Tracee Chimo Pallero is an American stage, television and film actress who became an arts critic favorite
after her 2012 breakout role as Daphna Feygenbaum, the antagonist in
Joshua Harmon’s hit dark comedy ''
Bad Jews''.
In 2018 she married Canadian cameraman Richard Joseph Pallero, after meeting and falling in love on the set of her first television series,
TBS’ cult comedy
''People of Earth''.
Early life
Chimo was born in
Saugus,
. Her father is of
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
n descent and her mother is of
Irish and
Italian ancestry (her father is an Albanian Orthodox Christian, and her mother is
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
). She splits her time between living in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Career
Chimo's 2010 work in the plays ''Bachelorette'' and ''
Circle Mirror Transformation'' was praised by Erik Piepenburg of ''
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 ...
'', who lauded Chimo for transforming herself into two characters so distinct from one another, commenting, "If, at the same time, you could meet the shy, expressionless Lauren, mumbling into the wall of her red hoodie, and the glittering, claws-extended Regan, the meanest predator on the hunt, it would be hard to believe that they are the same person underneath. And maybe they aren’t — even if the actress Tracee Chimo channeled those characters to critical acclaim in two
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 ...
plays this season." Chimo's performance in ''Mirror'' was also singled out by
Elisabeth Vincentelli
Elisabeth Vincentelli is a French-born, New York-based arts and culture journalist. She is a regular contributor to ''The New York Times’ Arts section''. She served as the chief drama critic for the ''New York Post'' from 2009 until 2016, havin ...
of the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'', who called her "a master of the comic silent reaction."
In 2012,
Charles Isherwood
Charles Isherwood (born 1964/65) is an American theater critic.
Education
Isherwood is a graduate of Stanford University.
Career
Isherwood wrote for '' Backstage West'' in Los Angeles. In 1993, he joined the staff of ''Variety'', where he was pr ...
of ''The New York Times'', who also noted Chimo's performances in these two productions, called her work in the Broadway revival of ''
Harvey
Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit
* Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...
'' "excellent". Echoing other critic's, Isherwood stated, "What's most startling about this actress is her versatility: she seems to be almost physically transformed from performance to performance, so deeply does she burrow into her characters’ identities. I didn’t recognize her at all, with her hair a frizzy
nimbus of angry-looking dark curls and her face scrubbed free of makeup, in keeping with Daphna’s righteous self-seriousness."
In 2016,
TBS premiered the TV comedy series ''
People of Earth
''People of Earth'' is an American science fiction sitcom television series created by David Jenkins about a support group for alien abductees, as well as the aliens who had abducted them. TBS ordered the pilot under the name ''The Group'' in ...
'', on which Chimo plays Chelsea Healey.
Awards and nominations
2014
Lucille Lortel
Lucille Lortel (née Wadler, December 16, 1900 – April 4, 1999) was an American actress, artistic director, and theatrical producer. In the course of her career Lortel produced or co-produced nearly 500 plays, five of which were nominated for ...
Win for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play" for ''
Bad Jews''
2013 Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for "Outstanding Lead Actress - ''Bad Jews''
2013 Drama League Award nomination for "Distinguished Performance - ''Bad Jews''
2013 Rising Star Award - Winner from the
Salem State University Alumni Association
2011 Stage Scene Award LA for "Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Drama" for her work in
Neil LaBute
Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best-known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, ''In the Company of Men'' (1997), which won awards from the Sundance Fi ...
's ''The Break of Noon''
2011
Clarence Derwent Award on June 14 for "Most Promising Actress in New York City"
2011 Lucille Lortel Nomination for "Outstanding Lead Actress" in ''Bachelorette''
2010
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...
for "Outstanding Ensemble Performance" in ''
Circle Mirror Transformation''
2010
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...
for ''Circle Mirror Transformation''
2010 Lucille Lortel Nomination for "Outstanding Featured Actress" in ''Circle Mirror Transformation''
Filmography
Film
Television
Theatre
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chimo, Tracee
1983 births
Living people
American people of Albanian descent
American people of Italian descent
American people of Irish descent
21st-century American actresses
Actresses from Massachusetts
People from Saugus, Massachusetts