Greta Gerwig

Greta Gerwig Headshot

Actress

Birth Date: August 4, 1983

Age: 40 years old

Birth Place: Sacramento, California

Spouses: Noah Baumbach

A uniquely soulful screen presence in numerous independent films, including many in the pared-down, character-driven "mumblecore" scene, Greta Gerwig graduated to leading roles in major independent films like "Frances Ha" (2012), as well as her own acclaimed filmmaking career with "Lady Bird" (2018) and "Little Women" (2019). Born Greta Celeste Gerwig in Sacramento, California on August 4, 1983, she and her two siblings were raised as Unitarian Universalists by their father, a loan officer at a credit union, and their mother, an OB-GYN nurse. Though interested in dance, Gerwig studied English at Barnard College, and decided to pursue a master's degree in playwriting. But after finding no purchase at MFA programs for that discipline, Gerwig turned to acting. She had already appeared in two films by seminal "mumblecore" filmmakers Joe Swanberg (2006's "LOL") and Jay and Mark Duplass (the meta-horror film "Baghead," 2008). These experiences led to her own behind-the-scenes work with Swanberg, first as co-writer on "Hannah Takes the Stars" (2007) and later, as writer-director on "Nights and Weekends" (2008), a comedy about a romantically involved couple (Gerwig and Swanberg) who must overcome the challenges of a long-distance relationship. A natural performer with a gift for embodying the anxieties and pleasures inherent in the transition from college age to adulthood, Gerwig was soon courted by mainstream adjacent filmmakers like Noam Baumbach, who cast her as the assistant to an eccentric Hollywood family in "Greenberg" (2010), and later became her significant other. Though a box office failure, "Greenberg" and her work with the mumblecore scene led to work in Hollywood features: Gerwig was part of a complex love quadrangle with Jesse Eisenberg and Ellen Page in Woody Allen's "To Rome with Love" (2012), played Natalie Portman's best friend in Ivan Reitman's "No Strings Attached" (2011) and was pursued by boyish millionaire Russell Brand in the remake of "Arthur" (2011). But Gerwig also remained connected to her indie roots through performances in Whit Stillman's "Damsels in Distress" (2011) and drew critical praise for her turns as young women in various stages of personal collapse and reconstruction in "Lola Versus" (2011) and Baumbach's "Frances Ha" (2012), which she co-wrote, and which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. After netting positive reviews for her stage debut in The Village Bike in 2014, Gerwig resumed her busy schedule of roles in independent features, including a turn as a gay woman who engages in a sexual relationship with aging actor Al Pacino in Barry Levinson's "The Humbling" (2015), a career woman whose desire to have a baby with a married man leads to complications in Rebecca Miller's "Maggie's Plan" (2015), and as the adult version of Heather Matarazzo's hapless Dawn Wiener in Todd Solondz's "Wiener-Dog" (2016), a sequel of sorts to his debut, "Welcome to the Dollhouse" (1995). After playing a photographer recovering from cancer in Mike Mills' autobiographical "20th Century Women" (2016), Gerwig wrote and directed "Lady Bird" (2017), a carefully crafted and painfully honest comedy-drama about an eclectic teenager with artistic ambitions and a challenging home life; the film earned near-universal acclaim, as well as a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, while Gerwig became the fifth woman in motion picture history to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Director. After voicing a character in Wes Anderson's animated "Isle of Dogs" (2018), Gerwig commenced on her next project as writer-director: an adaptation of "Little Women" (2019) which reunited her with her "Lady Bird" star, Saoirse Ronan. The film opened to universal acclaim on Christmas 2019.

