A Career Retrospective Conversation with Amy Ryan, currently starring in Lost Girls. Moderated by Mara Webster.

Amy Ryan is an Academy Award nominated actress, well-known for her work on the big and small screen, as well as her Tony-nominated work on stage.

Ryan will next be seen in the Netflix Independent film, LOST GIRLS, which premiered at Sundance in January 2020 to critical acclaim. The Liz Garbus-directed film recounts a true story of the “Craigslist Killer,” who used the waterfront roadside on Long Island's South Shore as the dumping ground for his victims. Amy Ryan stars as ‘Mari Gilbert’ who tries to uncover what happened to her daughter following her sudden disappearance. LOST GIRLS will officially premiere on March 13, 2020.

Amy Ryan also starred in a second film premiere at Sundance this year; WORTH, starring opposite Michael Keaton and Stanley Tucci. Keaton and Ryan play famed attorneys Ken Feinberg and Camille Biros who oversaw the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund.

Additional past film credits include the critically-acclaimed Amazon film, BEAUTIFUL BOY, opposite Steve Carrell, Timothée Chalamet and Maura Tierney and directed by Felix van Groeningen. She was also seen in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Oscar®-winning BIRDMAN, for which she received the 2015 SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in A Motion Picture, STRANGE BUT TRUE, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE, LOUDER THAN BOMBS, Steven Spielberg's BRIDGE OF SPIES, GOOSEBUMPS, DON VERDEAN, and ABUNDANT ACREAGE AVAILABLE.

Ryan is perhaps best known on the big screen for her performance in Ben Affleck’s GONE BABY GONE, for which she was recognized with Academy Award, Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress. She also won numerous Best Supporting Actress awards for this role, including those from the National Board of Review, the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the New York Film Critics Circle and the L.A. Film Critics.

Her other film credits include LATE NIGHT opposite Mindy Kaling, Emma Thompson and Reid Scott, BREATHE IN with Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones, CLEAR HISTORY directed by Greg Mottola and co-starring with Larry David, DEVIL’S KNOT directed by Atom Egoyan and co-starring with Colin Firth, Tom McCarthy's WIN WIN, MOSTER TRUCKS, THE INFILTRATOR, ESCAPE PLAN, BOB FUNK, THE MISSING PERSON, GREEN ZONE, JACK GOES BOATING, CHANGELING, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD, CAPOTE, DAN IN REAL LIFE, WAR OF THE WORLDS, KEANE, and YOU CAN COUNT ON ME.

Amy is also widely acclaimed for her work on the small screen, including her memorable portrayals as Holly Flax on THE OFFICE, Adele on IN TREATMENT and Officer Beatrice ‘Beadie’ Russell on THE WIRE.

Additional television credits for Ryan include HIGH MAITENANCE, ROBOT CHICKEN, BROAD CITY, CLEAR HISTORY, MILDRED PIERCE, KIDNAPPED, LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT, M.O.N.Y., AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, LAW & ORDER, THIRD WATCH, HACK, BASEBALL WIVES, 100 CENTRE STREET, LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET, THE NAKED TRUTH, ER, and I’LL FLY AWAY.

On stage, Amy Ryan had her Broadway debut in Wendy Wasserstein’s The Sisters Rosensweig. She received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her work in the 2000 production of Uncle Vanya, and she received her second Tony nod for her portrayal of ‘Stella’ in A Streetcar Named Desire. Ryan has also appeared in London’s West End during Neil LaBute’s The Distance From Here and Lisa D’Amour’s critically-acclaimed play Detroit, directed by Anne Kauffman at Playwrights Horizons.

0:00 - Intro
1:23 - Lessons From High School of Performing Hearts
2:11 - Early Career
3:45 - Guest Starring on Television
4:49 - Creatively Fulfilling Jobs
6:08 - 100 Centre Street (2001 - 2002)
8:30 - A Streetcar Named Desire (2005)
11:27 - Capote (2005)
15:58 - Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)
18:32 - Clint Eastwood and Changeling (2008)
22:11 - Ben Affleck and Gone, Baby, Gone (2007)
28:10 - Career After Oscar Nomination
32:14 - The Office (2005-2013)
38:12 - In Treatment (2010)
41:47 - Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jack Goes Boating (2010)
49:10 - The Green Zone (2010)
55:43 - Win Win (2011)
1:00:03 - Breathe In (2013)
1:04:31 - Birdman (2014)
1:08:15 - Bridge of Spies (2015)
1:12:00 - Abundant Acreage Available (2017)
1:13:57 - Worth (2020)
1:18:01 - Lost Girls (2020)
1:24:16 - Advice For Actors
1:27:36 - Most challenging role
1:28:20 - Trusting there will be a next job
1:30:05 - Observing other actors
1:31:53 - Outro