Ariel Geltman Graynor (born April 27, 1983) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the television series ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

'' (2001), ''

Fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts and music * "The Fringe", or Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * Purple fri ...

'' (2009-2010), ''

Bad Teacher ''Bad Teacher'' is a 2011 American comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky. The film stars Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Lucy Punch, John Michael Higgins, and Jason Segel, and follows a cynic ...

'' (2014), '' I'm Dying Up Here'' (2017), and '' Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story'' (2024). In film, she has starred in '' Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'' (2008), ''

The Sitter ''The Sitter'' is a 2011 American black comedy film directed by David Gordon Green and written by Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka. The film follows a slacker college student (played by Jonah Hill) who, after being suspended, is forced by h ...

'' (2011), '' For a Good Time, Call...'' (2012), and ''

The Disaster Artist ''The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made'' is a 2013 non-fiction book written by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell, in which the former details the troubled development and production of the panned 2003 cult ...

'' (2017).

Early life

Graynor was born April 27, 1983, in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, the daughter of Joani Geltman, a parenting expert, and Greg Graynor, a contractor. Her mother is from a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family; her father is from a Polish and

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

background, and

converted to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( or ) is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. "Thus, by convertin ...

. Graynor was raised Jewish. Her paternal grandfather's surname was changed from "Gryzna". She attended Buckingham Browne & Nichols, a private school in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

(Class of 2001), and Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut. During a June 29, 2017, CBS late-night interview with

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...

, promoting '' I'm Dying Up Here'', she mentioned she went to a prom with future congressman Joe Kennedy III.

Career

Graynor first came to prominence as Caitlin Rucker on season 3 of HBO's ''

''. Her film credits include '' An American Crime'' (2007), which premiered in January 2007 at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. She also appeared early in the second season of UPN's ''

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen neo-noir Mystery fiction, mystery Drama (film and television), drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional city, fictional town of Ne ...

'' as the daughter of a bus driver. She made her Broadway debut as 'Alison' in 2005's '' Brooklyn Boy'' after appearing in the world premiere at

South Coast Repertory South Coast Repertory (SCR) is a professional theatre company located in Costa Mesa, California. South Coast Repertory was founded in 1964. It has three stages and presents plays from all eras. SCR producers new plays, Theatre for Young Audiences ...

. She also appeared in '' The Little Dog Laughed''. Graynor played Elvina, a pop star, in '' CSI: Miami'', and was a recurring guest star on the Fox series ''

'', playing Agent Olivia Dunham's younger sister, Rachel. In 2008, Graynor appeared in the film ''

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist ''Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'' is a 2008 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Peter Sollett and starring Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, Alexis Dziena, Ari Graynor, Aaron Yoo and Jay Baruchel. Written by Lorene Scafaria and ...

'', and in October 2009, she also was in '' Whip It'', a comedy film directed by

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, talk show host, and businesswoman. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she has received multiple List of awards and nominations received by Drew Barrymore, awards a ...

and written by Shauna Cross, based on Cross' young adult novel '' Derby Girl''. In 2010, she appeared in the play ''Trust'' at the

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 tha ...

Second Stage theatre company with

Sutton Foster Sutton Lenore Foster (born March 18, 1975) is an American actress. She is known for her work on the Broadway stage, for which she has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical seven times, winning in 2002 for her role as ...

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 ...

, and

Bobby Cannavale Bobby Cannavale (; born May 3, 1970) is an American actor. His breakthrough came with the leading role as FDNY Paramedic Roberto "Bobby" Caffey in the NBC series ''Third Watch'', which he played from 1999 to 2001. Cannavale received the Pri ...

. In the fall of 2011, she appeared on Broadway in the

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

-written segment of three one-act comedies collectively called '' Relatively Speaking''. She played Nina Roth in Allen's “Honeymoon Motel” segment. In 2012, Graynor starred in the comedy '' For a Good Time, Call...'', and is also credited as the film's executive producer. Graynor starred on Broadway opposite Cheyenne Jackson,

Henry Winkler Henry Franklin Winkler (born October 30, 1945) is an American actor, producer, director, and author. Widely known as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1974–1984), Winkler has distinguished himself as a character acto ...

, and

Alicia Silverstone Alicia Silverstone ( ; born October 4, 1976) is an American actress. She made her film debut in the thriller ''The Crush (1993 film), The Crush'' (1993), earning the 1994 MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and gained further pro ...

in David West Read's play '' The Performers'', which opened November 2012 at the

Longacre Theatre The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1913, it was designed by Henry B. Herts and is named for Longacre Square, the former ...

. She appeared in ''Yen'', a play by Anna Jordan. ''Yen'' opened off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on January 31, 2017, directed by Trip Cullman. In 2024, she starred as Leslie Abramson, Erik Menendez's lead attorney, in the Netflix crime drama series '' Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graynor, Ari 1983 births Actresses from Boston American film actresses American people of Polish descent Jewish American actresses American television actresses Living people Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni 21st-century American actresses Buckingham Browne & Nichols School alumni 21st-century American Jews Jewish actresses