Renée Elise Goldsberry | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Goldsberry at the 2025New York Film Festival | |
| Born | (1971-01-02)January 2, 1971 (age 54) San Jose, California, U.S. |
| Education | Carnegie Mellon University(BFA) University of Southern California(MM) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1997–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Renée Elise Goldsberry (born January 2, 1971)[1] is an American actress and singer. Known for her roles on stage and screen she has received aTony Award, aDrama Desk Award, and aGrammy Award as well as a nomination for aPrimetime Emmy Award.
She gained stardom and acclaim for originating the role ofAngelica Schuyler in the originalBroadway production of theLin-Manuel Miranda musicalHamilton (2015–2016), for which she won theTony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and theGrammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. For her performance as Silvia inThe Public Theatre revival of theWilliam Shakespeare playThe Two Gentlemen of Verona (2005) she was nominated for theDrama Desk Award for Distinguished Performance. Her other Broadway credits include Mimi Marquez inRent (1996), Nettie Harris in the original cast ofThe Color Purple (2005), and Kate in theDavid Lindsay-Abaire playGood People (2011).
On television, she portrayedEvangeline Williamson onOne Life to Live, for which she received two nominations for theDaytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She also played Geneva Pine on theCBS legal dramaThe Good Wife (2010–2016), Wickie Roy in thePeacock/Netflix musical comedy seriesGirls5eva (2021–2024), andMallory Book in theDisney+ superhero miniseriesShe-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022).[2] At the73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, she was nominated for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for reprising her role in theDisney+live stage recording ofHamilton, which was released in 2020.
Goldsberry was born inSan Jose, California[3][4] and raised in bothHouston, Texas andDetroit, Michigan.[5] She is the daughter of Betty Sanders, anindustrial psychologist, and her father was an automotive industry executive in Michigan.[6][7] Goldsberry has one older brother and two younger brothers.[7] Goldsberry was introduced to theater in summer camp when she was 8 years old. Renée's younger brother was shy, and their mother enrolled both of them in camp at theHITS Theatre in Houston taught by Carolyn Franklin.[6]
After graduating fromCranbrook Kingswood School inBloomfield Hills, Michigan, she attendedCarnegie Mellon University, where she graduated with aBachelor of Fine Arts in theater, in 1993. This is also where she became a member ofDelta Sigma Theta sorority through the Theta Beta chapter.[8][9] She subsequently attended graduate school at theUniversity of Southern California'sThornton School of Music, where she received aMaster of Music injazz studies, graduating in 1997.[10]
Between 1997 and 2002, Goldsberry had a recurring role on theFox legal comedy-dramaAlly McBeal, as one of the backup singers who frequently accompaniedVonda Shepard's performances. She appeared in a total of 43 episodes prior to the series' cancellation. Goldsberry was in the cast of the United States national tour ofDreamgirls (1997) and played a replacement Nala in theBroadway production ofThe Lion King (2002),[11] Goldsberry has had a lengthy singing and songwriting career, co-writing and performing more than half the soundtrack to the 2001 filmAll About You, including the title song. She was also the grand prize winner of the 1997 John Lennon Songwriting Contest for her rock music. Goldsberry wrote and recorded an album titledEverything But the Kitchen Sink (2001) and an EP titledBeautiful (2006). She was nominated for aDrama League Award for Distinguished Performance, and won aNew York magazine Best of 2005 Award, for her performance as Sylvia in the 2005Shakespeare in the Park revival ofTwo Gentlemen of Verona.[11] Goldsberry later originated the role of Nettie Harris inThe Color Purple, the Broadway musical adaptation of thePulitzer Prize-winning1982 novel of the same name.[11] She starred in the production from November 2005 to January 2006.
