Ellie Reed is an American

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

who has worked primarily in theatre and television. She is known for playing the best friend of the main character in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''

Girlboss Girlboss is a neologism which denotes a woman "whose success is defined in opposition to the masculine business world in which she swims upstream". Popularised by Sophia Amoruso in her 2014 book ''Girlboss'', the concept's ethos has been descri ...

''.

Early life

Reed was born in Deerfield,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. She graduated from

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 ...

, and further studied improv programs at

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre op ...

Conservatory and

iO Theater iO, or iO Chicago, (formerly known as "ImprovOlympic") is an improv theater and training center in central Chicago, with a former branch in Los Angeles, called iO West and in Raleigh, North Carolina called iO South. The theater taught and hosted p ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Theatre career

Reed joined the Griffin Theatre (

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) in 2011 and starred in the productions "No More Dead Dogs," "Letters Home," and "Men Should Weep." She was also involved in the founding of and was casting director of the Buzz22 theatre company in Chicago, where she starred in "Hooters: A Play" and "Quake," as well as "She Kills Monsters" which was part of

Steppenwolf Theatre Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theatre company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Unitarian church on Half Day Road in Deerfield, Illinois and is now located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood on H ...

Garage Rep's 2013 production. Her play ''The Beecher Sisters'' had its premiere at Chicago’s Awkward Pause Theatre in 2015.

Film and television career

Reed made her debut screen appearance in the short film ''Positive Comment'' in 2010 and went on to appear in three episodes of ''Touch 'n Dix '' in 2012. Since then she has appeared in such TV series as ''

Betrayal Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. Ofte ...

'', ''

Chicago P.D. The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind th ...

'', ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'', ''Future You'', and ''

2 Broke Girls ''2 Broke Girls'' (stylized ''2 Broke Girl$'') is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 19, 2011, to April 17, 2017. The series was produced for Warner Bros. Television and created by Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cumm ...

''. Reed landed a main supporting role as Annie, the best friend of Sophia played by

Britt Robertson Brittany Leanna Robertson (born April 18, 1990) is an American actress. She is known for her lead role in '' The First Time'' (2012), and has appeared in the films ''Tomorrowland'' (2015), '' The Space Between Us'' (2017), ''A Dog's Purpose'' ...

in ''

'' for 13 episodes in 2017. In 2018, Reed played Sarah Green in the pilot episode of the 2018

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 ...

reboot of ''

The Greatest American Hero ''The Greatest American Hero'' is an American comedy-drama Superhero fiction, superhero television series that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour pilot movie on March 1 ...

''. In 2019, Reed played the leading role in the film ''Big House'', which was due to have its world premiere at the

RiverRun International Film Festival The RiverRun International Film Festival is an annual Oscar-qualifying film festival held each spring in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The festival is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and presents a variety of feature-length and short films fro ...

in April 2020. In 2020 she had a brief cameo in the

Brooklyn Nine-Nine ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural comedy television series that aired on Fox, and later on NBC. The show aired from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for a total of eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Dan G ...

episode as Kayla in the episode Lights Out, and starred as Camilla’s girlfriend in

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

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

series ''

Diary of a Future President ''Diary of a Future President'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Ilana Peña which premiered on Disney+ on January 17, 2020. Gina Rodriguez serves as an executive producer through her company I Can & I Will Productions, wh ...

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre productions

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * /boxangeles.com/2018/07/22/ba-237-ellie-reed/ Ellie Reed on Box Angeles {{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Ellie 1988 births 21st-century American actresses Living people Actresses from Illinois Northwestern University alumni People from Deerfield, Illinois Steppenwolf Theatre Company players