Tess Frazer is an American actress from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She is best known for starring alongside

Michelle Dockery Michelle Suzanne Dockery (born 15 December 1981) is an English actress. She is best known for starring as List of Downton Abbey characters#Lady Mary Talbot, Lady Mary Crawley in the ITV (TV network), ITV television period drama series ''Downton ...

Merritt Wever Merritt Carmen Wever (born August 11, 1980) is an American actress. She had roles in the Showtime television series '' Nurse Jackie'' (2009–2015), ''The Walking Dead'' (2015–2016), '' Godless'' (2017), '' Welcome to Marwen'' (2018), '' Unb ...

, and

Jeff Daniels Jeffrey Warren Daniels (born February 19, 1955) is an American actor. He is known for his work on stage and screen playing diverse characters switching between comedy and drama. He is the recipient of several accolades, including two Primetime ...

when playing Callie Dunne in the

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

winning

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 ...

western TV miniseries '' Godless''.

Early life and education

A native New Yorker born into a family of actors, Tess has performed on stage in New York and beyond since she was a young child. Frazer is a graduate of the

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, often referred to simply as LaGuardia or "LaG", is a public High school (North America), high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, near Lincoln ...

of Music & Art and Performing Arts and trained at Maggie Flanigan Studio and

Circle in the Square Theatre The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, within the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. The current Broadway theater, completed in 1972, i ...

. She has studied and performed improv comedy at

IO Theater iO, or iO Chicago, (formerly known as ImprovOlympic) is an improv theater and training center in central Chicago. The theater teaches and hosts performances of improvisational comedy. It was founded in 1981 by Del Close and Charna Halpern. The ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois, as well as The PIT, Magnet, and UCB theaters in New York City.

Theatre

Tess originated the role of Lorna in the world premiere of award-winning playwright

Tracy Letts Tracy S. Letts (born July 4, 1965) is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He started his career at the Steppenwolf Theatre before making his Broadway debut as a playwright for '' August: Osage County'' (2007), for which he received t ...

's '' Mary Page Marlowe'' at the renowned

Steppenwolf Theatre Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Immaculate Conception grade school in Highland Park, Illinois and is now located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighbo ...

in Chicago. Directed by

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

-winning director Anna D. Shapiro, the play opened in April 2016 to rave reviews. Tess later reprised her role in the recent revival at

Second Stage Theater Second Stage Theater is a non-profit theater company that presents work by living American writers both on and off Broadway. It is based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and is affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Founded in 1979 ...

in New York City in the summer of 2018, directed by

Lila Neugebauer Lila Neugebauer (; born 1985) is an American theatre director, writer and artistic director. After studying at Yale University she started directing numerous theatrical productions. She came to prominence directing the Broadway revival of Kenne ...

Screen

Frazer made her feature debut in the 2015 television movie '' Fan Girl'' opposite

Meg Ryan Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra (born November 19, 1961), known by her stage name Meg Ryan, is an American actress. Known for her leading roles as quirky, charismatic women since the late 1980s, Ryan is particularly recognized for her work in ...

and

Kiernan Shipka Kiernan Brennan Shipka (born November 10, 1999) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as List of Mad Men characters#Sally Draper, Sally Draper in the AMC (TV channel), AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), and Sabrina Spe ...

playing Claire Bovary, a social media super-star who is as popular as she is kind. Tess next appeared alongside

Jesse Eisenberg Jesse Adam Eisenberg ( ; born October 5, 1983) is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. Recognized for playing smart but awkward characters in both comedies and dramas, his accolades include a British Academy Film Award and nominati ...

as Jane, a 1930s Hollywood secretary to

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He starred as Michael Scott in the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2011, 2013), and also worked at several points as a producer, executive producer, writer, a ...

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 ...

's ''

Cafe Society A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargile ...

''. Frazer was a series regular in the 2017

western limited series '' Godless'', playing Callie Dunne, a former prostitute turned schoolteacher, starring alongside

, Merritt Weaver and

. Tess also appears opposite

Emily Mortimer Emily Kathleen Anne Mortimer (born 6 October 1971) is a British and American actress and filmmaker. She began acting in stage productions and has since appeared in several film and television roles. In 2003, she won an Independent Spirit Award ...

in the romantic comedy/heist film ''

Write When You Get Work ''Write When You Get Work'' is a 2018 American comedy drama film written and directed by Stacy Cochran and starring Finn Wittrock, Rachel Keller, Scott Cohen, Jessica Hecht and Emily Mortimer. The film follows Ruth, a South Brooklyn native workin ...

'' as Ashley Spradlin, a trusted and caring school administrator.

Filmography

TV & film

Theater

References

External links

Steppenwolf.org

maggieflaniganstudio.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frazer, Tess Living people 1991 births 21st-century American actresses American film actresses American television actresses