Goldsberry also carried the role over into a three-episode guest appearance on the spin-off seriesAlly. In 2001, Goldsberry had the lead role of Nicole Taylor in the romantic comedyAll About You, for which her performance was praised. She also portrayed Drea Smalls in the 2008 action filmPistol Whipped. Goldsberry portrayed attorneyEvangeline Williamson on theABC soap operaOne Life to Live from 2003 until 2007. She was nominated for anNAACP Image Award in 2004 for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series and won aSoap Opera Digest Award in 2005 with co-starsMichael Easton andMelissa Archer. Goldsberry was nominated for theDaytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in both2006 and2007 for the role.[11]
Goldsberry returned to the Off-Broadway stage inThe Baker's Wife in 2007, before taking over the role of Mimi Márquez in the Broadway musicalRent, making her the final actress to play the role on Broadway.[11]Rent's last performance was filmed and made into a DVD,Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway, which also aired as a television film. In 2011, she was nominated for anOuter Critics Circle Award for her portrayal of Kate Dillon in the Broadway production ofDavid Lindsay-Abaire's playGood People.[12] She went on to appear in off-Broadway productions ofLove's Labour's Lost andAs You Like It, and appeared inI'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road atEncores!. After she leftOne Life to Live, Goldsberry held a recurring role as assistant state attorney Geneva Pine on theCBS political dramaThe Good Wife, appearing in 23 episodes between 2010 and the series' end in 2016.[13]
Goldsberry originated the role ofAngelica Schuyler inLin-Manuel Miranda created historical musicalHamilton,[14] playing her last performance in the role on September 3, 2016.[15] In the musical she acted opposite Miranda,Leslie Odom Jr.,Phillipa Soo,Daveed Diggs,Jonathan Groff andAnthony Ramos. Marilyn Stasio ofVariety praised her performance writing that she gave the role "unexpected depth".[16] Leah Greenblatt ofEntertainment Weekly wrote that Soo and Goldsberry "bring both fierceness and fragility to keenly drawn supporting roles".[17] In the production she gained notoriety for singing "Satisfied" a song about the unrequited love she has for Alexander Hamilton following the number "Helpless" which details the engagement and marriage between her sister Eliza (Soo) and Hamilton. Mark Kennedy ofAssociated Press praised her performance writing, "'Satisfied' is aRashomon love moment led by a glorious Goldsberry."[18] She performed "The Schuyler Sisters" alongsidePhillipa Soo andJasmine Cephas Jones at theWhite House in 2016.[19]
For her work in the production, she won a 2015Drama Desk Award, theLucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, and the 2016Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In addition, as a member of the principal cast, she also received aGrammy Award after the original cast album wonBest Musical Theater Album at the2016 Grammy Awards.[20] In October 2015, she appeared at theBET Hip Hop Awards, where she was one of two women to rap in the Cypher.[21] During this time she had small supporting roles as Cynthia Barnes in the crime dramaEvery Secret Thing (2014) and Kim in the comedySisters (2015). Goldsberry then played thetitle role in theHBOtelevision film adaptation ofRebecca Skloot's nonfiction work,The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.[22] The production earned a nomination for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.[23]
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In 2018, she appeared in theNetflix science fiction seriesAltered Carbon asQuellcrist Falconer, and reprised the role in season 2.[24] She also performed theJohnny Cash song "Ain't No Grave" for the end credits to the final episode. That same year she took a supporting role in the fantasy comedyThe House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018), acting oppositeCate Blanchett andJack Black.[25] The following year, she then took a supporting role in theA24 psychological dramaWaves (2019) acting opposite her co-starSterling K. Brown. The film which debuted at theTelluride Film Festival received positive reviews. Sheri Linden ofThe Hollywood Reporter described her performance as "quietly imposing" adding, She dishes out the parental tough love...but always with an eye toward smoothing things over."[26]
That same year she took the role as Dee Dee, a backup singer in the IFCmockumentary seriesDocumentary Now! episode "Original Cast Album: Co-Op" (2019). The episode spoofs theD. A. Pennebaker documentaryOriginal Cast Album: Company about the recording sessions for the original cast recording of theStephen Sondheim musicalCompany (1970). She acted oppositeAlex Brightman,Taran Killam,Paula Pell, andRichard Kind.[27] During this time Goldsberry made guest appearances on series such asEvil (2019 TV series from the same creators ofThe Good Wife),Star Trek: Enterprise,Royal Pains,Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,Younger,Masters of Sex, andThat '80s Show.
