

Preston has worked with her husband, actor Michael Emerson, on a number of projects. Emerson played Ben Linus on television's Lost, and Preston was a guest star in episode 20 of season 3, The Man Behind the Curtain as Ben's mother Emily in flashback scenes, though she and Emerson never shared scenes together. The couple was featured in the 2004 comedy film Straight-Jacket and the 2008 feature film, Ready? OK!. Most recently, she has appeared in several episodes of Person of Interest as Grace Hendricks, the former fiancée of Emerson's character, Harold Finch.

Preston is co-owner of the production company Daisy 3 Pictures with James Vasquez and Mark Holmes. Since 2008, she has played Arlene Fowler on True Blood.

On July 31, 2010, Carrie Preston and her husband, Michael Emerson, read A. R. Gurney's Love Letters, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, at the Charleston Stage. They performed it as a fundraiser for the South Carolina's theatre. The reading was followed by a brief "Question and Answer" session.

Since 2010, she has played the recurring character of Elsbeth Tascioni in CBS's The Good Wife, a role for which she has won the 2013 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. She is set to return as a recurring character on season 5 of "The Good Wife" which is set to premiere on September 29th, 2013.

On September 6th, it was announced that Carrie had signed on to play a recurring character in the second season of the the Kevin Bacon lead thriller, "The Following;" where she will play Judy, Joe Carrol's (James Purefoy), most loyal groupie. The show's second season is set to premiere in January 2014.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Just a Friend	Mint Jennifer
1997	My Best Friend's Wedding	Mandy Newhouse
1997	'	Laura Singh
1997	For Richer or Poorer	Rebecca Yoder
1998	Mercury Rising	Emily Lang
1999	Guinevere	Patty
1999	Cradle Will Rock	VTA " Adminstrator
2000	Woman Wanted	Monica
2000	'	Idalyn Greaves
2004	Straight Jacket	Sally Stone
2004	'	Barbara
2005	Transamerica	Sydney
2007	Lovely by Surprise	Marian
2007	Towelhead	Evelyn Vuoso
2008	Ready? OK!	Andy Dowd
2008	Vicky Cristina Barcelona	Sally
2008	Doubt	Christine Hurley
2009	Duplicity	Barbara Bofferd
2009	That Evening Sun	Ludie Choat
2010	Virginia	Betty
2011	'	Sister (voice)	Short film
2011	'	Lynette
2011	Sironia	Grace
2012	Vino Veritas	Claire	Post-production
2012	Who's Afraid of Vagina Wolf?	Chloe	Post-production
2013	Beneath the Harvest Sky (previously known as Blue Potato)	Kim

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Cutty Whitman	Sheriff	TV film
1997	Union Square	Jester	Episode: "Michael's First Stand"
1998	Five Houses		TV film
1998	Significant Others	Patti Pasternak	Episode: "My Left Kidney"
1998	Grace & Glorie	Charlene Stiles	TV film
1999	Spin City	Gayle	Episode: "Carter & Stuart & Bennett & Deirdre"
1999	Sex and the City	Madeline Dunn	Episode: "The Chicken Dance"
2001	Emeril	B.D. Benson	10
2003	Good Morning, Miami	Kiera	Episode: "The Slow and the Furious"
2003	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Megan Colby	Episode: "Zoonotic"
2004	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Doreen Whitlock	Episode: "Magnificat"
2004	Wonderfalls	Sister Katrina	Episode: "Wound-Up Penguin"
2004	Hope & Faith	Sally Jones	Episode: "Queer as Hope"
2005	Numb3rs	Vicky Sites	Episode: "Dirty Bomb"
2005	'	Kelly Comack	Episode: "Pre-Filer"
2006	Arrested Development	Jan Eagleman	Episode: "Fakin' It"
2006	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Lena Copeland	Episode: "Bedfellows"
2007	Lost	Emily Linus	Episode: "The Man Behind the Curtain"
2007	Desperate Housewives	Lucy	Episode: "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover"
2008"present	True Blood	Arlene Fowler	Main role (60 episodes)
2009	Private Practice	Miss Pierce	Episode: "Do the Right Thing"
2010"2013	'	Elsbeth Tascioni	Recurring role (7 episodes) Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series Nominated"?Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series
2011	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Bella Zane	Episode: "Educated Guess"
2012	Royal Pains	Jackie Van Ark	Episode: "Hurts Like a Mother"
2012"2013	Person of Interest	Grace Hendricks	Episodes: "No Good Deed", "The High Road", "Til Death", "Zero Day", "God Mode"

Theatre

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Indiscretions	Madeleine
1995	'	Miranda	Broadway
1997	Antony and Cleopatra	Octavia	The Public Theater
1998	Freedomland	Polly	Playwrights Horizons
2000	Straight Jacket	Sally	Playhouse 91
2000	She Stoops to Conquer	Kate Hardcastle	Center Stage
2001	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	Honey	Guthrie Theater
2001	Chaucer in Rome	Sarah	Lincoln Center
2002	Boys and Girls	Shelly	Duke on 42nd Street
2002	No Foreigners Beyond This Point	Paula Wheaton	Center Stage
2004"2005	'	Julia	Broadway
2005	Cycling Past the Matterhorn	Amy	Clurman Theatre
2005	Hamlet	Ophelia	McCarter Theatre Center
2006	Festen	Mette	Broadway
2008	Esther Demsac	Reluctant Nanny	NY Theatre Workshop's 4th Street Theatre
2008	Likeness		Primary Stages
2010	Love Letters	Melissa Gardner	Charleston Stage

Other works

Other works

Year	Title	Notes
2005	29th and Gay	Director, executive producer, editor
2007	Feet of Clay	Director, executive producer
2008	Ready? OK!	Executive producer
2008	Girl Talk	Director
2012	That's What She Said	Director, producer