Credits

Snow White

Screenwriter
Movie
2024

Off Script With The Hollywood Reporter

Guest
Talk
2023

BarbieStream

Director
Movie
2023
88%

BarbieStream

Executive Producer
Movie
2023
88%

BarbieStream

Screenwriter
Movie
2023
88%

White NoiseStream

Actor
Babbette
Movie
2022
64%

Little WomenStream

Director
Movie
2019
95%

Little WomenStream

Screenwriter
Movie
2019
95%

The Last Drive-in With Joe Bob BriggsStream

Actor
Reality
2018

Film 2018

Guest
Show
2018

Lady Bird Interview Special

Guest
Show
2018

Isle of Dogs

Voice
Tracy Walker
Movie
2018

L'Île aux chiens

Voice
Tracy
Movie
2018

Film4 Interview Programmes: Talking Film

Guest
Show
2017

Lady BirdStream

Director
Movie
2017
99%

Lady BirdStream

Screenwriter
Movie
2017
99%

Today's Take

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2016

Celebrity PageStream

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News
2016

Secret Talent Theatre

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2016

JackieStream

Actor
Nancy Tuckerman
Movie
2016
88%

Wiener-Dog

Actor
Dawn Wiener
Movie
2016

20th Century WomenStream

Actor
Abbie
Movie
2016
88%

The Daily Show with Trevor NoahStream

Guest
Talk
2015

The Late Show With Stephen ColbertStream

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2015

Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter

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2015

The Late Late Show With James CordenStream

Guest
Talk
2015

Mistress AmericaStream

Actor
Brooke
Movie
2015
82%

Mistress AmericaStream

Producer
Movie
2015
82%

Mistress AmericaStream

Screenwriter
Movie
2015
82%

Maggie's PlanStream

Actor
Maggie
Movie
2015
86%

Variety Studio: Actors on Actors

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2014

q

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2014

Late Night With Seth MeyersStream

Guest
Talk
2014

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonStream

Guest
Talk
2014

The Humbling

Actor
Pegeen
Movie
2014

Eden

Actor
Julia
Movie
2014

Vanity Fair's Hollywood

Guest
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2013

Entertainment Studios.TV

Actor
Show
2012

Entertainment Studios.TV

Guest
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2012

CBS This Morning

Guest
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2012

To Rome With Love

Actor
Sally
Movie
2012

Lola Versus

Actor
Lola
Movie
2012

Frances HaStream

Actor
Frances
Movie
2012
92%

Frances HaStream

Screenwriter
Movie
2012
92%

On Story

Guest
Show
2011

PortlandiaStream

Guest Star
Series
2011
94%

No Strings AttachedStream

Actor
Patrice
Movie
2011
47%

Arthur

Actor
Naomi
Movie
2011

The Dish & the Spoon

Actor
Rose
Movie
2011

Damsels in Distress

Actor
Violet Wister
Movie
2011

Access Hollywood Live

Guest
Show
2010

Art House

Actor
Nora Ohr
Movie
2010

Northern Comfort

Actor
Cassandra
Movie
2010

GreenbergStream

Actor
Florence Marr
Movie
2010
77%

ES.TV

Guest
Show
2009

The Project

Guest
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2009

Watch What Happens Live With Andy CohenStream

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Talk
2009

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

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Talk
2009

The House of the DevilStream

Actor
Megan
Movie
2009
85%

A NY Thing

Actor
Tamera
Movie
2009

The Bonnie Hunt Show

Guest
Talk
2008

Baghead

Actor
Michelle
Movie
2008

Nights and Weekends

Actor
Mattie
Movie
2008

Nights and Weekends

Director
Movie
2008

Nights and Weekends

Producer
Movie
2008

Nights and Weekends

Writer
Movie
2008

Yeast

Actor
Gen
Movie
2008

Hannah Takes the Stairs

Actor
Hannah
Movie
2007

LOL

Actor
Greta
Movie
2006

Made in Hollywood

Guest
Series
2005

Entertainment Tonight Canada

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Show
2005

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Guest
Talk
2003

Jimmy Kimmel Live!Stream

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Talk
2003

Last Call With Carson Daly

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2002

Desert Island Discs

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2001

The View

Guest
Talk
1997

Entertainers: With Byron Allen

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Show
1994

Inside the Actors Studio

Host
Talk
1994

Late Show With David Letterman

Guest
Talk
1993

CBS News Sunday Morning

Guest
News
1979

Good Morning America

Guest
News
1975

60 MinutesStream

Guest
News
1968

Today

Guest
News
1952

News aboutGreta Gerwig