Robin Wright

Robin Wright Biography

Robin Gayle Wright (born April 8, 1966) is an American film actress and singer. She was also previously credited as Robin Wright Penn.

From 1984 to 1988 she starred on the television series Santa Barbara as Kelly Capwell, which earned her multiple Daytime Emmy nominations. She made the jump to film, starring in The Princess Bride, Forrest Gump (earning her a Golden Globe nomination), Toys, Message in a Bottle, Unbreakable, The Conspirator, Moneyball and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. She has also appeared in the Netflix series House of Cards.

From 1996 to 2010, Wright was married to actor Sean Penn, with whom she had two children.

Early life

Wright was born Robin Gayle Wright in Dallas, Texas, the daughter of Gayle (née Gaston), a national director in Mary Kay cosmetics salesforce, and Freddie Gayle Wright, a pharmaceutical executive. She was raised in San Diego, California. She attended Taft High School in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.

Career

She was listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1986" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 38. [1986]. Wright first became famous on television, playing Kelly Capwell on the soap opera Santa Barbara, which earned her three Daytime Emmy nominations. It wasn't until early to mid-90's that she shot to stardom after her roles as Buttercup in The Princess Bride and Jenny Curran in Forrest Gump, the latter role garnering her Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild nominations for Best Supporting Actress. Wright was offered the role of Maid Marian in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, but turned it down because she was pregnant. She had to back out of the role of Abby McDeere in The Firm (1993), with Tom Cruise, upon discovering that she was pregnant with her second child (son Hopper Penn).

In 1996, she married Sean Penn and changed her name to Robin Wright Penn. The same year, she starred in the film adaptation of Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders for which she received a Satellite Nomination for Best Actress in a Drama. She went on to co-star with her husband in the 1997 film She's So Lovely, for which she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress. One of her most recent successes was a supporting role in the television film Empire Falls as Grace Roby, mother of Ed Harris's character Miles Roby. Wright received her third Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for this role.

In 2013, Wright starred in Netflix's series House of Cards, as Claire Underwood, the spouse of Kevin Spacey's character, Congressman Francis Underwood.

Personal life

From 1986 to 1988, Wright was married to actor Dane Witherspoon, whom she met in 1984 on the set of the soap-opera Santa Barbara.

In 1989, Wright became involved with actor Sean Penn following his divorce from Madonna. Their daughter Dylan Frances Penn was born on April 13, 1991. Their son Hopper Jack Penn was born on August 6, 1993. Wright and Penn married in 1996. Their relationship became on-again and off-again in the late 2000s. Divorce plans were announced in December 2007, but the divorce petition was withdrawn upon the couple's request four months later. In February 2009, Wright and Penn attended the 81st Academy Awards together, at which Penn won Best Actor. Penn subsequently filed for legal separation in April 2009, but withdrew the petition in May. On August 12, 2009, Wright filed for divorce once more, declaring she had no plans to reconcile. She also dropped "Penn" from her professional name. The divorce was finalized on July 22, 2010.

People magazine reported in February 2012 that Wright is seeing actor Ben Foster.

Wright is the national campaign spokesperson for the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America. She is also the Honorary Spokesperson for the Dallas, Texas-based non-profit The Gordie Foundation.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Hollywood Vice Squad	Lori Stanton
1987	The Princess Bride	Buttercup	Nominated"?Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
1990	Denial	Sara/Loon
1990	State of Grace	Kathleen Flannery
1992	The Playboys	Tara Maguire
1992	Toys	Gwen Tyler	Nominated"?Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
1994	Forrest Gump	Jenny Curran	Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress " Motion Picture Nominated"?Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
1995	The Crossing Guard	Jojo
1996	Moll Flanders	Moll Flanders	Nominated"?Satellite Award for Best Actress " Motion Picture Drama
1997	Loved	Hedda Amerson	Seattle International Film Festival for Best Actress Nominated"?Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead
1997	She's So Lovely	Maureen Murphy Quinn	Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
1998	Hurlyburly	Darlene
1999	Message in a Bottle	Theresa Osborne
2000	How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog	Melanie McGowan
2000	Unbreakable	Audrey Dunn
2001	The Pledge	Lori
2001	The Last Castle	Rosalie Irwin	Uncredited
2002	Searching for Debra Winger	Herself	Documentary
2002	White Oleander	Starr Thomas
2003	The Singing Detective	Nicola/Nina/Blonde
2003	Virgin	Mrs. Reynolds
2004	A Home at the End of the World	Clare
2005	Nine Lives	Diana	Locarno International Film Festival for Best Actress (shared with the ensemble of the actresses) Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actress Nominated"?Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated"?Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Nominated"?Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female Nominated"?Satellite Award for Best Actress " Motion Picture Drama
2005	Sorry, Haters	Phoebe	Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress Nominated"?Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female
2005	Max	Mother	Short subject
2005	Empire Falls	Grace Roby	Television movie Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2006	Breaking and Entering	Liv	Nominated"?British Independent Film Award for Best Actress
2006	Room 10	Frannie	Short film
2007	Hounddog	Stranger Lady
2007	Beowulf	Wealthow
2008	What Just Happened	Kelly
2008	New York, I Love You	Anna
2009	State of Play	Anne Collins
2009	The Private Lives of Pippa Lee	Pippa Lee
2009	A Christmas Carol	Fan Scrooge/Belle
2010	The Conspirator	Mary Surratt
2011	Moneyball	Sharon
2011	Rampart	Linda Fentress
2011	The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo	Erika Berger
2013	The Congress	Robin Wright
2013	Adore	Roz
2013	A Most Wanted Man	Martha Sullivan

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983"1984	The Yellow Rose	Barbara Anderson	2 episodes
1984"1988	Santa Barbara	Kelly Capwell	453 episodes Nominated"?Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series (1986-88)
2011	Saturday Night Live	Jenny Curran	Episode: "Tina Fey/Ellie Goulding"
2011	Enlightened	Sandy	2 episodes
2013	House of Cards	Claire Underwood	13 episodes Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series