Catherine Ann Keener (born March 23, 1959) is an American actress. Considered one of the independent film industry’s most reliable performers, Keener is known for portraying disgruntled and melancholic yet sympathetic women in independent films, as well as supporting roles in studio films. She has been twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich (1999), with John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, and John Malkovich; and for her portrayal of author Harper Lee in Capote (2005), with Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Keener also appeared in the films Simone (2001), with Al Pacino and Winona Ryder; Rebecca Miller‘s The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005), with Daniel Day-Lewis; Judd Apatow‘s The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), with Steve Carrell, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, Seth Rogen, Kat Dennings, and Jane Lynch; Into the Wild (2007), with Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Jena Malone, Vince Vaughn, Kristen Stewart, and Hal Holbrook; Synecdoche, Charlie Kaufman’s New York (2008), with Hoffman; Peace, Love & Misunderstanding (2011), with Jane Fonda, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Elizabeth Olsen, Nat Wolff, Chace Crawford, Kyle MacLachlan, and Rosanna Arquette; Begin Again (2014), with Kiera Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, and Hailee Steinfeld; Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017), with Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Stephen Root, and Lakeith Stanfield; We Don’t Belong Here (2017), with Kaitlyn Dever, Anton Yelchin, Riley Keough, Annie Starke, Cary Elwes and Maya Rudolph.
She is the muse of director Nicole Holofcener, having appeared in each of her first five films: Walking and Talking (1996), with Anne Heche, Todd Field, Liev Schreiber, and Kevin Corrigan; Lovely and Amazing (2001), with Brenda Blethyn, Emily Mortimer, Raven Goodwin, Jake Gyllenhaal, James LeGros, and Dermot Mulroney; Friends With Money (2006), with Jennifer Aniston, Joan Cusack, Frances McDormand, Jason Isaacs, Scott Caan, Simon McBurney, and Greg Germann; Please Give (2010), with Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Lois Smith, Elizabeth Keener, Corrigan, and Ann Guilbert; and Enough Said (2013), with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Gandolfini, Toni Collette, and Ben Falcone.
She also appeared in each of director Tom DiCillo‘s first four films; Johnny Suede (1991), with Brad Pitt; Living in Oblivion (1995), with Steve Buscemi, Mulroney, and Peter Dinklage (in his first movie); Box of Moonlight (1996), with John Turturro and Sam Rockwell; and the Real Blonde (1997), with Matthew Modine; and three films directed by Spike Jonze. Since 2018, she has been starring in the Showtime dramedy series Kidding.
Each review will be linked to the title below.
(*seen originally in theaters)
(**seen rereleased in theaters)
- About Last Night… (1986) – directed by Edward Zwick
- Survival Quest (1989) – directed by Don Coscarelli
- Catchfire (1990) – directed by Dennis Hopper (as Alan Smithee)
- Switch (1991) – directed by Blake Edwards
- Johnny Suede (1991) – directed by Tom DiCillo
- Thelma & Louise (1991) – directed by Ridley Scott – scenes cut
- The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag (1992) – directed by Allan Moyle
- The Cemetery Club (1993) – directed by Bill Duke
- Living in Oblivion (1995) – directed by Tom Dicillo
- Walking and Talking (1996) – directed by Nicole Holofcener
- Boys (1996) – directed by Stacy Cochran
- Box of Moonlight (1996) – directed by Tom Dicillo
- The Real Blonde (1997) – directed by Tom Dicillo
- Out of Sight (1998) – directed by Steven Soderbergh
- Your Friends & Neighbors (1998) – directed by Neil LaBute
- 8mm (1999) – directed by Joel Schumacher
- Simpatico (1999) – directed by Matthew Warchus
- Being John Malkovich (1999) – directed by Spike Jonze
- Lovely & Amazing (2001) – directed by Nicole Holofcener
- Adaptation (2002) – directed by Spike Jonze – cameo as herself
- Full Frontal (2002) – directed by Steven Soderbergh
- Death to Smoochy (2002) – directed by Danny DeVito
- Simone (2002) – directed by Andrew Niccol
- The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005) – directed by Rebecca Miller
- The Interpreter (2005) – directed by Sydney Pollack
- The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)* – directed by Judd Apatow
- Capote (2005) – directed by Bennett Miller
- Friends with Money (2006) – directed by Nicole Holofcener
- An American Crime (2007) – directed by Tommy O’Haver
- Into the Wild (2007) – directed by Sean Penn
- Hamlet 2 (2008) – directed by Andrew Fleming
- What Just Happened (2008) – directed by Barry Levinson
- Synecdoche, New York (2008) – directed by Charlie Kaufman
- Genova (2008) – directed by Michael Winterbottom – aka A Summer in Genoa
- The Soloist (2009) – directed by Michael Winterbottom
- Where the Wild Things Are (2009) – directed by Spike Jonze – also associate producer
- Please Give (2010) – directed by Nicole Holofcener
- Cyrus (2010) – directed by Jay & Mark Duplass
- Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)* – directed by Chris Columbus
- Trust (2010) – directed by David Schwimmer
- The Oranges (2011) – directed by Julian Farino
- Peace, Love & Misunderstanding (2011) – directed by Bruce Beresford
- Maladies (2011) – directed by Carter
- A Late Quartet (2012) – directed by Yaron Zilberman
- The Croods (2013) – directed by Kirk DeMicco & Chris Sanders
- Enough Said (2013) – directed by Nicole Holofcener
- Captain Phillips (2013) – film directed by Paul Greengrass
- Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013) – directed by Jeff Tremaine
- War Story (2014) – directed by Mark Jackso – also producer
- Begin Again (2014) – directed by John Carney
- Elephant Song (2014) – directed by Charles Binamé
- Accidental Love (2015) – directed by David O. Russell (as Stephan Greene)
- Unless (2016) – directed by Alan Gilsenan
- Get Out (2017) – directed by Jordan Peele
- Little Pink House (2017) – directed by Courtney Moorehead Balake
- We Don’t Belong Here (2017) – directed by Peer Pedersen
- November Criminals (2017) – directed by Sacha Gervasi
- Nostalgia (2018) – directed by Mark Pellington
- Incredibles 2 (2018)* – directed by Brad Bird
- Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018) – directed by Stefano Sollima
- The Croods 2 (2020) – directed by Joel Crawford
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