Amy Ferguson is an American actress and model. Ferguson is also a singer-songwriter who goes by the stage name of "Grandma Dirt."
Life and career
Ferguson was born in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
and raised in southern
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
. She attended
Dr. John Hole Elementary School in
Washington Township and graduated in 2000 from
Alter High School in
Kettering, Ohio
Kettering is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. It is an inner suburb of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton. The city had a population of 57,862 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous suburb in the Dayton metr ...
. She opted to move to New York City rather than attend college, and signed with the
Ford Modeling Agency. She worked as a model in Italy, France, Japan, and South Africa, and appeared in television commercials for
AT&T
AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
and
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
.
Ferguson began focusing on acting and broke into film in 2004 with independent feature ''
Garden State''. She played Dana, a young woman who kisses star and director
Zach Braff
Zachary Israel Braff (born April 6, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He portrayed J.D. (Scrubs), John Michael "J.D." Dorian on the NBC/American Broadcasting Company, ABC television series ''Scrubs (TV series), Scrubs'' (2001–2010), for ...
's character in a party scene. The part led to other film and television opportunities, including an audition for the film ''
Must Love Dogs
''Must Love Dogs'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy film based on Claire Cook's 2002 novel of the same name. Starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, it is the second and final film to be written, produced, and directed by Gary David Goldberg a ...
'' starring
Diane Lane
Diane Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.
Lane made her film debut in George Roy Hill's 1979 film '' A Littl ...
.
Ferguson appeared in the 2007 films ''
Weapons
A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...
'', with
Nick Cannon
Nicholas Scott Cannon (born October 8, 1980) is an American comedian, television presenter, actor, and rapper. In television, he began his career as a teenager on Nickelodeon's '' All That'' before going on to host '' The Nick Cannon Show'', '' ...
, and ''
An American Crime'', starring
Elliot Page
Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page; born February 21, 1987) is a Canadian actor, producer, and activist. He is known for his leading roles across Canadian and American film and television, and for his outspoken work as an activist for LGBTQ righ ...
and
Catherine Keener
Catherine Ann Keener (born March 26, 1959) is an American actress. She has portrayed disgruntled and melancholic yet sympathetic women in independent films, as well as supporting roles in studio films. She has been nominated twice for the Academ ...
.
In 2009, Ferguson starred in ''
Tanner Hall Tanner Hall may refer to:
* Tanner Hall (film)
''Tanner Hall'' is a 2009 drama film, drama film about four girls coming-of-age, coming of age in boarding school. It was written and directed by Tatiana von Fürstenberg and Francesca Gregorini. It ...
'' alongside
Rooney Mara
Rooney Mara Phoenix ( ; born Patricia Rooney Mara; April 17, 1985) is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a British Academy Film Award.
Born into the Rooney and Mara fam ...
,
Georgia King
Georgia King is a Scottish actress. She is best known for her role as Amanda Snodgrass in the HBO series Vice Principals.
Early life
Born in Edinburgh, King is the daughter of Australian actor Jonathan Hyde and Scottish opera singer Isobel B ...
, and
Brie Larson
Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers (born October 1, 1989), known professionally as Brie Larson, is an American actress. She played supporting roles in comedies as a teenager, and has since expanded to leading roles in independent films and Blockbuste ...
. The
coming-of-age film
In genre studies, a coming-of-age story is a genre of literature, theatre, film, and video game that focuses on the growth of a protagonist from childhood to adulthood, or "coming of age". Coming-of-age stories tend to emphasize dialogue or interna ...
, set in an all-girls
boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...
in
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
, was directed by
Tatiana von Fürstenberg
Princess Tatiana Desirée von Fürstenberg (''Tatiana Desirée Prinzessin zu Fürstenberg''; born February 16, 1971) is an American art curator, singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and filmmaker.
Early life and family
Von Fürstenberg ...
and
Francesca Gregorini
Francesca McKnight Donatella Romana Gregorini di Savignano di Romagna (born August7, 1968) is an Italian-American screenwriter and film director.
Early life
Born in Rome, Gregorini is the daughter of former "Bond girl" Barbara Bach and business ...
. Ferguson had a supporting role in the independent comedy, ''
Douchebag'', directed by
Drake Doremus
Drake Doremus (; born March 29, 1983) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer best known for directing the films ''Like Crazy'' (2011), which won the Grand Jury Prize Dramatic at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, ''Douchebag (film) ...
, which premiered at the
2010 Sundance Film Festival
The 26th annual Sundance Film Festival was held from January 21, 2010, until January 31, 2010, in Park City, Utah, Park City, Utah.
Awards
*Grand Jury Prize: Documentary - ''Restrepo (film), Restrepo''
*Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic - ''Winter's Bone ...
. She had also appeared in the director's 2009 film, ''Spooner''.
In 2012, Ferguson played a department store model in ''
The Master'', directed by
Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. Often described as one of the most preeminent writer-directors of his generation, List of awards and nominations received by Paul Thomas Anders ...
, and starring
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character actor, character roles—eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical productio ...
,
Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Rafael Phoenix ( ; ; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. Widely described as one of the most preeminent actors of his generation and known for Joaquin Phoenix filmography, his roles as dark, unconventional and eccentric charact ...
and
Amy Adams
Amy Lou Adams (born August 20, 1974) is an American actress. Known for both her comedic and dramatic roles, she has been featured three times in annual rankings of the world's highest-paid actresses. She has received List of awards and nom ...
. Ferguson appeared in ''Cold Turkey'', with
Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. He started out his career as a young actor studying under Stella Adler before working as a film critic for ''Fi ...
,
Cheryl Hines
Cheryl Ruth Hines (born September 21, 1965) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her role as Cheryl David on HBO's ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' (2000–2024), earning two Emmy Awards, Primetime Emmy Award nominations. She also ...
and
Alicia Witt
Alicia Roanne Witt (born August 21, 1975) is an American actress and musician. She first came to fame as a child actress after being discovered by David Lynch, who cast her in ''Dune'' (1984) and ''Twin Peaks'' (1990). Witt was a regular on Cyb ...
. Set in
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...
, the film looked at turmoil amidst an upper-class family's
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...
get-together. She guest starred as Lily Anne on season 2 of
the CW
The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
series, ''
Hart of Dixie
''Hart of Dixie'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The CW from September 26, 2011, to March 27, 2015. The series, created by Leila Gerstein, stars Rachel Bilson as Dr. Zoe Hart, a New Yorker who, after her dreams of ...
''.
In 2016, Ferguson was cast as the lead, Inanna, in ''Split'', a film by
Deborah Kampmeier.
Ferguson has also appeared in advertisements for
American Eagle Outfitters
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. is an American clothing and accessories retailer headquartered at SouthSide Works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1977 by brothers Jerry and Mark Silverman as a subsidiary of Retail Ventures, Inc ...
.
Filmography
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Amy
American film actresses
Living people
American television actresses
Actresses from Ohio
Female models from Ohio
21st-century American women
Year of birth missing (living people)