Phyllis Nagy ( ; born November 7, 1962) is an American

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and film director, screenwriter and playwright. In 2006, Nagy was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for

writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...

and directing '' Mrs. Harris'' (2005), her screen debut. In 2016, Nagy received an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nomination, among numerous other accolades, for Best Adapted Screenplay for the 2015 film '' Carol''.

Life and career

Nagy was born in New York City and moved to London in 1992, where her playwriting career began in earnest at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

under the artistic direction of

Stephen Daldry Stephen David Daldry CBE (born 2 May 1960) is an English director and producer of film, theatre, and television. He has won three Olivier Awards for his work in the West End and three Tony Awards for his work on Broadway. He has received thr ...

for whom she served as the Royal Court's writer-in-residence in the mid-1990s. Nagy's plays have been performed in many countries. They include ''Weldon Rising'', first produced by the

in association with the

Liverpool Playhouse The Liverpool Playhouse is a theatre in Williamson Square in the city of Liverpool, England. It originated in 1866 as a music hall, and in 1911 developed into a repertory theatre. As such it nurtured the early careers of many actors and actres ...

in 1992
Butterfly Kiss
, first produced by the

Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diver ...

Company in 1994 (not to be confused with the Michael Winterbottom film of the same nam

; ''

The Scarlet Letter ''The Scarlet Letter: A Romance'' is a work of historical fiction by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850. Set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, ...

'', an adaptation of

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

's classic novel, commissioned and first produced by the Denver Centre Theatre in 1994; ''Trip's Cinch'', commissioned and first produced by the Actors Theatre of Louisville in 1994 and received its UK premiere in 2002; ''The Strip'', commissioned and first produced by the Royal Court Theatre in 1995; and ''Disappeared'', a joint winner of both the 1992 Mobil International Playwriting Prize and the 1995

Susan Smith Blackburn Prize The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize established in 1978, is the largest and oldest playwriting prize for women+ writing for English-speaking theatre. Named for Susan Smith Blackburn (1935–1977), alumna of Smith College, who died of breast cancer. W ...

. ''Disappeared'' premiered at the Royal Court in 1995 in a production directed by the author which subsequently toured the UK before a London run at the Royal Court Theatre. The play went on to win the

Writers' Guild of Great Britain The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), established in 1959, is a trade union for professional writers. It is affiliated with both the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG). History The un ...

Award for Best Regional Play and the Eileen Anderson/Central Television Award for Best Play. In February 1999, ''Disappeared'' was presented at the

Steppenwolf Theatre Company 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 ...

, Chicago by RoadWorks Productions. Nagy's most recent plays are ''Never Land'', which premiered at the

in January 1998, in a co-production with ''The Foundry''; and '' The Talented Mr. Ripley'', adapted from the novel by

Patricia Highsmith Patricia Highsmith (January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 novel ...

which premiered at the

Watford Palace Theatre Watford Palace Theatre, opened in 1908, is an Edwardian Grade II listed building in Watford, Hertfordshire. The 600-seat theatre on Clarendon Road was refurbished in 2004. It houses its own rehearsal room, wardrobe, cafe and bar. History The ...

, in October 1998, and later produced by the

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...

in February 1999. Her version of Anton Chekhov's ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises th ...

'' was produced at

Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Mart ...

in the summer of 2003. In 2005, Nagy directed a production of ''

'' at the same venue. Nagy wrote the screenplay for '' Carol'', an adaption of the 1952

novel '' The Price of Salt''. Nagy, who was a friend of Highsmith, wrote the first draft of the script in 1997. Nagy's second film as a director, '' Call Jane'', debuted at

2022 Sundance Film Festival The 2022 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 20 to 30, 2022. Due to COVID-19 pandemic protocol it was to have been a hybrid festival, but on January 5, 2022 it was announced that the in-person components would be scrapped in favor o ...

Personal life

Nagy is a lesbian. Speaking to HuffPost in 2015, she said: "I'm an out lesbian, I always have been and I think by leading my life openly as possible and trying to inspire other people to do that and help other people do that, I don't know if there could be a bigger commitment than that, to inspire people not to hide, let's say." Nagy has been critical about the film industry's portrayal of lesbians. In a ''Guardian'' interview, Nagy commented, “If we’re talking specifically about gay women, about who they’re allowed to be, who gets to make the movies, it’s generally men.”

Accolades

Nagy was nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards for

and directing '' Mrs. Harris'' (2006), her screen debut. The film starred

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and tw ...

and

Annette Bening Annette Carol Bening (born May 29, 1958) is an American actress. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over four decades, including a British Academy Film Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominati ...

(both also Emmy-nominated), and garnered a total of 12 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, three Golden Globe Award nominations, and three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Nagy won a number of awards for her writing and directing of '' Mrs. Harris'', including a PEN Center USA West Award for her teleplay and a Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Director. In 2015, Nagy received many awards and nominations for her work on ''Carol'', including a

New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay is an annual film award given by the New York Film Critics Circle. The most successful in this category were Woody Allen, Robert Benton, Ingmar Bergman, Kenneth Lonergan, Paul Mazursky, Qu ...

, and nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay Film adaptation, adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include st ...

Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independen ...

, and

Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is one of the three screenwriting Writers Guild of America Awards, focused specifically for film. The Writers Guild of America began making the distinction between an original screenpl ...

. In 2016, the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

named '' Carol'' the best

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

film of all time, as voted by over 100 film experts, including critics, filmmakers, curators, academics, and programmers, in a poll encompassing over 80 years of cinema.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * Aston, E. (2002) ''Feminist Views on the English Stage'' – Cambridge University Press {{DEFAULTSORT:Nagy, Phyllis 1962 births 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women writers American expatriates in England American lesbian writers American television writers American women dramatists and playwrights American women screenwriters American women television directors American television directors American women television writers English television directors English television writers English theatre directors English women film directors LGBT people from New York (state) Living people Screenwriters from New York (state) British women television writers