Anna Gunn (born August 11, 1968) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Skyler White on the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

drama series ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underpaid, overqualified, and dispirited hig ...

'' (2008–2013), for which she won the

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

for

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre-, or even gender-, specific. Begin ...

in 2013 and 2014. She has also played Jean Ward in ''

The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy in 1 ...

'' (1997–2002), and

Martha Bullock Martha Marguerite Eccles Bullock (1851–1939) was an American pioneer woman who was the wife of Seth Bullock, one of the leading citizens in early Deadwood, South Dakota. She and Bullock were married in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1874. Martha Bul ...

in '' Deadwood'' (2004–2006).

Early life

Gunn was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, but grew up in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

. She is the daughter of Sharon Anna Kathryn "Shana" Gunn (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Peters), an interior designer, and Clemens Earl Gunn Jr., who worked in real estate. She graduated from

Santa Fe Preparatory School Santa Fe Preparatory School is a private school located in Santa Fe, New Mexico The school provides grades 7-12 with an enrollment of 340 students. It was founded in February 1961. History The school was founded in February 1961. The school op ...

in 1986, then attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, where she majored in theater and graduated in 1990. In the fall of 1988, she spent a semester abroad to study at the

British American Drama Academy The British American Drama Academy is a drama school in London, in the United Kingdom. It is affiliated with Sarah Lawrence College and Yale University. Background The British American Drama Academy (BADA) was founded in 1983 by Tony Branch and ...

. She moved to

Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles Laurel Canyon is a mountainous neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills region of the Santa Monica Mountains, within the Hollywood Hills West district of Los Angeles, California. The main thoroughfare of Laurel Canyon Boulevard connects the neighb ...

, where she shared a house with

Pamela Adlon Pamela Fionna Adlon (; ; born July 9, 1966) is an American actress. She is known for voicing Bobby Hill in the animated comedy series ''King of the Hill'' (1997–2010), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. She also voiced Baloo in '' Jung ...

Career

Gunn is known for her role as Skyler White in the

drama series ''

'', for which she was nominated for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre-, or even gender-, specific. Begin ...

in 2012, 2013 and 2014, winning in 2013 and 2014. In August 2013, she wrote an op-ed piece for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' examining the public dislike directed toward her character. Anna Gunn and Aaron Paul, May 2009 (4)

Gunn had a recurring role as Assistant District Attorney Jean Ward on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

series ''

'' from 1997 to 2002, and was series regular

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

's '' Deadwood'' from 2005 to 2006. She appeared on ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

'' in the episode "

The Glasses "The Glasses" is the third episode of the fifth season of the American sitcom ''Seinfeld''. The 67th episode of the series overall, it was written by the writing team Tom Gammill and Max Pross, their respective debuts for the series, and directe ...

", in the '' Six Feet Under'' episode "Parallel Play", and on the first season of '' Murder One''. She provided the voice of

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video series based on the novel series ...

in the ''

Legacy of Kain ''Legacy of Kain'' is a series of dark fantasy action-adventure video games primarily developed by Crystal Dynamics and formerly published by Eidos Interactive, then Square Enix Europe after 2009. The first title, '' Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain ...

'' series of video games, and appeared in the ''

Quantum Leap ''Quantum Leap'' is an American science fiction television series, created by Donald P. Bellisario, that premiered on NBC and aired for five seasons, from March 26, 1989, to May 5, 1993. The series stars Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a physi ...

'' episode "The Play's the Thing". In 2011, she had a lead role in the Lifetime movie ''Secrets of Eden'', opposite

John Stamos John Phillip Stamos ( ; born August 19, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He first gained recognition for his contract role as Blackie Parrish on the ABC television soap opera ''General Hospital'', for which he was nominated for the Da ...

. Her other film credits include ''

Without Evidence ''Without Evidence'' is a 1996 thriller film directed and co-written by Gill Dennis in his first and last film he directed. It stars Scott Plank, Anna Gunn, Angelina Jolie, Paul Perri, and Andrew Prine. It was co-written by Dennis and Phil Stanf ...

'', ''

Enemy of the State An enemy of the state is a person accused of certain crimes against the state such as treason, among other things. Describing individuals in this way is sometimes a manifestation of political repression. For example, a government may purport to m ...

'', ''

Treading Water Treading water or water treading is what a Human swimming, swimmer can do while in a vertical position to keep their head above the surface of the water, while not providing sufficient directional thrust to overcome inertia and propel the swimmer ...

'', ''

Twelve Mile Road ''Twelve Mile Road'' is a 2003 American drama television film written and directed by Richard Friedenberg, based on the 1994 novel ''Mystery Ride'' by Robert Boswell. The film stars Tom Selleck, Wendy Crewson, Maggie Grace, Anna Gunn, and Patric ...

'', and ''

Red State Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to U.S. states whose voters vote predominantly for one party — the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in b ...

''. In February 2013, cable network

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

announced that Gunn would star in a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

for a one-hour TV drama, ''Rita'', based on a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

TV series about a private-school teacher and mother. The Fox TV Studios pilot was to be written by

Krista Vernoff Krista Vernoff (born October 25, 1971) is an American television screenwriter, executive producer and director. She is best known for running the television medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2007–11, 2017–present) and its spin-off ''Station 1 ...

and directed by Miguel Arteta. In 2014, Gunn starred

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 ...

with

Billy Magnussen William Gregory Magnussen (born April 20, 1985) is an American actor. He has been featured in the films ''Into the Woods'' (2014), ''Birth of the Dragon'' (2016), '' Game Night'' (2018), and '' Aladdin'' (2019), and has had supporting television ...

in ''Sex with Strangers'', directed by

David Schwimmer David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom ''Friends'', for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Primeti ...

Second Stage Theater Second Stage Theater is a theater company founded in 1979 by Robyn Goodman and Carole Rothman and located in Manhattan, New York City. It produces both new plays and revivals of contemporary American plays by new playwrights and established wri ...

. She starred in the 2016 film ''

Equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...

''. Billed as the first female-driven

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

movie, it premiered at the

2016 Sundance Film Festival The 2016 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 21 to January 31, 2016. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 2, 2015. The opening night film was ''Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You'', directed by Heidi Ew ...

. In 2019, Gunn starred as Maxine Faulk in the Noël Coward Theater limited-time production of

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

' ''

The Night of the Iguana ''The Night of the Iguana'' is a stage play written by American author Tennessee Williams. It is based on his 1948 short story. In 1959, Williams staged it as a one-act play, and over the next two years he developed it into a full-length play, p ...

''.

Personal life

Gunn married Scottish actor and real estate broker Alastair Duncan in 1990. They divorced in 2009. They have two daughters, Eila Rose and Emma.

Filmography

Gunn in 2013

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunn, Anna 1968 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Santa Fe, New Mexico American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American video game actresses American voice actresses Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners Living people Northwestern University School of Communication alumni Alumni of the British American Drama Academy