Zosia Mamet

Hailing from a culturally accomplished family, Zosia Mamet first made an impact with twenty-something viewers on the critically acclaimed series "Girls" (HBO, 2012- ). She was the daughter of Lindsay Crouse and legendary Hollywood scribe David Mamet, as well as the granddaughter of Russel Crouse, the co-writer of such classic musicals as "The Sound of Music" (1965). Not surprisingly, she benefited from her family connections, appearing in many of their projects. After small roles in "Parallel Lives" (TK, 1994), "Colin Fitz Lives!" (1997) and "Spartan" (2004), Mamet notched a recurring role on the military procedural "The Unit" (CBS, 2006-09). She was cast in the juicy role of daughter Saffron on the American attempt to reimagine "Absolutely Fabulous" (BBC One, 1992-96, 2001-04, 2011- ), but the pilot never made it to series.

Mamet saw her profile rise with roles in the Oscar-nominated "The Kids Are All Right" (2010) and the indie hit "Greenberg" (2010), as well as a recurring part on "The United States of Tara" (Showtime, 2009-2011) as Courtney, the supportive-turned-controlling would-be girlfriend of Tara's (Toni Collette) gay son Marshall (Keir Gilchrist). The actress continued to demonstrate her impressive talent in recurring roles on "Parenthood" (NBC, 2010-15) as Kelsey, a privileged friend of Amber's (Mae Whitman) and on "Mad Men" (AMC, 2007-15) as Joyce Ramsey, a lesbian photo editor at Life magazine who expands Peggy's (Elisabeth Moss) horizons. She earned her highest-profile role thus far when she was cast in the Lena Dunham/Judd Apatow collaboration, "Girls" (HBO, 2012- ) as Shoshanna Shapiro, the bubbly suburban cousin of Jessa Johansson (Jemima Kirke) whose seeming naiveté about New York City life masked a surprising amount of wisdom.

By Jonathan Riggs