Carly Chaikin is an American actress. Her acting career began in 2009 and she received her breakout role two years later, co-starring as Dalia Royce in the ABC sitcom ''

Suburgatory ''Suburgatory'' is an American television sitcom created by Emily Kapnek that aired on ABC from September 28, 2011, to May 14, 2014. The series originally aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30/7:30 Central following '' The Middle''. The title is a ...

''. She played the role until the series' cancellation in 2014, and one year later began playing the role of Darlene in the

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

thriller drama series ''

Mr. Robot ''Mr. Robot'' is an American drama thriller television series created by Sam Esmail for USA Network. It stars Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson, a cybersecurity engineer and hacker with social anxiety disorder, clinical depression, and dissoci ...

''.

Early life

Chaikin was born in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, to a cardiologist father and a psychotherapist mother. She was raised

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 ...

and has a sister. She attended The Archer School for Girls and the New Roads School. During this time she played a variety of sports, including volleyball, softball, basketball, and soccer.

Career

2009–2011: Early career

Chaikin knew she wanted to be an actress since she was 11. During high school, she decided to forgo college and dedicate herself to acting. In 2009, Chaikin landed the role of Veronica in the film ''The Consultants'', released December 4, 2010 in the US. The same year, Chaikin starred alongside

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

in the film adaptation of

Nicholas Sparks Nicholas Charles Sparks (born December 31, 1965) is an American novelist, screenwriter, and film producer. He has published twenty-three novels, all ''New York Times'' bestsellers, and two works of nonfiction, with over 115 million copies sold ...

' '' The Last Song'', initially released in the US on March 31, 2010. She played the role of Blaze, the

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.

2011–2014: Early television work and ''Suburgatory''

In 2011, Chaikin was cast as Dalia Oprah Royce in the ABC sitcom ''

'' alongside Jeremy Sisto and

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 ...

. Chaikin's character, Dalia, was the mean girl to Jane Levy's Tessa, Her performance received universal acclaim; she quickly became a fan favorite and her performance a popular highlight of the show. Chaikin originally auditioned for the role of Tessa. Chaikin wrote a series of articles as her character, Dalia, for the magazine, ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

.'' As her character, Dalia, she shot a music video called "You Missed A Spot." In 2013, Chaikin was nominated for the

Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series The Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series is one of the award categories presented annually by the Critics' Choice Television Awards (BTJA) to recognize the work done by television actresses. Winners an ...

for her role in ''Suburgatory'' and was discussed as a potential Emmy nomination. The series ended its run on May 14, 2014. Chaikin appeared in the 2012 independent film '' My Uncle Rafael'' starring John Michael Higgins. In addition to acting, Chaikin is a writer and producer of short films, including ''Happy Fucking Birthday'', and ''Nowhere to Go'', which was honored at the First Glance Film Festival in 2013.

2014–2019: ''Mr. Robot''

In September 2014, Chaikin was cast in the

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

, ''

'', starring

Rami Malek Rami Said Malek (; , ; born May 12, 1981) is an American actor. He is known for portraying computer hacker Elliot Alderson in the USA Network television series '' Mr. Robot'' (2015–2019), for which he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Ou ...

("Elliot") and

Christian Slater Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor. He made his film debut with a leading role in '' The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakout role as Jason "J.D." Dean, a sociopath ...

("Mr. Robot"). She plays the programmer Darlene, one of the show's central characters, who is a member of the fsociety group and writes malicious

rootkit A rootkit is a collection of computer software, typically malicious, designed to enable access to a computer or an area of its software that is not otherwise allowed (for example, to an unauthorized user) and often masks its existence or the exist ...

code. Chaikin auditioned for the roles of both Angela and Darlene. She said that it was a great pilot and that the bad-ass nature of the character really appealed to her. ''Mr. Robot'' has received widespread critical acclaim. At the 2015

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

film festival, the show won the Audience Award for Episodic TV shows. Chaikin was a series regular for all four seasons of ''Mr. Robot''. Carly Chaikin NAMI

During the five years Chaikin was involved with ''Mr. Robot'', she also appeared in three independent films, the 2015 thriller ''Bad Blood'', the 2017 comedy ''People You May Know'', and the 2018 rom-com ''

Social Animals Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies. Sociality is a survival response to evolutionary pressures. For example, when a mother wasp ...

,'' as well as filmed the currently unreleased film ''Last Moment of Clarity''. In 2015, Chaikin guest-starred on

Marc Maron Marc David Maron (born September 27, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer, actor, and musician. In the 1990s and 2000s, Maron was a frequent guest on the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' and appeared more than forty times ...

's TV show, ''

Maron Maron, also called Maroun or Maro (, '; , '; ; ), was a 4th-century Syriac Christian hermit monk in the Taurus Mountains whose followers, after his death, founded a religious Christian movement that became known as the Maronite Church, in full ...

'', as Tina, a college teaching assistant whom Marc's friend (played by

Adam Goldberg Adam Goldberg (born October 25, 1970) is an American actor. Known for his supporting roles in film and television, Goldberg has appeared in films such as '' Dazed and Confused'', ''Saving Private Ryan'', '' A Beautiful Mind'' and ''Zodiac''. He ...

) has slept with. In 2019, she was featured in the New Years episode of Hulu's horror

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

'' Into the Dark''. Additionally, Chaikin has been a guest judge on Project Runway two times; in season 15 (2016) and season 16 (2017).

2020s

In February 2021, it was announced that Chaikin was developing her television series ''Messy'' with Miramax TV, with Chaikin writing, starring, and also showrunning with producer Liz Brizius.

Personal life

Chaikin is also a painter, focusing on acrylics and oil, with some mixed media collage. Although she took painting classes growing up, Chaikin says that she is mostly self-taught. In 2012 she had 11 tattoos, one of which features song lyrics by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

. Chaikin has been involved with the charitable organization

National Alliance on Mental Illness The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is a United States–based nonprofit organization originally founded as a grassroots group by family members of people diagnosed with mental illness. NAMI identifies its mission as "providing advoca ...

, which conducts research and support for people and their families impacted by mental illness. She served as emcee of NAMIWalks in both 2016 and 2017, as well as raising money for the organization and matching incoming donations. She has recorded

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. Oftentimes these messages feature unsettling imagery, ideas or behaviors that are des ...

s for the group. On September 3, 2018, Chaikin announced that she was engaged to her longtime boyfriend, television director Ryan Bunnell. The two wed in November 2021 and lived in Los Angeles together. In February 2023 Bunnell filed for divorce from Chaikin, citing irreconcilable differences.

Filmography

Film

Television

Shorts and web series

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaikin, Carly Living people 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Santa Monica, California American film actresses American television actresses Jewish American actresses Mental health activists 21st-century American Jews Year of birth missing (living people)