Molly Parker is a well-known Canadian actress for her roles in independent films and television. At the age of three, she began ballet lessons, and at the age of fourteen, she discovered her affinity for acting. She frequently participated in high school plays and the drama society. Soon thereafter, her actor uncle introduced her to his agency, and she began attending auditions. Gradually, she began to receive minor roles in American and Canadian television series and films. Her career was altered by her portrayal of a necrophiliac woman in the film Kissed. She won the Genie Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance. She was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal in the provocative film ‘The Center of the World’. This versatile actress is well-known in the United States for portraying a widow in the cable-television series ‘Deadwood’. She gained critical acclaim for her performance as the daughter of a lesbian military officer in the television film ‘Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story’.
Early Life & Childhood
In Maple Ridge, British Columbia, not far from Vancouver, Molly Parker was born on June 30, 1972. Her parents ran a fish market in Pitt Meadows, although she grew up on a farm. She began taking ballet lessons at age three and continued until she was seventeen. She also went to see the Canadian Royal Winnipeg Ballet. She discovered her love for acting at the age of 14 and started performing in local drama club performances and high school plays.
At the age of 15, she signed up with her actor uncle’s agency and enjoyed the audition process. She gradually started landing modest roles in Canadian and American television shows and movies over the course of the following few years. She signed up for a three-year training with Mel Austin Tuck at Vancouver’s Gastown Actors’ Studio after obtaining acting awards and scholarships. She studied voice and singing at the same time.
Molly Parker’s Career
Molly Parker received a few cameo appearances throughout the early stages of her career in shows like “Neon Rider” and “Outer Limits.” She played Alice Ramsey in the 1995 “Highlander: The Series” episode “The Wrath of Kali.”
In the 1995 television film “Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story,” she had her breakout performance as the lesbian military officer’s daughter. The film won numerous honors when it aired on NBC.
She also acted as the niece of Susan Lucci’s character “Scrooge” in the 1995 television film “Ebbie.” Lifetime television broadcast the movie. A female figure stood in for the original Ebenezer Scrooge in this adaptation of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.”
Her career was altered by Molly Parker’s part in the 1996 movie “Kissed.” Her friend the cameraman had urged her to try out for a part in one of his low-budget movies. She met the director of “Kissed” because to this audition. Lynne Stopkewich. A woman who enjoys necrophilia was the subject of the movie. She not only accepted to participate in the movie but also grew close to Stopkewich.
She gained a lot of opportunities as a result of the well-received critical reception to her performance in “Kissed.” In the love story “Waking the Dead,” directed and written by Keith Gordon, Egg Pictures contacted her about playing the lead.
She portrayed the brash character of a lap dancer named Florence in the 2001 movie “The Center of the World.” The movie was likened to other films like “Exotica” and “Pretty Woman,” and it earned mixed reviews. She also worked on the films “Rare Birds” and “Last Wedding,” both of which were directed by Sturla Gunnarsson in the same year.
Molly Parker has a great television career in addition to her work in movies. She portrayed a rabbi in the TV episodes “Back to the Garden” and “The Liar and the Whore” of the show “Six Feet Under,” in which she also made an appearance.
Alan Ball was the creator and producer of the American television drama “Six Feet Under,” which debuted on the HBO network and lasted for five seasons. The television series received favorable reviews and was listed among TIME magazine’s “All-TIME 100 TV Shows.” She appeared in the HBO series “Deadwood” from 2004 to 2006. The 36-episode series was co-created and produced by David Milch. The series was widely praised and received several honors.
She portrayed Susan Miller, the lead character, in the 2008 season of the CBS drama “Swingtown.” The program focused on the effects of sexual and social liberty in 1970s suburban United States households. The American Family Association and the Parents Television Council protested the broadcast, which led to the series becoming embroiled in a dispute. Additionally, Procter & Gamble and Ace Hardware ceased running ads on the show.
In the television show “Shattered,” she portrayed Ella Sullivan, the series’ protagonist, in 2010. In the Canadian police procedural series, Molly is portrayed as the wife of a strong homicide detective who has numerous personalities. She starred in the TV movie “Gone” in 2011 as Amy Kettering. She worked on four episodes of Dexter, a criminal drama mystery, that same year. She also worked on the Meet Jane TV movie that same year.
She portrayed Donna Cantwell in the Julia Dyer-directed movie “The Playroom” in 2012. In the HBO film “Hemingway & Gellhorn,” she portrayed Pauline Hemingway on television. In the television series “The Firm,” she also originated the role of Abby McDeere. This Canadian-American TV show debuted on NBC before moving to AXN.
In the second season of the Netflix series “House of Cards,” she played a congresswoman called Jacqueline Sharp in 2014.
In the following two seasons, she continued to portray this part. She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in recognition of her potent performance in this American political thriller. She appeared in the 2016 season of the legal drama “Goliath” on Amazon Video. The announcement for its second season came in February 2017. She also had a role in the 2016 Benjamin Duffield-helmed science fiction movie Darwin from Canada. She portrayed Dalton in the Canadian-American supernatural thriller ‘The 9th Life of
Louis Drax’ that same year, which was directed by Alexandre Aja. She portrayed Laura at the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of the Canadian movie “Weirdos.” She received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role as a result of her portrayal. She made an appearance as Dr. Sheila Smith in the movie “American Pastoral” that same year. In the E. L. Katz-directed movie “Small Crimes” from 2017, she portrayed Charlotte Boyd.
In the American horror thriller movie “1922,” which debuted on Netflix in October 2017, she also played Arlette James. She performed the title character of Alice Olson in the December 2016 Netflix release of the six-part docudrama miniseries “Wormwood” in the same year. In the American science fiction television series “Lost in Space,” she started portraying Maureen Robinson in the lead role in 2018. It was made available on Netflix in April 2018, and a second season was confirmed in May of that same year.
In Josephine Decker’s 2018 film “Madeline’s Madeline,” in which she portrayed Evangeline, Decker wrote and directed the movie. In January 2018, the Sundance Film Festival presented the movie, and in February 2018, the Berlin Film Festival screened it. The American movie won praise from critics.
The Big Works
The Toronto Film Festival hosted the world premiere of “Kissed,” one of Molly Parker’s most well-known movies. We So Seldom Look On Love by Barbara Gowdy served as its inspiration. Sandra Larson, played by Molly Parker, is a character who enrolls in a mortuary school to study embalming and develops a sexual attraction to the corpses. As Matt, Peter Outerbridge also appears in the movie. Samuel Goldwyn Ltd. distributed the movie “Kissed,” which received a special jury citation. In addition to being on the cover of “Variety,” Molly received the Genie Award for Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.
In the 2001 movie “The Center of the World,” critics complimented her portrayal as a lap dancer. It was directed by Wayne Wang and starred Molly and Peter Sarsgaard as a wealthy man who hires a lap dancer to stay with him in Las Vegas for three days. At the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, the movie was shown. For her work in the movie, she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best female lead.
Molly’s Private Life
Director, writer, and producer Matt Bissonnette was married to Molly Parker in 2002. After their separation in 2009, they divorced in 2012. On October 13, 2006, their son William Strummer Bissonnette was born.
Estimated Net Worth
Canadian actress Molly Parker has a net worth of $4 million. Molly Parker’s breakthrough performance was as a necrophilic medical student in the 1996 film “Kissed.” Since then, she has appeared in a number of films, particularly independent films, such as “Waking the Dead,” “The Center of the World,” “Pure,” “Nine Lives,” and “Madeline’s Madeline.” Parker has also appeared in a number of critically acclaimed television series, including “Deadwood,” “Dexter,” “House of Cards,” and “Wormwood.”