Michelle Pfeiffer
Three-time Academy Award nominee, Golden Globe Award winner, and Emmy nominee Michelle Pfeiffer has captivated film audiences with her compelling performances for over five decades. The celebrated actress first came to prominence in the cult classic Scarface in 1983 in the role of Elvira Hancock, the wife of Al Pacino’s Tony Montana. The Universal Pictures American crime drama, directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone, has become a cultural icon, and was named by the American Film Institute in June 2008 as one of the ten greatest gangster films of all time.
This year, Pfeiffer will star in the Amazon Video original film Oh. What. Fun. alongside Eva Longoria and Chloe Grace Moretz. Pfeiffer has recently completed production for the new Paramount+ Taylor Sheridan television drama The Madison. She is currently in production for the Apple TV+ adaptation of the Rufi Thorpe novel Margo’s Got Money Troubles alongside Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning.
In 2023, Pfeiffer reprised her role as the original Wasp in the third installment of the Marvel’s Ant-Man trilogy, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. For television, Pfeiffer recently starred as Betty Ford in the Showtime anthology series, The First Lady, which premiered April of 2022. With an all-star ensemble including Kiefer Sutherland, Viola Davis, and Gillian Anderson, critics have highlighted Pfeiffer’s performance as a standout. USA Today called her “the real star” with an “elevating performance” and NPR said she “is amazing as Betty Ford, simmering volcanically throughout…”
Pfeiffer received her first Academy Award nomination in 1989 in the ‘Best Actress in a Supporting Role’ category for her role as the long-suffering Madame de Tourvel in Dangerous Liaisons. In 1990, she won a Golden Globe Award for ‘Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture’ and received her second Academy Award nomination in ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’ for her performance as the sexy chanteuse Suzie Diamond in The Fabulous Baker Boys. She earned her third Academy Award nomination in 1993 for ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’ for her performance as Dallas housewife Lurene Hallett in Love Field.
In 2017, Pfeiffer starred in HBO’s drama The Wizard of Lies for which she garnered an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Critics’ Choice nomination for ‘Best Support Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television.’ The film also won a Satellite Award and received a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for ‘Outstanding Television Movie.’
Pfeiffer has also been honored with a BAFTA Award, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, National Board of Review Best Actress Award and New York Film Critics Circle Award, and has also received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination and five additional Golden Globe Award nominations for her performances in The Age of Innocence, Love Field, Frankie and Johnny, The Russia House, and Married to the Mob.
In 2020, Pfeiffer starred in the film French Exit opposite Lucas Hedges for Sony Pictures Classics, where she plays a sharp-tongued Manhattan socialite who find herself facing financial ruin in Paris. Critics have called her performance “sublime in every way” and “electrifying.”
In 2019, Michelle was seen starring in Disney’s fantasy film Maleficent 2 as the formidable Queen Ingrith, opposite Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning. In 2018, Pfeiffer was seen co-starring in the Marvel franchise Ant-Man and The Wasp alongside Michael Douglas, Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly. In 2017, Pfeiffer captivated audiences by her performance in HBO’s television movie The Wizard of Lies alongside Robert De Niro. The duo played Ruth and Bernie Madoff in the 2008-2009 downfall of Madoff’s infamous Ponzi scheme. The television drama is based on the non-fiction novel by the same name written by Diana B. Henriques. Later that year, Pfeiffer was also seen in 20th Century Fox’s adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express alongside Johnny Depp, Judi Dench and Daisy Ridley. Kenneth Branagh both directed and starred in the remake playing Agatha Christie’s famed detective Hercule Poirot. Adapted from Christie’s beloved 1934 novel, the film follows Poirot as he tries to identify a murder aboard the legendary train. Pfeiffer played Mrs. Hubbard, a glamorous and opinionated passenger with a secret. Additionally, in 2017 Pfeiffer was also seen starring alongside Ed Harris, Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem in Darren Aronofsky’s American psychological horror film Mother! The plot follows a young woman whose seemingly tranquil life with her husband at their country home is disrupted by the arrival of a mysterious couple (Pfeiffer and Harris). The film was released by Paramount Pictures in October 2017.
In 2013, Pfeiffer starred alongside Robert De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones and Dianna Agron in Luc Besson’s 2013 film, The Family. The story focuses on the Manzoni family, a notorious mafia clan who is relocated to Normandy, France under the Witness Protections Program. Pfeiffer stars as Maggie Blake, the matriarch of the family. Pfeiffer was seen in Dark Shadows, a film that reunites her with Tim Burton on his big screen take on the 1960s gothic vampire television series. The film centers on a self-loathing vampire, Barnabas Collins, played by Johnny Depp, who is living in a manor in Collinsport, Maine, and is searching for his lost love. Pfeiffer stars as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the reclusive matriarch of the Collins family which runs the Maine town. The film also stars Helena Bonham Carter and Eva Green.
Additionally, Pfeiffer was seen in DreamWorks Pictures’ People Like Us, in which she stars opposite Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde and Elizabeth Banks. The film follows a businessman, Sam (Pine), who returns home after his estranged father’s sudden death, only to uncover a devastating family secret, which sends him on an unexpected journey of self-discovery. Pfeiffer appears as Lillian, Sam’s widowed mother.
In 2011, Pfeiffer was seen in New Line Cinema’s New Year’s Eve. Directed by Garry Marshall, the ensemble romantic comedy also stars Robert De Niro, Hilary Swank, Sarah Jessica Parker and Ashton Kutcher, among others. The film tells intertwining stories of a group of New Yorkers as they navigate their way through romance over the course of New Year’s Eve. Pfeiffer appears as ‘Ingrid,’ a frustrated executive secretary who decides to tackle her unfulfilled resolutions.
In 2009, Pfeiffer starred in Miramax Films’ Chéri. Set in the luxurious 1900s Belle Époque Paris, Chéri is the story of a love affair between a beautiful retired courtesan, Léa de Lonval (Pfeiffer), and Chéri, a young man played by Rupert Friend. The film is directed by Stephen Frears and is based on the 1920 novel of the same name by French author Colette.
In 2007, Pfeiffer also appeared in the Golden Globe nominated global sensation Hairspray opposite John Travolta, Christopher Walken, Queen Latifah and Zac Efron. The New Line Cinema film, an adaptation of Broadway’s 2003 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, became the third musical film in history to cross $200 million internationally. That same year, Pfeiffer also appeared as evil witch Lamia in Paramount Pictures’ fantasy epic Stardust, directed by Matthew Vaughn. The film, a fairy tale set in ancient England, was adapted from Neil Gaiman’s novel. The cast included Claire Danes, Robert De Niro, Ian McKellen, Rupert Everett and Sienna Miller.
In 2003, Pfeiffer lent her voice to DreamWorks’ animated feature Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas with Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Joseph Fiennes. She received a Screen Actors Guild nomination in 2002 for her role as the murderous mother ‘Ingrid Magnusson’ in Warner Brothers’ White Oleander. In 2001, she starred in the critically acclaimed I Am Sam, opposite Sean Penn. In 2000, she starred in the summer blockbuster What Lies Beneath, opposite Harrison Ford. Pfeiffer’s film credits also include The Story of Us, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Deep End of the Ocean, The Prince of Egypt, One Fine Day, To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, Up Close & Personal, Dangerous Minds, Wolf, Batman Returns, The Witches of Eastwick, Tequila Sunrise, Sweet Liberty and Ladyhawke.