She was nominated for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for the filmed recording ofHamilton in 2016 which was released onDisney+ in 2020. Alissa Wilkinson ofVox praised the staging and direction of the Disney+ taping as well as her performance writing writing that "Goldsberry’s rapid-fire flow as Angelica Schuyler, mixed with her sideways glances and obvious pain in longing for Alexander" are "emotions you can see in the film far better than you can from the back row of the Richard Rodgers Theatre"[28] The following year she had a cameo appearance with herHamilton co-starPhillipa Soo as well as Broadway legendsBernadette Peters,Andre de Shields,Bebe Neuwirth,Chita Rivera, andJoel Grey in theLin-Manuel Miranda directed biographical musical filmTick, Tick... Boom! based on theJonathan Larson musical of the same name.[29]
From 2021 to 2024, Goldsberry starred in theNetflix musical comedy seriesGirls5eva playing the role of Wickie Roy, a member of a one-hit wonder early 2000's girl band group Girls5eva.Girls5eva chronicles their reunion and attempts to reignite their stardom. The series premiered on May 6, 2021, on thePeacock. Goldsberry starred oppositeSara Bareilles,Paula Pell, andBusy Philipps. For her performance she earned two nominations for theCritics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series. Reviewing the third season, Saloni Gajjar ofThe A.V. Club called Goldsberry the show's scene-stealer and MVP, writing, "It shouldn’t be this easy to root for a selfish Wickie, who spins things out of control by being extra, but Goldsberry pulls off that feat".[30]
In 2022, she portrayedMallory Book in theDisney+ superhero miniseriesShe-Hulk: Attorney at Law and voiced Roxy in theDisney Junior animated seriesEureka.[31] The next year she returned to the stage playingProspero in a musical adaptation ofThe Tempest as part of the 2023 season ofShakespeare in the Park.[32] Annie Levin ofThe Observer wrote, "Goldsberry, radiant with health, flies about the stage singing and dancing, wins a great victory over her enemies and has her dukedom returned to her. She does not pretend to be the elderly Prospero". She added "this veryDisney production lacks that kind of subtlety, as does Goldsberry’s delivery."[33] In 2024, she debuted the documentary,Satisfied, about her life and career.[34] The film premiered at theTribeca Film Festival in 2024.[35]
In 2002, Goldsberry married New York attorney Alexis Johnson.[5] In May 2009, she gave birth to their first child, a son named Benjamin Johnson. In 2014, she and her husband adopted a second child, a daughter from Africa named Brielle.[36]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Palco & Hirsch | Jessica | |
| All About You | Nicole Taylor | Also composer and lyricist | |
| 2002 | Turnaround | Rachel | |
| 2008 | Pistol Whipped | Drea Smalls | |
| 2009 | Jump the Broom: A Musical | Ayana | Short film |
| 2014 | Every Secret Thing | Cynthia Barnes | |
| 2015 | Sisters | Kim | |
| 2018 | The House with a Clock in Its Walls | Selena Izard | |
| 2019 | Waves | Catherine | |
| 2020 | Hamilton | Angelica Schuyler | Filmed recording of 2016 Broadway musical |
| 2021 | Tick, Tick... Boom! | "Sunday" Legend | |
| 2022 | Anything's Possible | Selene | |
| 2024 | Albany Road | Celeste Simmons | |
| Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation | Colleen Voyd (voice) | [37] | |
| 2025 | A House of Dynamite | First Lady of the United States |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–2002 | Ally McBeal | Singer | 43 episodes |
| 1999 | Ally | 3 episodes | |
