Tracee Chimo Pallero is an American stage, television and film actress who became an arts critic favorite after her 2012 breakout role as Daphna Feygenbaum, the antagonist in Joshua Harmon’s hit dark comedy ''

Bad Jews ''Bad Jews'' is a dark comedy play by Joshua Harmon. After a beloved grandfather dies in New York, leaving a treasured piece of religious jewelry that he succeeded in hiding even from the Nazis during the Holocaust, cousins fight over not only ...

''. In 2018 she married Canadian cameraman Richard Joseph Pallero, after meeting and falling in love on the set of her first television series, TBS’ cult comedy ''People of Earth''.

Early life

Chimo was born in Saugus,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. Her father is of

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

n descent and her mother is of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

ancestry (her father is an Albanian Orthodox Christian, and her mother is

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

). She splits her time between living in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Career

Chimo's 2010 work in the plays ''Bachelorette'' and ''

Circle Mirror Transformation ''Circle Mirror Transformation'' is a play by Annie Baker, centered on drama classes at a community center in Vermont. The play opened Off-Broadway in 2009 and received the Obie Award for Best New American Play. Productions ''Circle Mirror Trans ...

'' was praised by Erik Piepenburg of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', who lauded Chimo for transforming herself into two characters so distinct from one another, commenting, "If, at the same time, you could meet the shy, expressionless Lauren, mumbling into the wall of her red hoodie, and the glittering, claws-extended Regan, the meanest predator on the hunt, it would be hard to believe that they are the same person underneath. And maybe they aren’t — even if the actress Tracee Chimo channeled those characters to critical acclaim in two

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

plays this season." Chimo's performance in ''Mirror'' was also singled out by

Elisabeth Vincentelli Elisabeth Vincentelli is a French-born, New York-based arts and culture journalist. She is a regular contributor to ''The New York Times’ Arts section''. She served as the chief drama critic for the ''New York Post'' from 2009 until 2016, havin ...

of the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', who called her "a master of the comic silent reaction." In 2012,

Charles Isherwood Charles Isherwood (born 1964/65) is an American theater critic. Education Isherwood is a graduate of Stanford University. Career Isherwood wrote for '' Backstage West'' in Los Angeles. In 1993, he joined the staff of ''Variety'', where he was pr ...

of ''The New York Times'', who also noted Chimo's performances in these two productions, called her work in the Broadway revival of '' Harvey'' "excellent". Echoing other critic's, Isherwood stated, "What's most startling about this actress is her versatility: she seems to be almost physically transformed from performance to performance, so deeply does she burrow into her characters’ identities. I didn’t recognize her at all, with her hair a frizzy

nimbus Nimbus, from the Latin for "dark cloud", is an outdated term for the type of cloud now classified as the nimbostratus cloud. Nimbus also may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Halo (religious iconography), also known as ''Nimbus'', a ring of ligh ...

of angry-looking dark curls and her face scrubbed free of makeup, in keeping with Daphna’s righteous self-seriousness." In 2016, TBS premiered the TV comedy series ''

People of Earth ''People of Earth'' is an American science fiction sitcom television series created by David Jenkins about a support group for alien abductees, as well as the aliens who had abducted them. TBS ordered the pilot under the name ''The Group'' in ...

'', on which Chimo plays Chelsea Healey.

Awards and nominations

2014

Lucille Lortel Lucille Lortel (née Wadler, December 16, 1900 – April 4, 1999) was an American actress, artistic director, and theatrical producer. In the course of her career Lortel produced or co-produced nearly 500 plays, five of which were nominated for ...

Win for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play" for ''

'' 2013 Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for "Outstanding Lead Actress - ''Bad Jews'' 2013 Drama League Award nomination for "Distinguished Performance - ''Bad Jews'' 2013 Rising Star Award - Winner from the

Salem State University Salem State University (Salem State or SSU) is a public university in Salem, Massachusetts. Established in 1854, it is the oldest and largest institute of higher education on the North Shore and is part of the state university system in Massa ...

Alumni Association 2011 Stage Scene Award LA for "Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Drama" for her work in Neil LaBute's ''The Break of Noon'' 2011

Clarence Derwent Award The Clarence Derwent Awards are theatre awards given annually by the Actors' Equity Association on Broadway in the United States and by Equity, the performers' union, in the West End in the United Kingdom. Clarence Derwent (23 March 1884 – 6 Aug ...

on June 14 for "Most Promising Actress in New York City" 2011 Lucille Lortel Nomination for "Outstanding Lead Actress" in ''Bachelorette'' 2010

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. F ...

for "Outstanding Ensemble Performance" in ''

'' 2010

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the ...

for ''Circle Mirror Transformation'' 2010 Lucille Lortel Nomination for "Outstanding Featured Actress" in ''Circle Mirror Transformation''

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chimo, Tracee 1983 births Living people American people of Albanian descent American people of Italian descent American people of Irish descent 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Massachusetts People from Saugus, Massachusetts