Lisa Emery
{{short description|American actress (born 1952)}}
{{Infobox person
| image =
| imagesize =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1952|1|25}}
| birth_place = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| alma_mater = Hollins College
| yearsactive = 1985{{ndash}}present
| spouse = {{marriage|Josh Pais|1990|2003|end=div}}
| children = Zane Pais
}}
Lisa Emery is an American stage, film, and television actress. Emery is best known for playing Darlene Snell on Netflix series Ozark.
Early life
Emery was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of an aspiring actress from Charlottesville, Virginia and an advertising executive who worked in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. She attended Hollins College, where she planned to study painting, but became interested in drama classes instead because "they were having way more fun." After graduation she studied at the Circle in the Square Theatre School for a year, then began to audition.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9802E4D61E3AF934A35751C1A9659C8B63 Interview] New York Times, December 7, 2003
Emery moved to New York with her then-longtime boyfriend. They eventually broke up and she enrolled in the Circle in the Square two-year program. She moved to the East Village in 1982.[http://www.bawrk.com/woof/meet-lisa-emery-1 Meet: Lisa Emery April 9, 2015] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20150410002959/http://www.bawrk.com/woof/meet-lisa-emery-1 |date=April 10, 2015 }}
Career
Emery's theatre credits include The Matchmaker, Dinner with Friends (1999), What the Butler Saw (2000), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (2006), Talley & Son, Burn This (1987), Rumors, Present Laughter, The Women (2001), Marvin's Room (1991), Abigail's Party (2005), and Relatively Speaking (2011). She has been nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play three times.[http://www.ibdb.com/Person/View/39584 Emery] ibdb.com, accessed November 3, 2015[http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=people&first=Lisa&middle=&last=Emery "Emery Off-Broadway"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829150109/http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=people&first=Lisa&middle=&last=Emery |date=2012-08-29 }} lortel.org, accessed November 3, 2015
Emery's film credits include A Map of the World, Unfaithful, and The Night Listener. On television she had a reoccurring role on Ed and has made guest appearances on Law & Order, Sex and the City, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Third Watch, Fringe, Damages and Jessica Jones. She also had a main cast role on Ozark.
Ben Brantley, chief theatre critic at The New York Times, wrote of Emery's performance in Harold Pinter’s A Kind of Alaska, “Lisa Emery gives one of the most affectingly detailed performances now on a New York stage.”{{cite news |last1=Brantley |first1=Ben |title=Essence of Pinterland, a Terrain Both Warm and Flecked With Ice |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/theater/reviews/23collection.html |access-date=April 13, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=November 23, 2010 |language=en}}
Charles Isherwood, in his review of Relatively Speaking (the one-act "George Is Dead" by Elaine May) for The New York Times, wrote of Emery: "Carla, a thankless straight-woman role played with skill by the fine Lisa Emery..."Isherwood, Charles. "Each Family, Tortured in Its Own Way", The New York Times, October 20, 2011, p.C1
In a July 2020 interview for The Natural Aristocrat, Emery spoke about enjoying the unpredictable nature of her Ozark character Darlene Snell. "Every time I get a script, I'm surprised, which is great. It's not like, 'Oh, there she goes again!' I think it's unpredictable what a great mother she is in her own way."{{cite news|author=Regev, Nir| url=https://thenaturalaristocrat.com/2020/07/03/lisa-emery-talks-ozark-darlene-snell-season-4-coronavirus-interview/|title=Lisa Emery talks Ozark's Darlene Snell, Season 4, Coronavirus (Interview)|work=The Natural Aristocrat|date=July 3, 2020}}
Personal life
Emery was married to actor Josh Pais; their son, Zane, appeared with his mother in Margot at the Wedding.{{cite news|last1=McCarter |first1=Jeremy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/07/theater/theater-a-working-stiff-with-style.html|title=A Working Stiff With Style|work=The New York Times|date=December 7, 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103090918/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/07/theater/theater-a-working-stiff-with-style.html |archive-date=November 3, 2012}}
