The Many Roles of Laurie Metcalf on Stage and Screen
Laurie Metcalf is known for her Tony-winning performances in A Doll's House, Part 2 & Three Tall Women, as well as Hillary and Clinton, The Other Place, Misery, and more.
Laurie Metcalf is back on Broadway! While it hasn't been long since her last Broadway bow, the actress of stage and screen is back in New York, starring in Death of a Salesman, directed by Joe Mantello.
Metcalf may be best known for her roles on screen including Roseanne, Lady Bird, and many more, as well as on stage in A Doll’s House, Part 2, Hillary and Clinton, The Other Place, and Misery, among many others. She made her Broadway debut in 1995, after a career on the Chicago stage throughout the 1980s.
As Metcalf takes her next Broadway bow, we're looking back on some of her many iconic roles.
My Thing of Love
After beginning her career with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company and frequently working in Chicago theatre, Laurie Metcalf made her Broadway debut in the 1995 play My Thing of Love, in the role of Elly. The production played at the Martin Beck Theatre from April 21 - May 14, 1995.
This dark comedy is about a marital triangle in which the wife tries to save the marriage, the husband seeks self understanding and the waif like mistress craves attention. The show was originally produced by the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago.
November
Metcalf made a standout Broadway appearance in this 2008 political comedy by David Mamet at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, alongside Nathan Lane. The production, directed by Joe Mantello, ran December 20, 2007 - July 13, 2008.
November centers on President Charles Smith (Lane) several days before his second election. Metcalf played Clarice Bernstein, Smith's speechwriter.
Metcalf was nominated for a Tony Award for her role, for Best Featured Actress in a Play.
Photo Credit: Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.
Brighton Beach Memoirs
In 2009, Metcalf appeared in Brighton Beach Memoirs on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre in the role of Kate Jerome.
Brighton Beach Memoirs is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. The play is a coming of age comedy focused on the main character of Eugene Morris Jerome, a Jewish teenager from a Polish immigrant family. It is set in September 1937 in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York, during the Great Depression.
The production ran October 2 - November 1, 2009.
Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.
Long Day’s Journey into Night
In 2012, Metcalf appeared in the West End in a production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night, for which she was nominated for the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress.
The play takes place on a single day in August 1912. The setting is Monte Cristo Cottage, the seaside home of the Tyrones in Connecticut. The four main characters are the semi-autobiographical representations of O'Neill, his older brother, and their parents, including his father actor James O'Neill.
Performances ran April 2 - August 18, 2012.
The Other Place
The Other Place had its world premiere Off-Broadway in an MCC Theater production at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on March 28, 2011. Directed by Joe Mantello, the cast starred Laurie Metcalf alongside Dennis Boutsikaris.
The production went on to transfer to Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on January 10, 2013 and closed on March 3, 2013, led by Metcalf and Daniel Stern, and was directed by Joe Mantello.
Metcalf played Juliana Smithton, a successful neurologist whose life seems to be coming unhinged. Her husband has filed for divorce, her daughter has eloped with a much older man and her own health is in jeopardy. Piece by piece, a mystery unfolds as fact blurs with fiction, past collides with present and the elusive truth about Juliana boils to the surface.
Metcalf was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance, for Best Actress in a Play.
Misery
Based on the novel by Stephen King, Misery was adapted for the Broadway stage, running November 15, 2015 - February 14, 2016 at the Broadhurst Theatre.
Metcalf played the role of Annie Wilke, an obsessed fan of romance novelist Paul Sheldon (played by Bruce Willis), who is rescued from a car crash and wakes up captive in Wilke's home.
Metcalf was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance, for Best Actress in a Play.
A Doll’s House, Part 2
Metcalf starred as Nora Helmer in this 2017 Broadway production at the John Golden Theatre, which picks up years after Henrik Ibsen’s original, A Doll's House.
The play premiered at the South Coast Repertory before opening on Broadway. Performances ran on Broadway from March 30 - September 24, 2017.
Fifteen years after Nora Helmer slammed the door on her stifling domestic life, she is knocking at that same door, having returned with an urgent request for her former husband. Before Nora can get what she needs, she must reckon with the people she left, all of whom have some choice words for the former Mrs. Helmer.
Metcalf won her first Tony Award for her performance, for Best Actress in a Play.
