Kristen Connolly (born July 12, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Dana Polk in the 2011 film ''

The Cabin in the Woods ''The Cabin in the Woods'' is a 2011 science fiction comedy horror film directed by Drew Goddard in his directorial debut, produced by Joss Whedon, and written by Whedon and Goddard. It stars Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchis ...

'', Christina Gallagher on the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series ''

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a struc ...

'' and Jamie Campbell on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

series ''

Zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

''.

Career

Connolly began her career with recurring roles on several

CollegeHumor Dropout, incorporated as CH Media and formerly known as CollegeHumor, is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles that produces content for release on its streaming service Dropout (streaming platform), Dropout as well as YouTube. Dropou ...

digital shorts. She appeared as an extra on the films ''

Mona Lisa Smile ''Mona Lisa Smile'' is a 2003 American drama film produced by Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures in association with Red Om Films Productions, directed by Mike Newell, written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, and starring Julia R ...

'', '' Meet Dave'', and '' The Happening''. She has also appeared on two

daytime soap operas with recurring roles on ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. ''Guiding Light'' aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio ...

'' and ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other so ...

''. She first gained mainstream recognition in 2012, after starring as the main protagonist Dana in the

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon ( ; born June 23, 1964) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, comic book writer, and composer. He is best known as the creator of several television series: the supernatural drama ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer' ...

Drew Goddard Andrew Brion Hogan Goddard (born February 26, 1975) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer most closely associated with the horror genre. He began his career writing episodes for the television shows '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', ...

film ''

''. She also starred in the horror film '' The Bay''. In 2013, she had a starring role as Christina Gallagher on the

series ''

''. On September 1, 2014 the A&E ''Houdini'' miniseries premiered with 3.7 million viewers, Connolly plays

Bess Houdini Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Houdini (née Rahner; January 23, 1876 – February 11, 1943) was an American stage assistant and wife of Harry Houdini. Biography Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner was born in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York (before ...

with Academy Award-winning

Adrien Brody Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Polish pianist Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's war drama '' The Pianist'' (2002) becoming the youngest acto ...

playing

Harry Houdini Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini ( ), was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts. Houdini first attracted notice in vaudeville in ...

. Connolly also portrayed Jamie, a passionate journalist in the

drama-thriller series ''

'' and co-starred as Lena in the drama series ''

The Whispers The Whispers are an American vocal group from Los Angeles, California. Scoring hit records since the late 1960s, they are best known for their two number-one R&B singles, " And the Beat Goes On" in 1979 and " Rock Steady" in 1987. The Whispers ...

''. In 2014 she portrayed Petra Anderson in the drama thriller film ''

A Good Marriage ''A Good Marriage'' is a novella by American writer Stephen King, published in the collection '' Full Dark, No Stars'' (2010). Plot Darcy Anderson has been married to Bob, an accountant from Portland, Maine, for 27 years. They have a happy yet ...

'', based on

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

's short story of the same name.

Personal life

Connolly was born and raised in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a commercial and cultural hub of North Jersey and a diverse ...

. She is married to Stephen O'Reilly, with whom she has two children.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Connolly, Kristen 1980 births Living people 21st-century American actresses American film actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses Middlebury College alumni Actresses from Montclair, New Jersey