NURSE JACKIE
BIOS
EDIE FALCO
(“Jackie Peyton”)
Edie Falco became the only actress to ever receive the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Dramatic Series, the Golden Globe® Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Dramatic Television Series, and the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama, all in the same year for her performance as “Carmela Soprano” in the groundbreaking HBO series The Sopranos’ debut season. She has subsequently been nominated for each award for each eligible television season, winning two additional Emmy® Awards, another Golden Globe® Award and SAG Award as well as the American Film Institute’s Award for Female Television Actor of the Year.
When she received the Television Critics Association Award (TCA) for Individual Achievement in Drama, it was the first time in the history of the TCA that this Award was presented to a woman. She is also known to television audiences from her recurring roles in the HBO dramatic series Oz and the acclaimed NBC series Law& Order and Homicide. Falco made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award winning play Sideman, which she originated in its off-Broadway production. For her performance, she received a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play. She went on to make her London stage debut in the West End premiere of Sideman, and thereafter opened the London production of the highly successful play The Vagina Monologues. When Falco starred opposite
-2-
Stanley Tucci in the lauded revival of Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, the play broke four house box office records at Broadway’s Belasco Theatre making it the most successful play on Broadway all season. She appeared on Broadway most recently opposite Brenda Blethyn in the first revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, ‘Night, Mother. For the feature film Cost of Living, Falco received the American Film Institute’s Best Actress Award. Her performance in the film Laws of Gravity earned her an Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best Female Lead Actor. Her other film credits include A Price Above Rubies, Copland, Trouble on the Corner, Private Parts, Hurricane, Layin’ Low, Breathing Room, The Funeral, The Addiction, Bullets Over Broadway, Trust, The Unbelievable Truth, Random Hearts, and the title character in the award-winning film Judy Berlin. For her performance in John Sayles’ Sunshine State, Falco received the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and New York Film Critics Online Award for Best Supporting Actress. She can be seen in the feature films The Quiet, The Great New Wonderful, and Freedomland.
EVE BEST
(“Dr. Eliot O’Hara”)
Eve Best attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She studied English at Oxford University. Prior to studying at Oxford, she was rejected from RADA, only to be accepted by them at age 24. Best was awarded both the 1999 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama) for Most Promising Newcomer and London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her performances in ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore performed at the Young Vic Theatre. In addition, she was awarded the 2003 London Critics Award for Best Actress for her performance in Mourning Becomes Electra performed at the Royal National Theatre. Her other theater credits include Moon for the Misbegotten,Hedda Gabler, Three Sisters, Macbeth, The Heiress and The Cherry Orchard.
-3-
Her television credits include Prime Suspect, Granada, Vital Sins, the BBC’s Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Waking the Dead, ITV’s Lie With Me, BBC’s Shackleton, and HG Wells for Hallmark.
MERRITT WEVER
(“Zoey”)
Merritt Wever graduated from LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the Performing Arts. Wever has appeared in such feature films as Righteous Kill, Into the Wild, Michael Clayton, Neal Cassady, Twelve & Holding, A Hole in One, Season of Youth, Bringing Rain, Signs, Series 7 The Contenders, The Adventures of Sebastian Cole, Arresting Gena, and Tough (Best Actor Award, First Run Film Festival).
Her television credits include Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Conviction, ¼ Life, NCIS, The Wire, Law & Order, Blue River and Something the Lord Made.
Her theatre appearances are Sam & Lucy, Bad Girls, Smashing, Cave Dweller, Roulette, Cape Cod Souvenirs, To Gilian on her 37th Birthday, Running on Earth, Here We Are, and Children of the Flames.
HAAZ SLEIMAN
(“Mo-Mo”)
Haaz Sleiman stars as “Tarek” in award-winning filmmaker Thomas McCarthy’s (The Station Agent) upcoming new film, The Visitor. Both the film and Sleiman garnered critical acclaim at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival, and the movie made its American debut at Sundance '08.
-4-
In 2006, Sleiman completed the indie film AmericanEast, directed by Hesham Issawi and written by Sayed Badreya and Issawi. Sleiman co-stars in this film about a family man (Badreya) who opens a Middle Eastern restaurant with his Jewish best friend (played by Monk star and three-time Emmy®-winner Tony Shalhoub). Sleiman also co-stars in the Universal feature American Dreamz directedby Paul Weitz (American Pie, In Good Company) with Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, Marcia Gay Harden and Willem Dafoe. Other film credits include Offside: The Price of Dreams, The Ski Trip and What Goes Around. Sleiman’s television credits include a three-episode arc on Fox's Emmy®-winning series 24, Navy NCIS, Veronica Mars, ER, a recurring role for the CBS pilot Company Town and the Discovery Channel’s Battle Ground: Alexander.
On Broadway, Sleiman played an Iranian soldier in Joys of Lipstick in addition to appearing in his first short film One Second at a Time.
He currently resides in Los Angeles.
