Cara Buono Biography

Cara Buono (born March 1, 1974 or 1971 sources say) is an American actress, screenwriter and director best known for her roles as Dr. Faye Miller in the fourth season of the AMC drama series Mad Men, Kelli Moltisanti in the sixth season of The Sopranos, Linda Salvo in the 2006 comedy Artie Lange's Beer League, and Karen Wheeler in the 2016 horror sci-fi Netflix original series Stranger Things. She has appeared in such films as Hulk (2003) and Let Me In (2010).

Early life

Buono was born and raised in The Bronx, New York City, New York, in a blue-collar family with two brothers and a sister. She is of Italian descent.

Buono attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School and is a 1995 graduate of Columbia University with a double major in English and political science. She earned her degree in three years. She made her acting debut in Harvey Fierstein's play Spook House.

Career

Buono continued stage work both on Broadway and Off Broadway, and started her film career opposite Ethan Hawke and Jeremy Irons in Waterland (1992). Much of her work has been in indie films such as Chutney Popcorn (1999), Happy Accidents (2000), Next Stop Wonderland (1998) and Two Ninas (1999), which she co-produced. In 1999, she played a small role as a young Gerry Cummins in the TV movie, Deep in My Heart (1999).

Buono has directed, produced and written films, including the short film Baggage (1997), which starred Liev Schreiber. She co-wrote the screenplay When the Cat's Away with Brad Anderson and sold a pitch to Miramax for a screenplay adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise.

She starred in the final season of the NBC drama Third Watch (1999) as paramedic Grace Foster, and Ang Lee's adaptation of Marvel Comics' Hulk in 2003 as the mother of the title character's alter ego, Bruce Banner.

She also appeared as Kelli, the wife of Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), in the two-part final season of the HBO drama series The Sopranos, which aired in 2006 and 2007. Additionally, she appeared as Dr. Faye Miller in the fourth season of the AMC drama series Mad Men, for which she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in 2011.

Personal life

As of August 2010, Buono lives in New York City's Greenwich Village with her husband Peter Thum, founder of Ethos Water, and their daughter.

Filmography

Year 2017	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Gladiator	Dawn
1992	Waterland	Judy Dobson
1994	'	Teresa Salazar
1995	Killer: A Journal of Murder	Esther Lesser
1995	Kicking and Screaming	Kate
1997	Made Men	Toni-Ann Antonelli
1998	Next Stop Wonderland	Julie
1998	River Red	Rachel
1999	Man of the Century	Virginia Clemens
1999	Two Ninas	Nina Cohen
1999	Chutney Popcorn	Janis
2000	Happy Accidents	Bette
2000	Takedown	Christina Painter
2000	Attention Shoppers	Claire Suarez
2003	Hulk	Edith Banner
2004	From Other Worlds	Joanne Schwartzbaum
2006	Artie Lange's Beer League	Linda Salvo
2007	Cthulhu	Dannie Marsh
2010	Betrayed	Amy Waite	Short film
2010	Stuff	Madeline	Short film
2010	Let Me In	Owen's mother
2012	The Discoverers	Nell
2014	A Good Marriage	Betty Pike
2015	Paper Towns	Connie Jacobsen
2015	Half the Perfect World	Sonia

Television films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Victim of Love: The Shannon Mohr Story	Tracey Lien
1999	Deep in My Heart	Young Gerry Cummins
2008	'	Julie Bishop
2012	Drew Peterson: Untouchable	Kathleen Savio

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Dream Street	Joann	2 episodes
1991	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Abby Morris	Episode: "Abby, My Love" Nominated"?Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special
1992	I'll Fly Away	Diane	3 episodes
1993	Tribeca	Rose Polito	Episode: "The Hopeless Romantic"
1995	'	Christie	Episode: "Tennis"
1996	New York Undercover	Connie	Episode: "A Time to Kill"
1996	Law & Order	Shelly Taggert	Episode: "Girlfriends"
1998	Law & Order	Alice Simonelli	Episode: "Punk"
2001	Family Law	Carly Hanson	Episode: "Intentions"
2002	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Charlotte Fielding	Episode: "Phantom"
2002	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Tracy Logan	Episode: "Chasing the Bus"
2003	Miss Match	Michelle Schiff	Episode: "The Love Bandit"
2004	Six Months to Live	Alice	Episode: "1.1"
2004-05	Third Watch	Grace Foster	22 episodes
2006-07	'	Kelli Moltisanti	7 episodes
2007	Law & Order	Attorney Shannon	Episode: "Melting Pot"
2007	Queens Supreme	Bettina Martinelli	Episode: "That Voodoo That You Do"
2007	'	Sheriff Anna Turner	6 episodes
2008	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Rachel Zelinsky	Episode: "Unorthodox"
2009	ER	Lisa Salamunovich	Episode: "And in the End..."
2009	NCIS	Navy Cdr. Sarah Resnik	Episode: "Power Down"
2010	Mad Men	Faye Miller	10 episodes Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2011	Brothers & Sisters	Rose	3 episodes
2011	Hawaii Five-0	Agent Allison Marsh	Episode: "Ho'opa'i"
2011	'	Carol Gordan	Episode: "In Case of Discomfort"
2013	Castle	Siobhan O'Doul	Episode: "The Wild Rover"
2013	'	Charlene Peterson	Episode: "A More Perfect Union"
2014	'	Penny	Episode: "Hungry Like the Wolf"
2014	Elementary	Sarah Cushing	Episode: "Ears to You"
2014-15	Person of Interest	Martine Rousseau	8 episodes
2016-present	Stranger Things	Karen Wheeler	17 episodes Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2017	The Blacklist: Redemption	Anna Copeland	Episode: "Leland Bray"
2017	Bull	Amaya Andrews	Episode: "The Illusion of Control"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Mafia	Sarah Angelo	(voice)