| 2002 | Providence | Clare | Episode: "The Start of Something Big" |
| Any Day Now | Beverly Morris | Episode: "The Real Thing" | |
| That '80s Show | Spokesmodel #2 | Episode: "Road Trip" | |
| Star Trek: Enterprise | Crewman Kelly | Episode: "Vox Sola" | |
| One on One | Paulette | Episode: "Fatal Attractions" | |
| 2003–2007 | One Life to Live | Evangeline Williamson | 272 episodes |
| 2008 | The Return of Jezebel James | Paget Kaufman | 2 episodes |
| Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway | Mimi Marquez | TV film | |
| Life on Mars | Denise Watkins | Episode: "Things to Do in New York When You Think You're Dead" | |
| 2010 | Royal Pains | Mrs. Phillips | Episode: "Big Whoop" |
| White Collar | Ellen Samuel | Episode: "Company Man" | |
| 2010–2016 | The Good Wife | Geneva Pine | 23 episodes |
| 2013 | The Following | Olivia Warren | 3 episodes |
| Save Me | Mary | Episode: "The Book of Beth" | |
| 2013–2014 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Defense Attorney Martha Marron | 3 episodes |
| 2014 | Masters of Sex | Morgan Hogue | Episode: "Blackbird" |
| 2015 | Younger | Courtney Ostin | Episode: "Hedonism" |
| 2016 | I Shudder | Lucy Wainscott | TV film |
| 2017 | The Get Down | Misty Holloway | Episode: "Gamble Everything" |
| The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Henrietta Lacks | TV film | |
| 2018–2019 | The Lion Guard | Dhahabu (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2018–2020 | Altered Carbon | Quellcrist Falconer | Series regular |
| 2019 | Documentary Now! | Dee Dee | Episode: "Original Cast Album: Co-Op" |
| 2019–2021 | Evil | Renée Harris | 3 episodes |
| Fast & Furious: Spy Racers | Ms. Nowhere (voice) | Main role | |
| 2020 | Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist | Ava Price | 3 episodes |
| Dragons: Rescue Riders: Secrets of the Songwing | Melodia (voice) | TV special | |
| 2021 | Centaurworld | Waterbaby (voice) | 7 episodes |
| 2021–24 | Girls5eva | Wickie Roy | Main role |
| 2022 | She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Mallory Book | Main role; 5 episodes |
| 2022–2023 | Eureka! | Roxy (voice) | Main role |
| 2024 | Clone High | Sandra Sandria (voice) | Episode: "Cloney Island: Twist!" |
| 2025 | Everybody's Live with John Mulaney | Mrs. T | Episode: "Is Uber Good?" |
| Year | Title | Role | Location | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Dreamgirls | Michelle Morris | — | National Tour |
| 2002 | The Lion King | Nala | New Amsterdam Theatre | Broadway |
| 2005 | Two Gentlemen of Verona | Silvia | Delacorte Theater | Off-Broadway |
| 2005–2006 | The Color Purple | Nettie Harris | Broadway Theatre | Broadway |
| 2007 | The Baker's Wife | Genevieve Castagnet | York Theatre | Off-Broadway |
| 2008 | Rent | Mimi Márquez | Nederlander Theatre | Broadway |
| 2011 | Good People | Kate Dillon | Samuel J. Friedman Theatre | |
| Love's Labour's Lost | Princess of France | The Public Theater | Off-Broadway | |
| 2012 | As You Like It | Celia | Delacorte Theater | |
| 2013 | I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road | Heather Jones | New York City Center | Encores! concert |
| 2014 | Hamilton | Angelica Schuyler | The 52nd Street Project | Workshop |
| 2015 | The Public Theater | Off-Broadway | ||
| 2015–2016 | Richard Rodgers Theatre | Broadway | ||
| 2023 | The Tempest | Prospero | Delacorte Theatre | Central Park |
| 2025 | All In: Comedy About Love | Performer | Hudson Theatre | Broadway |
Jan. 2, the second day of 2018... Birthdays... Actress Renee Elise Goldsberry is 47.
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