PAUL SCHULZE
(“Eddie”)
Paul Schulze was raised in New York City. The son of a Lutheran minister father
and college administrator mother, he started studying acting formally after graduating from S.U.N.Y. Purchase, and received critical acclaim in his first feature film, the Award-winning Laws of Gravity, directed by Nick Gomez. After working in various TV shows, independent features, and numerous plays, Schulze landed the role of Father Phil Intinola on HBO’s The Sopranos. His performance prompted many glowing reviews in the television critics’ circle and
-5-
opened the doors for major recurring roles on 24 and Journeyman, among other guest roles on such acclaimed series as The West Wing, Mad Men, The Closer, and Boston Legal. Schulze also continued to work steadily in film, appearing in Rambo, Zodiac and Panic Room.
He currently resides in Los Angeles.
PETER FACINELLI
(“Dr. Fitch Cooper”)
Peter Facinelli recently starred in the hit feature film, Twilight, for Summit Entertainment. This highly touted project was the first adaptation of Stephanie Miller’s #1 New York Times bestselling series about a young woman who falls madly in love with a vampire. Facinelli plays the coveted role of Carlisle Cullen, the patriarch of the Cullen clan.
Facinelli was recently featured in a recurring role on Damages, a legal thriller for FX starring Glenn Close. He also starred opposite Matthew Broderick and Brittany Snow in the dramedy Finding Amanda which premiered at The Tribeca Film Festival.
His appeal is undeniable and was displayed in his starring role in Fox’s sexy one-hour drama Fastlanecreated by McG,and also in hisrecurring role on the HBO series Six Feet Under as a popular and promising art student who became involved with Lauren Ambrose’s character.
Facinelli appeared in a number of feature films including Universal’s The Scorpion King starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, and Sony’s Riding in Cars with Boys, starring Drew Barrymore and directed by Penny Marshall.
-6-
He received rave reviews for his performance opposite Kevin Spacey and Danny De Vito in Lionsgate’s The Big Kahuna, which debuted at the 1999 Toronto and Sundance Film Festivals.
Additional credits include a starring role in Walter Hills’ sci-fi thriller Supernova with James Spader and Angela Bassett. Facinelli also appeared in Can’t Hardly Wait alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt, in Foxfire opposite Angelina Jolie and in Texas Pop.81 with Breckin Meyer.
Born and raised in New York, Facinelli attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He worked as an actor there until his role in the television film After Jimmy brought him to Los Angeles.
DOMINIC FUMUSA
(“Kevin Peyton”)
Dominic Fumusa recently starred in Stephen Belber's hit play Fault Lines directed by David Schwimmer at the Cherry Lane Theater. In New York and in London, Fumusaoriginated the role of 'Toddy Koovitz' in Richard Greenberg's Tony-winning Take Me Out directed by Joe Mantello. In New York, London, and Los Angeles, he created the character of 'Vince' (a role that was specifically written for him) in Stephen Belber's Tape. Fumusa made his Broadway debut opposite Marisa Tomei and Quentin Tarantino in Wait Until Dark. Other Broadway credits include A Flea in Her Ear at the Roundabout Theater Company. In addition, he portrayed ‘Mitch Albom’ in a six-month, twelve-city national tour of Tuesdays with Morrieopposite Harold Gould. Regional credits include plays at the Guthrie, Huntington, Kennedy Center, Actors Theater of Louisville, Williamstown, NY Stage & Film, the Stratford Festival of Canada, and Chicago Shakespeare.
-7-
Fumusa's television credits include Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Brotherhood,Kings, NYPD Blue, Hack, Numb3rs, Threshold, Bones and appearances on Law & Order and CSI.
His feature film credits include the soon-to-be-releasedManagement, Staten Island, This is a Story about Ted and Alice, (2008 Cannes),Dealbreaker directed and written by Gwyneth Paltrow, Grilled(opposite Burt Reynolds), The Guru, and Chloe’s Prayer.
Fumusa lives in Brooklyn with his wife, the actress/producer Ilana Levine, and their two children, Georgia, 5, and Caleb, 2.
ANNA DEAVERE SMITH
(“Mrs. Akalitus”)
Anna Deavere Smith has performed in film and television as well as on stage. She is probably most recognizable in popular culture as Nancy McNally, the National Security Advisor on NBC's hit, The West Wing. However, it is Smith's work in the theater that has been her intellectual focus.
Smith performed Twilight in Los Angeles around the US and on Broadway. It received two Tony®-nominations, an Obie, a Drama Desk Award, a Special Citation from the New York Drama Critics, and numerous other honors. President and Mrs. Clinton and Vice President Al Gore attended her Washington, D.C. performance. She produced, wrote and performed the movie version of Twilight for PBS.
Another of her plays, Fires in the Mirror, examined a race riot that occurred in Crown Heights, Brooklyn (1991) when age old racial tensions between Black and Jewish neighbors exploded. It received an Obie Award, numerous other awards and wasa runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize. She performed the play around the
-8-
U.S,, in London and Australia. The film version of Fires in the Mirrorwas also broadcast on PBS.