Emery did not seek a film or television career and did not think of career strategies. "I take it as it comes... Perhaps I'd regret it if I were less happy now. I live perfectly well and love what I do."{{cite news|author=Horwitz, Simi| url= http://www.backstage.com/interview/lisa-emery-makes-a-triple-play-in-lonely-im-not/?__hstc=43953530.56b08fece779f9a8f784a276ac933a28.1446553035987.1446553035987.1446553035987.1&__hssc=43953530.1.1446553035987&__hsfp=2482005440 |title=Lisa Emery Makes a Triple Play in 'Lonely, I'm Not'|work=Backstage|date= May 3, 2012}}
Awards and nominations
- Drama Desk Award 2011, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play - The Collection & A Kind of Alaska (nominee)[http://www.playbillvault.com/Person/Detail/36806/Lisa-Emery "Lisa Emery"] playbillvault.com, accessed November 3, 2015
- Drama Desk Award 2006, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play - Abigail's Party (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award 1992, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play - Marvin's Room (nominee)
- Lucille Lortel Award 2009, Outstanding Featured Actress - Distracted (nominee)
- Lucille Lortel Award 2006, Outstanding Featured Actress - Abigail's Party (nominee)
- Lucille Lortel Award 2004, Outstanding Lead Actress - Iron (nominee)
- Obie Awards 2003–2004, Outstanding Performance - Iron (winner)[http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=3289 Iron] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404183601/http://www.lortel.org/lla_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=3289 |date=2015-04-04 }} lortel.org, accessed November 3, 2015Zinoman, Jason. [https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/19/theater/arts-briefing-highlights-theater-obie-awards.html?pagewanted= "Theater: OBIE Awards"] New York Times, May 19, 2004
Filmography
= Film =
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Year !Title !Role |
| 1986
|Dreamaniac |Rosie |
| 1990
|How to Be Louise |Nancy |
| 1994
|Wolf |Party Guest |
| 1997
|Classroom Reporter |
| 1998
|Harvest |Alice Yates |
| 1999
|Susan Durkin |
| 2002
|Beth |
| 2002
|Woman in Bar |
| 2002
|Elsa Nye |
| 2003
|Parent |
| 2006
|Darlie Noone |
| 2006
|Out There |Kris |
| 2006
|Brother's Shadow |Sylvia |
| 2007
|Woman with Dog |
| 2009
|Cynthia |
| 2013
|Mrs. Pressman |
| 2021
|Debra |
= Television =
| class="wikitable"
!Year !Title !Role !Notes |
| 1985
|Doubletake |Brenda |Miniseries |
| 1990
|Corinne Butler |Episode: "Steam Heat" |
| 1991–2009
|Attorney Weller / Meg Lafferty / Gwen Graham |5 episodes |
| 1993
|Dawn Wheeler |Episode dated 15 January 1993 |
| 1993
|Mrs. Farr |Episode: "Parents Weekend" |
| 1998
|Ruth / Mid 30's Woman |Episode: "Three's a Crowd" |
| 2000
|Brooke Payton |Episode: "The Kid's Alright" |
| 2001
|Julia Anderson |Television film |
| 2002
|Stage on Screen: The Women |Nancy Blake |Television film |
| 2002–2004
|Ed |Rita Vessey |3 episodes |
| 2002, 2005
|Law & Order: Special Victims Unit |Anna Gable / Mary Ellen Lesinski |2 episodes |
| 2003
|Mrs. Ali |Episode: "Permanent Markers" |
| 2004
|Anneliese Rose |Episode: "Too Jung to Die" |
| 2005
|Ms. Perry |Episode: "The Kitchen Sink" |
| 2005
|Lynn Blaylock |Episode: "The Abominable Showman" |
| 2007
|Laura Watkins |Episode: "Sort of Like a Family" |
| 2008
|Trial Judge |Episode: "Baggage" |
| 2008
|Callie's Mother |Episode: "Ten Count" |
| 2008
|Paula Kramer |Episode: "The Cure" |
| 2011
|Karleen |2 episodes |
| 2014
|Irma |Episode: "Rocking the Boat" |
| 2015
|Mrs. Barnes |Episode: "Absconded" |
| 2015
|Louise Thompson |4 episodes |
| 2017–2022
|Darlene Snell |30 episodes |
| 2018
|Carolyn |Episode: "Part III" |
| 2019
|Maggie Brixton |Episode: "Proxy War" |
| 2019
|Linda Weller |Episode: "Everybody Hates Kathy" |
| 2023–present
|The Dama |9 episodes |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0256318}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{iobdb name|1519}}
- [https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/01/netflix-ozark-darlene-wyatt Vanity Fair, “An Ode to Ozark’s Unpredictable Villain Darlene”]
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Category:American film actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:Actresses from Pittsburgh
Category:Circle in the Square Theatre School alumni