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

The Cabin in the Woods ''The Cabin in the Woods'' is a 2011 science fiction horror comedy 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 Hutchison, ...

'', Christina Gallagher on 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 ''

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 structu ...

'' and Jamie Campbell on the

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 Entertainm ...

series ''

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

''.

Career

Connolly began her career with recurring roles on several

CollegeHumor CollegeHumor is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles. Aside from producing content for release on YouTube, it was also a former humor website owned by InterActiveCorp ( IAC) until January 2020, when IAC withdrew funding and the websi ...

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 ''Meet Dave'' is a 2008 American science fiction comedy film directed by Brian Robbins and written by Bill Corbett and Rob Greenberg. It stars Eddie Murphy in the title role, Elizabeth Banks, Gabrielle Union, Ed Helms, Scott Caan and Kevin Hart ...

'', 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. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

'' 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 soa ...

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

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...

Drew Goddard Andrew Brion Hogan Goddard (born February 26, 1975) is an American filmmaker. He began his career writing episodes for the television shows ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', ''Angel'', ''Alias'', and ''Lost''. After moving into screenwriting in fi ...

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 (before New York City wa ...

with Academy Award-winning

Adrien Brody Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring as Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's '' The Pianist'' (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Acto ...

playing

Harry Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...

. 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 is an American group from Los Angeles, California, who have scored hit records since the late 1960s. They are best known for their two number one R&B singles, " And the Beat Goes On" in 1980 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 of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

's short story of the same name.

Personal life

Connolly is a native of

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...

. 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 Actresses from New Jersey American film actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses Middlebury College alumni People from Montclair, New Jersey