PATRICIA CLARKSON as Judy Nash

Academy Award nominated and Emmy winning actress, Patricia Clarkson has taken on roles as varied as the platform in which she plays them. Her comfort in taking on roles from motion pictures, television and the theatre has earned her great accolades and success, and has become one of today's most respected actresses in the entertainment industry.

Clarkson recently starred in Ira Sachs' MARRIED LIFE starring Clarkson, Chris Cooper and Pierce Brosnan. MARRIED LIFE is a romantic drama set in the 1940s about and adulterous man (Cooper) who plots his wife's (Clarkson) death instead of putting her through the humiliation of a divorce.

Prior to that, Clarkson was last seen in LARS AND THE REAL GIRL opposite Ryan Gosling and Emily Mortimer. LARS is the story of a timid man (Gosling) whose life changes dramatically when an Internet friend comes to visit. The beautiful, religious missionary is in fact an inanimate replica of a woman. Clarkson plays the doctor who is trying to help him.

This past January, Clarkson attended the Sundance Film Festival on behalf of Stanley Tucci's BLIND DATE and Daniel Banz's directorial debut PHOEBE IN WONDERLAND.

BLIND DATE centers around a couple (Tucci and Clarkson) who has suffers a tragedy and tries to rebuild their relationship by pretending to be other people by meeting on blind dates.
In PHOEBE IN WONDERLAND she stars opposite Felicity Huffman, Bill Pullman and Elle Fanning. Clarkson plays the role of an unconventional drama teacher who tries to guide a rebellious little girl (Fanning).

Next, Clarkson will be seen in ELEGY opposite Sir Ben Kingsley and Dennis Hopper premiering at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival. Directed by Isabel Coixet, the film is based on the novel by Philip Roth about a cultural critic, played by Kingsley, who's life is thrown into disarray after an encounter with a student.

Additional credits include: ALL THE KING'S MEN, GOODNIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK, THE DYING GAUL and THE WOODS, FAR FROM HEAVEN, PIECES OF APRIL, THE STATION AGENT, MIRACLE, HIGH ART, DOGVILLE, WELCOME TO COLLINWOOD, THE PLEDGE, THE GREEN MILE, EVERYBODY'S ALL-AMERICAN, THE DEAD POOL, ROCKET GIBRALTAR, TUNE IN TOMORROW, JOE GOULD'S SECRET, WENDIGO and Brian De Palma's THE UNTOUCHABLES, her film debut.

In 2003, Clarkson's work in two independent films earned her unparalleled recognition. She was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG Award, Broadcast Film Critics Award and an independent Spirit Award for her role in PIECES OF APRIL. In addition, the Sundance Film Festival awarded her the Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance in PIECES OF APRIL, THE STATION AGENT and ALL THE REAL GIRLS. Her performance in THE STATION AGENT earned her a SAG Award nomination for Best Actress and Best Ensemble Cast. The National Board of Review and the National Society of Film Critics named her Best Supporting Actress of the Year for her work in PIECES OF APRIL and THE STATION AGENT.

She also won best-supporting-actress awards from the New York Film Critics Circle and National Society of Film Critics for her performance in Todd Haynes' FAR FROM HEAVEN. That role also earned her a nomination from the Chicago Film Critics Her performance as Greta in Lisa Cholodenko's HIGH ART earned her a nomination for an IFP Independent Spirit Award.
On television, Clarkson won an Emmy in 2002 and 2006 for her guest-starring role on HBO's acclaimed drama, SIX FEET UNDER.

Clarkson made her professional acting debut on the New York stage. Her theatre credits include "Eastern Standard" (on and off-Broadway), "Maidens Prayer" (for which she received Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Award Nominations), "Raised in Captivity," "Oliver Oliver," "The House of Blue Leaves" and "Three Days of Rain." Her regional credits include performances at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, South Coast Repertory, and Yale Repertory.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Clarkson began acting in school plays in her early teens. After studying speech at Louisiana State University for two years, she transferred to Fordham University in New York, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in theatre arts. She earned her MFA at the prestigious Yale School of Drama, where she appeared in "Electra," "Pacific Overtures," "Pericles," "La Ronde," "The Lower Depths" and "The Misanthrope."
She currently lives in New York.

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