New Hollywood 2011

Elisabeth Moss was born on July 24, 1982, and raised in Los Angeles. The daughter of a jazz musician and a harmonica player, Elisabeth Moss was raised by parents who encouraged her to indulge in her every artistic whim. She subsequently enrolled in ballet classes at the tender age of 5, and began auditioning for a variety of movies and television shows shortly thereafter.

In 1990, Elisabeth Moss made her professional debut with a bit part in an obscure made-for-television movie entitled Bar Girls. That same year, she worked side-by-side with such fellow up-and-coming actresses as Sandra Bullock, Shawnee Smith and Nicolette Sheridan in the Emmy-winning miniseries Lucky Chances. Elisabeth Moss spent the next several years appearing in a whole host of movies and television shows, including the 1994 Harvey Keitel drama Imaginary Crimes and The Last Supper, a 1995 black comedy starring Cameron Diaz, Bill Paxton and Annabeth Gish.

It was also around that time that Elisabeth Moss got her first taste of success on the small screen after she landed a recurring role on the popular David E. Kelley drama Picket Fences. Her work on the critically acclaimed CBS show opened doors for her all over Hollywood, and Elisabeth Moss soon found herself appearing alongside such familiar faces as Michelle Pfeiffer, Natalie Portman and Jason Lee in a variety of projects.

In 1999, Elisabeth Moss joined the predominantly female cast of Girl, Interrupted and quickly found herself propelled to an entirely new level of fame thanks to her searing performance opposite Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie and Brittany Murphy. That same year, Elisabeth Moss kicked off a run of 25 episodes on the Emmy-winning series The West Wing in which she took on the high-profile role of President Bartlet’s daughter Zoey. Elisabeth Moss proved that she could more than hold her own opposite such powerhouse performers as Martin Sheen and Allison Janney, and her efforts eventually landed her a nomination for Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Guest Starring Young Actress at the 2001 Young Artist Awards.

The turn of the century found Elisabeth Moss appearing in a variety of critically acclaimed independent projects, with her work alongside Robin Wright Penn in the 2003 drama Virgin earning her a nod for Best Female Lead at the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards (she lost to Charlize Theron). She followed that up by taking on a series of guest spots on shows like The Practice, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Medium, though it wasn’t until she successfully auditioned for a starring role on the made-for-AMC series Mad Men that Elisabeth Moss finally took her place in the limelight.

The series became an instant hit among critics and discerning viewers, with its bracingly authentic look at the lives of 1950s era advertising executives eventually landing it a record number of Emmy nominations. Elisabeth Moss’ work has been singled out for its complexity and depth, and it’s certainly not surprising to note that she is, along with Jon Hamm and Christina Hendricks, considered one of the show’s breakout stars.