Molly Parker Biography

Molly Parker (born June 30, 1972) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles in independent films, and for her roles in television as House Majority Whip Jacqueline Sharp on the Netflix Original Series House of Cards, for which she earned an emmy nomination and as Alma Garret on the HBO series Deadwood. She won a Genie Award in 1997 as Best Actress in a Leading Role for Kissed, was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award as best female lead in 2001 for her role in The Center of the World, and has twice been nominated for a Genie Award as best supporting actress (she won in 2002 for Last Wedding).

Early life

Parker was born in Maple Ridge, British Columbia and spent her childhood on a farm in Pitt Meadows. She attended ballet classes from ages 3 to 17 but began acting in local productions at age 14. Her uncle's agent represented her early in her career, when she had parts in various Canadian television roles before studying with Vancouver's Gastown Actors' Studio.

Career

Parker portrayed Alice Ramsey in "The Wrath of Kali" (1995), a fourth season episode of Highlander: The Series. Her breakthrough role was as the daughter of a lesbian military officer in the TV movie Serving in Silence (1995). She then won a Gemini nomination for her performance in the TV movie Paris or Somewhere and later, the Genie Award for best actress for playing a necrophiliac in Lynne Stopkewich's film Kissed (1996).

Parker is known for taking on controversial roles, such as her aforementioned performance in Kissed, as a sympathetic lap dancer and paid escort in The Center of the World (2001), and a female rabbi in Six Feet Under. From 2004-06 she started on HBO's Deadwood.

In 2008, she starred in the CBS show Swingtown. She filmed a pilot for a series called The Wonderful Maladys, but the series was not picked up, and in 2010, she starred in the video for "Cold Love" by Tim Kasher.

In 2012, Parker joined the cast of the television series The Firm, based on John Grisham's eponymous 1991 novel and its 1993 film adaptation; she portrayed Abby McDeere, wife of Mitch McDeere (portrayed by Josh Lucas). She also made several appearances on the sixth season of the Showtime series Dexter.

In 2014, she appeared as Congresswoman Jacqueline Sharp in the second season of the Netflix series House of Cards. Parker continued in the role in seasons 3 and 4, released on Netflix in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Her most recent project contains a role alongside Jamie Dornan, Sarah Gadon, and Aaron Paul in Miramax's upcoming supernatural thriller The 9th Life of Louis Drax (2016), which started shooting principal photography on Monday, October 27, 2014.

In 2018, she will appear as Maureen Robinson in Lost in Space, the Netflix remake of the 1965 TV series.

Personal life

Parker is divorced from director, writer, and producer Matt Bissonnette. They have a son.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Hate Mail	Maggie	Short film
1993	Just One of the Girls	Lynne	Video
1995	Last of the Dogmen	nurse	Film
1996	Hard Core Logo	Jenifur
1996	Kissed	Sandra Larson
1996	'	Mathilde	Short film
1997	Bliss	Connie
1998	Under Heaven	Cynthia
1998	From Morning on I Waited Yesterday	Lina	Short film
1999	Wonderland	Molly
1999	'	Anna Miller
1999	Sunshine	Hannah Whippler
1999	'	Daisy
1999	Ladies Room	Julia
2000	Waking the Dead	Juliet Beck
2000	Suspicious River	Leila Murray
2001	The War Bride	Sylvia
2001	'	Florence
2001	Last Wedding	Sarah
2001	Rare Birds	Alice
2002	Men with Brooms	Amy Foley
2002	Looking for Leonard	Monica
2002	Marion Bridge	Agnes
2002	Max	Nina Rothman
2002	Pure	Mel
2004	'	Madeline Finney
2005	Nine Lives	Lisa
2005	Break a Leg	Kate
2006	'	Sister Rose / Sister Thorn
2006	Hollywoodland	Laurie Simo
2006	Who Loves the Sun	Maggie Claire
2009	The Road	Motherly Woman
2010	Trigger	Kat
2010	Oliver Sherman	Irene Page
2011	That's What I Am	Sherri Nichol
2012	'	Donna Cantwell
2013	Hold Fast	Aunt Ellen
2015	'		Post-production
2015	Darwin	Lillian	Post-production
2016	American Pastoral	Dr. Sheila Smith	Filming
2016	Weirdos

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	My Son Johnny	Lori Spoda	TV film
1991	Neon Rider	Dora 'Susie' Brody	Episode: "Parent's Day"
1992	Neon Rider	Kate	Episode: "The Good, the Bad, and Eleanor"
1992	Nightmare Cafe	Ivy	Episode: "Fay & Ivy"
1993	Madison	Karen	Episode: "Tough Cries"
1993	'	Courtney	TV film
1994	One More Mountain	Eliza Williams	TV film
1994	Neon Rider	Gloria Miller	Episode: "St. Vincent"
1994	Paris or Somewhere	Peg Kennedy	TV film
1995	'	Teri Sinclair	Episode: "Pilot"
1995	Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story	Lynette	TV film
1995	Freefall: Flight 174	Norma Sax	TV film
1995	'	Sue	TV film
1995	'	Jennifer	Episode: "If These Walls Could Talk"
1995	Deceived by Trust: A Moment of Truth Movie	Rachel Morton	TV film
1995	Highlander: The Series	Alice Ramsey	Episode: "The Wrath of Kali"
1995	Ebbie	Francine 'Frannie'	TV film
1996	'	The Switchman	Episode: "The Switchman"
1996	Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years	Frances Phillips	Episodes: "Betrayal", "When She Was Good"
1996	Poltergeist: The Legacy	Liz Barrow	Episode: "Do Not Go Gently"
1996	Titanic	Lulu Foley	TV miniseries
1997	Contagious	Flt. Att. Stephanie	TV film
1997	Intensity	Chyna Shepherd	TV film
1998-2000	Twitch City	Hope	Main role (13 episodes)
2002	Six Feet Under	Rabbi Ari	Episodes: "Back to the Garden", "The Liar and the Whore"
2004	Iron Jawed Angels	Emily Leighton	TV film
2004-2006	Deadwood	Alma Garret	Main role (36 episodes)
2006	Odd Job Jack	Alberta Malone (voice)	Episode: "Jack Ryder and the Fountain of Life"
2008	Swingtown	Susan Miller	Main role (13 episodes)
2009	Party Down	Melinda Weintraub	Episode: "James Rolf High School 20th Reunion"
2010	Human Target	Rebecca Brooks	Episode: "The Wife's Tale"
2010	Shattered	Ella Sullivan	Main role
2010	'	Mary Malady	Unsold TV pilot
2010	'	Rebecca Quinn-Adatto	TV film
2011	Gone	Amy Kettering	TV film
2011	Dexter	Lisa Marshall	(4 episodes)
2011	Meet Jane	Jane Bilinski
2012	Hemingway & Gellhorn	Pauline Hemingway	TV film
2012	'	Abby McDeere	Main role (22 episodes)
2013	Motive	Chloe Myton	Episode: "Public Enemy"
2013	Pete's Christmas	Dr. Pamela Kidder	TV film
2014	Outlaw Prophet: Warren Jeffs	Janine Jeffs	TV film
2014-	House of Cards	Jackie Sharp	Regular role (24 episodes) Nominated - "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series"
2015	Heritage Minutes	Narrator	Voice role
2018	Lost in Space	Maureen Robinson	Main role