Three Tall Women
Metcalf returned to Broadway in another Tony Award-winning role in 2018 in Three Tall Women by Edward Albee.
The production follows three unnamed women, one in her 90s, one in her 50s, and one in her 20s, who are referred to in the script as A, B, and C. The play premiered on Broadway at the Golden Theatre on March 29, 2018, directed by Joe Mantello and starring Glenda Jackson as A, Laurie Metcalf as B, and Alison Pill as C.
Metcalf won her second Tony Award for her performance, for Best Featured Actress in a Play. She also won the Outer Critics Circle Award and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award and Drama League Award.
Performances ran March 1 - June 24, 2018.
Photo Credit: Brigette Lacombe
Hillary and Clinton
Hillary and Clinton is a stage play written by Lucas Hnath set in an alternate universe and tells a story centering on Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.
The Broadway production was directed by Joe Mantello and starred Laurie Metcalf as Hillary Clinton and John Lithgow as Bill Clinton. It was produced by Scott Rudin, with set design by Chloe Lamford, costume design by Ann Roth, and lighting design by Hugh Vanstone.
Performances ran March 16 - June 23, 2019.
Metcalf was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance, for Best Actress in a Play.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Metcalf briefly returned to Broadway in a revival of Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The show was scheduled to premiere on 9 April 2020, in a production directed by Joe Mantello and produced by Scott Rudin. It was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic after 9 preview performances, without officially opening.
Grey House
In 2023, Metcalf returned to Broadway in Grey House, a dramatic stage play written by American playwright Levi Holloway. The show debuted on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre starring Metcalf alongside Tatiana Maslany and Paul Sparks.
The show follows Max and Henry, a young married couple who wreck their car in the mountains during a blizzard. They take shelter in a cabin occupied by a group of teenage girls and an old lady who claims to be their mother. During their stay, the girls imply that Max and Henry were not drawn to the house by the car accident, but their own pasts.
Broadway performances ran April 29 - July 30, 2023.
Little Bear Ridge Road
Most recently, Metcalf appeared on Broadway in Little Bear Ridge Road, a new play by Samuel D. Hunter, who made his Broadway debut. Metcalf and Micah Stock reprised their performances from the production’s world premiere at The Steppenwolf Theatre Company, with direction by Joe Mantello.
On the remote outskirts of a small Idaho town, a razor-tongued aunt and her long-estranged nephew find themselves suddenly back in each other’s orbit—two lonely souls with a crumbling house to sell and a tangled history to unravel. The play tells the story of two people reaching across emotional galaxies—searching for meaning and fumbling toward connection, even as they fear it might swallow them whole.
Performances ran October 7 - December 21, 2025.
Other Stage and Screen Credits
Metcalf also appeared in several Off-Broadway productions, including Educating Rita (1987); Bodies, Rest and Motion (1986); Balm in Gilead (1984). She appeared in several regional productions in Chicago including The Glass Menagerie at Steppenwolf Theatre (1979), Balm in Gilead at Apollo Theater Center (1980), Coyote Ugly at Steppenwolf Theatre (1985), Educating Rita at Steppenwolf Theatre (1987), The Beauty Queen of Leenane at Steppenwolf Theatre (1999), Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune at Steppenwolf Theatre (2004), Detroit at Steppenwolf Theatre (2010), and Voice Lessons at Steppenwolf Theatre (2016). She appeared in All My Sons (2006) and The Quality of Life (2007) at The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
On television, Metcalf played Jackie Harris on Roseanne (1988–1997), for which she won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and its spinoff The Conners (2018–2025). She also won an Emmy Award for her guest role in Hacks (2022), and was Emmy-nominated for 3rd Rock from the Sun (1999), Monk (2006), Desperate Housewives (2007), The Big Bang Theory (2016), Getting On (2013–2015), and Horace and Pete (2016). She also acted in The Norm Show (1999–2001), Frasier, and The Dropout (2022)
On film, Metcalf appeared in Greta Gerwig's coming-of-age film Lady Bird (2017), which earned her nominations for the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, Actor Award, and Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress. Since 1995, she has voiced Andy's mom in the Toy Story trilogy (1995–2010) and Sarah Hawkins in Treasure Planet (2002). She also acted in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Uncle Buck (1989), JFK (1991), Georgia Rule (2007) and Scream 2 (1997).
