Actress Amy Ryan is one of her generation’s most versatile actresses on stage, TV shows, and movies. Ryan was born Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski in New York City on May 3, 1968. Her professional last name, Ryan, is her mother’s maiden name. Amy Ryan began her professional acting career in theater.
Ryan has always been passionate about the performing arts, attending both the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Center and New York’s High School of Performing Arts. She graces television screens in the new Apple TV+ mystery crime drama Sugar in a supporting role as Melanie Mackintosh. If the actress looks familiar, here are other 5 Amy Ryan TV shows where you probably recognize her.
The Naked Truth
Having begun her professional acting career in theater, Amy Ryan made her screen debut in 1990. She appeared briefly on the then-long-running CBS soap opera As the World Turns. Amy Ryan spent the next five years guest-starring in a few notable TV shows such as Home Improvement (1992), I’ll Fly Away (1992), Law & Order (1993), and ER (1995).
However, by late 1995, she became a series regular on the ABC/NBC sitcom The Naked Truth. Ryan was cast as Chloe Banks, Nora Wilde’s (Téa Leoni) stepdaughter and Best friend. Amy Ryan appeared on The Naked Truth in all 20 episodes of the first season. However, after the show’s cancellation and eventual pickup by NBC, Ryan did not reprise her role in subsequent seasons.
The Wire
Amy Ryan’s next major role on television came in 2003. Between 1996 and 2003, Ryan guest-starred in several other TV shows, starred in her first miniseries (A Will of Their Own), and made her film debut in 1999. Amy Ryan joined the cast of the popular HBO crime drama The Wire in season 2. Her character, Beadie Russell, was a Port Authority police officer. After her husband abandoned her and her children, Russell worked to provide for her kids, Jack and Cary.
She becomes a prominent character in The Wire season 2 after she discovers 13 dead bodies of young women in a hidden compartment in one of the containers. A later part of her storyline in The Wire was her romance with Detective James McNulty (Dominic West). Amy Ryan’s first appearance in The Wire was in season 2, episode 1 (“Ebb Tide”). She last appeared in season 5, episode 10 (“–30–”), sitting on her doorstep with James McNulty (with her head placed on his shoulder) as they watched the moon together.
The Office
With the success and popularity of the NBC mockumentary sitcom, The Office is one of Amy Ryan’s most prominent appearances in TV shows. Amy Ryan played Holly Flax, joining the show’s cast in season 4. Although The Office is based on the 2001–2003 BBC series of the same name, Ryan’s Holly Flax character was one of the original characters and was not based on any other character. Amy Ryan first appeared in The Office in season 4, episode 18/19 (“Goodbye, Toby”).
Ryan’s Holly Flax was introduced as a replacement HR Representative for the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin, replacing Toby Flenderson (Paul Lieberstein). Flax and Michael Scott (Steve Carell) became romantically involved and were engaged by the end of season 7. Amy Ryan’s performance received praise from the showrunners and critics. Ryan last appeared in The Office in season 7, episode 22 (“Goodbye, Michael”).
Clear History
After her time on NBC’s The Office, one of Amy Ryan’s next notable projects on television was in the star-studded TV movie Clear History (2013). In the movie, she played Wendy, an ex-girlfriend of the disgraced marketing executive Nathan Flomm (Larry David). By the end of the movie, after Nathan Flomm has served his three-year sentence for blowing up Will Haney’s (Jon Hamm) mansion, Wendy is said to have inherited millions from an older woman. Clear History also starred Bill Hader, Kate Hudson, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, J. B. Smoove, and Liev Schreiber.
Only Murders in the Building
Amy Ryan was one of the main cast of Hulu’s mystery comedy-drama Only Murders in the Building in season 1. Cast as Jan Bellows, the character is introduced as a professional bassoonist who becomes romantically involved with Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin). However, her character was reduced to a recurring role in Only Murders in the Building season 2 and did not appear in season 3. Only Murders in the Building was Amy Ryan’s last television project before being cast on the Apple TV+ mystery drama series Sugar. If you remember Amy Ryan from any of these TV shows, read 10 things you didn’t know about Amy Ryan.
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