Smith is currently developing a new play in the On The Road series called Let Me Down Easy. The subject is the resilience and vulnerability of the human body. This play was inspired by work she did at the Yale School of Medicine where she was Visiting Professor.
Smith has been featured in several films including The American President, where she played the Press Secretary to Michael Douglas's President. She was featured inRobert Benton's film,The Human Stain. In addition, she appeared in Dave and Rent.She was a regular on the CBS series Presidio Med, and had a recurring role on The Practice. She just completed work on Dancing With Shiva, a new film by Jonathan Demme, starring Anne Hathaway.
In 2007, Americans for the Arts presented her with the Kitty Carlisle Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts. Smith also received the Mayor's Award for Art and Culture by the Mayor of New York City in 2007. She was the recipient of the Alphonse Fletcher Fellowship in 2006. The fellowship recognizes work by scholars, writers, and artists who addressand carry out the broad social goals of the Brown v. Board Supreme Court decision of 1954. She was twice nominated for the NAACP Image Award. She received the prestigious New York Women in Communication's Matrix Award for her remarkable achievements and outstanding leadership roles in her field in Spring 2008.
PRODUCTION BIOS
LIZ BRIXIUS & LINDA WALLEM
(Executive Producers/Writers)
Liz Brixius and Linda Wallem began writing together in 2005. Wallem grew up in Rockford, Illinois, studied theater at the University of Minnesota and is a graduate
-9-
of the Helen Olsen School of Jazz, Tap and Ballet. She began her career as an actress in both television and feature film, before becoming a writer on television’s Cybill, That 70’s Show, and The Comeback. Liz Brixius grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and began her writing career as a poetry teacher at the University of Massachusetts after a successful tour of rehabs in the Midwest.
Eventually, she began writing for feature films and television. She assembles model boats in her spare time. Both women have outstanding parking tickets in many states, and share a love of stamps.
JOHN MELFI
(Executive Producer)
John Melfi most recently served as producer on the Sex and the City movie. Prior to that, he was executive producer on HBO’s acclaimed drama Rome, as well as on the network’s comedy series starring Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback. As producer of HBO's hit comedy series, Sex and the City, Melfi was awarded the Emmy® for Best Comedy Series in 2001 and the Golden Globe® Award for Outstanding Comedy Series for three consecutive years – in 2000, 2001 and 2002. He was also awarded the Producers Guild Award for three seasons.
Prior to Sex and the City, Melfi’s work as a producer for HBO included the miniseries Laurel Avenue (1992), Grand Avenue (1996) and From the Earth to the Moon (1998), which was honored with the Emmy®, Golden Globe® and Producers Guild Awards for outstanding miniseries. Melfi’s other producing credits include the NBC series Earth 22 (Amblin / Universal TV); Midnight Run (Universal TV — a series of two-hour television movies based on the feature); On the Make (feature, Taurus Entertainment); Rage and Honor II (feature, I.R.S. Media - Columbia/TriStar) and December (feature, I.R.S. Media - Columbia / TriStar).
-10-
Other production credits include Tales Of The City – Part One (Channel Four / Working Title) and One False Move (feature, I.R.S. Media - Columbia / TriStar), as well as many other films, television movies, and commercials.
Melfi began his career as a stage manager in New York City in 1982, where he worked on over forty plays and musicals.
CARYN MANDABACH
(Executive Producer)
Caryn Mandabach has developed and produced more than 1,500 half-hours of television comedy of the highest quality. Her first effort, the critically acclaimed and enormously successful The Cosby Show, ran for eight seasons. Subsequent hits, including A Different World, Roseanne, Cybill,Third Rock from the Sun and That ‘70s Show, among others, created well over a billion dollars in value for what eventually became the Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Company (CWM). In 2000, CWM, with Oprah Winfrey and Geraldine Laybourne, financed and created the Oxygen Network.
Mandabach has won numerous awards, including the Emmy, the Humanitas, The People's Choice, the Rose D'Or and the Peabody. She has been a keynote speaker at the Edinburgh Television Festival, and has been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by The Producers Guild.
RICHIE JACKSON
(Co-Executive Producer)
Richie Jackson is the president of Jackson Group Entertainment, a production and management firm. Recent producing projects include the Broadway musical A Catered Affair (Best Musical, Drama League Award)written by Harvey
-11-
Fierstein and John Bucchino, directed by John Doyle, and the film Shortbus, written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell.
Jackson is an adjunct faculty member of his alma mater, NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
STEVE BUSCEMI
(Director)
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Steve Buscemi began to show an interest in drama while in his last year of high school. Soon after, he moved to Manhattan to study acting with John Strasberg. There he and a fellow actor/writer Mark Boone Junior began writing and performing their own theatre pieces in performance spaces and downtown theatres. This soon led to Steve being cast in his first lead role in Bill Sherwood's Parting Glances as a musician with AIDS.