"I go where I need to go. If I need to look glamorous or spiffy or young, or battling cancer, or a drugged-out and hippie type, it hopefully will be projected in my face. That's the beauty of acting: hopefully it comes through. It's not about hair and makeup, a different color of hair. It's about being malleable."
Patricia Davies Clarkson (born December 29, 1959) is an American actress who has been working in Hollywood since the 1980s.
She is rarely a leading lady, usually taking character parts, which have run the gamut from abusive mother Margaret White in Carrie (2002) to steadfast, supportive coach's wife Patti Brooks in Miracle. She made her critically-lauded film debut in The Untouchables (1987) opposite Kevin Costner, but her breakthrough role didn't come until nine years later, as drug-addicted lesbian Greta in High Art (1998).
Selected filmography
Movies
- Carrie (2002): Margaret White
- Miracle: Patti Brooks
- The Untouchables (1987): Catherine Ness
- The Dead Pool: Samantha Walker
- Pharaoh's Army: Sarah Anders
- High Art: Greta
- Wayward Son: Wesley
- Simply Irresistible: Lois McNally
- The Safety of Objects: Annette Jennings
- Wendigo: Kim
- Far from Heaven: Eleanor Fine
- Dogville: Vera
- All the Real Girls: Elvira
- The Station Agent: Olivia Harris
- Pieces of April: Joy Burns
- The Woods: Ms. Traverse
- All the King's Men (2006): Sadie Burke
- No Reservations (2007): Paula
- Lars and the Real Girl: Dr. Dagmar Bergman
- Easy A: Rosemary Penderghast
- Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Judy Nash
- Whatever Works: Marietta Celestine
- Cairo Time: Juliette Grant
- Main Street: Willa Jenkins
- Friends with Benefits: Lorna
- Shutter Island: Rachel Solando 2
- Good Night, and Good Luck.: Shirley Wershba
- The East: Sharon
- The Party (2017): April
- The Bookshop: Mrs. Violet Gamart
- The Green Mile: Melinda Moores
- Jumanji: Carol Anne Parrish
- Delirium (2018): Brody
- The Maze Runner Series: Ava Paige
- Out of Blue: Detective Mike Hoolihan
Shows
- Queen: Lizzie Perkins
- Murder One: Annie Hoffman
- Frasier: Claire French
- Six Feet Under: Sarah O'Connor
- Parks and Recreation: Tammy Swanson I
- House of Cards (US): Jane Davis
- Sharp Objects: Adora Crellin
