# Cara Buono
**Cara Buono** (born 1971 in the Bronx, New York; some sources give 1974) is an American actress, writer, producer, and director known for playing Karen Wheeler on *Stranger Things*, Dr. Faye Miller on *Mad Men*, and Kelli Moltisanti on *The Sopranos*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/) • [2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/cara-buono) She received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in 2011 for her *Mad Men* role and has worked in independent film since the early 1990s.[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/cara-buono) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cara_buono)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1971 (some sources list 1974), the Bronx, New York[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cara_buono) • [4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/cara-buono/) |
| Signature television roles | Karen Wheeler, *Stranger Things* (2016–2025, 38 episodes); Faye Miller, *Mad Men* (2010, 10 episodes); Kelli Moltisanti, *The Sopranos* (2006–2007, 7 episodes)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/) |
| Emmy recognition | Nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, 2011, as Faye Miller on *Mad Men*[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/cara-buono) |
| Early start | Answered a trade-paper casting-call ad as a child and won a role in Harvey Fierstein's play *Spook House* without help from family or mentors[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/bio/) |
| Education | Columbia University, double major in English and political science, degree completed in three years[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/bio/) |
| Behind the camera | Writer and director of the short *Baggage* (1997) with Liev Schreiber; co-writer of *When the Cat's Away* (1999); co-producer and star of *Two Ninas* (1999)[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/bio/) |
## Early life and stage start
Buono grew up in a blue-collar family in the Bronx and decided at an early age to make acting her career.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cara_buono) According to her IMDb biography, she went out on her own, found a casting-call advertisement in a trade paper, and sneaked into the audition, landing a role in [Harvey Fierstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/harvey-fierstein)'s play *Spook House* despite having no experience; Rotten Tomatoes places this at age 12, while the IMDb biography says 11.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/bio/) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cara_buono) She continued stage work on and off Broadway into her teens and twenties.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/bio/)
She earned a Daytime Emmy nomination as a young victim of sexual abuse in *Abby, My Love* (CBS, 1991), part of the *CBS Schoolbreak Special* anthology.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cara_buono) While building her acting career she attended Columbia University, completing a double major in English and political science in three years; sources give the graduation year as 1993 or 1995.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cara_buono) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/bio/)
## Independent film career of the 1990s
Buono's film debut came in [Stephen Gyllenhaal](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-gyllenhaal)'s *Waterland* (1992), opposite [Ethan Hawke](https://www.edgepedia.org/ethan-hawke) and [Jeremy Irons](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeremy-irons).[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/bio/) She followed with an illegal immigrant in *The Cowboy Way* (1994) with Woody Harrelson and Kiefer Sutherland, and a role in Noah Baumbach's indie comedy *Kicking and Screaming* (1995), which reunited her with her *Abby, My Love* co-star Josh Hamilton.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cara_buono) Early notices for *Kicking and Screaming* and *Man of the Century* (1999), in which she played an accident-prone opera singer, made her a favorite of art-house features.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/cara-buono/)
**Writing and producing.** Buono added behind-the-camera credits in the same period. She wrote and directed the short film *Baggage* (1997), starring [Liev Schreiber](https://www.edgepedia.org/liev-schreiber) and [Minnie Driver](https://www.edgepedia.org/minnie-driver); co-wrote the screenplay *When the Cat's Away* (1999) with Brad Anderson; and served as co-producer and star of the comedy *Two Ninas* (1999), about two similarly named women, played by Buono and [Amanda Peet](https://www.edgepedia.org/amanda-peet), who fall for the same unlucky man.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/bio/) She also wrote an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel, *This Side of Paradise*.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/bio/) Other independent films of the era include *Chutney Popcorn* (1999), *Next Stop Wonderland* (1998), and *Happy Accidents* (2000) with Marisa Tomei and Vincent D'Onofrio.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/bio/)
## Television breakthrough
Seeking wider exposure, Buono took supporting roles on high-profile series. On the final seasons of NBC's *Third Watch* she played Grace Foster, a headstrong paramedic, and on HBO's *The Sopranos* she played Kelli Moltisanti, wife of [Michael Imperioli](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-imperioli)'s Christopher Moltisanti, across seven episodes in 2006 and 2007.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/bio/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/) In 2007 she joined *The Dead Zone* as Sheriff Anna Turner.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cara_buono)
Her most widely seen role to that point came in 2010 on *Mad Men*, as Dr. Faye Miller, a market research consultant at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce who becomes involved with [Don Draper](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-draper) ([Jon Hamm](https://www.edgepedia.org/jon-hamm)) before he leaves her after she grows too close to his secret identity.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cara_buono) The performance brought a 2011 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/cara-buono) TV Guide's assessment is that Buono worked steadily for two decades without a breakthrough until *Mad Men*, followed by her series-regular role on *Stranger Things*.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/cara-buono/)
## Stranger Things and later work
Since 2016 Buono has played Karen Wheeler, mother of Nancy, Mike, and Holly, on Netflix's *Stranger Things*, appearing in 38 episodes through the series' conclusion in 2025.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/) For most of the run the character served as an oblivious suburban parent, a role the show played partly for comedy. In the first episodes of the fifth and final season, the Duffer Brothers gave Karen a central action sequence: when a [Demogorgon](https://www.edgepedia.org/demogorgon) attacks the Wheeler house and targets her daughter Holly, Karen fights it with a broken wine bottle, a scene [The Daily Beast](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-daily-beast) called one of the most heroic moments in the series even though Karen loses the fight and survives.[6](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/the-best-part-of-new-stranger-things-episodes-is-a-wine-drunk-mom/)
Her film work in the 2000s and 2010s included [David Banner](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-banner)'s mother Edith in [Ang Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/ang-lee)'s *Hulk* (2003), the love interest in [Artie Lange](https://www.edgepedia.org/artie-lange)'s *Beer League* (2006), the divorced mother of Kodi Smit-McPhee in *Let Me In* (2010), the American remake of *Let the Right One In*, and roles in *Paper Towns* (2015) and Stephen King's *A Good Marriage* (2014).[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cara_buono) • [7](https://www.comingsoon.it/personaggi/cara-buono/16707/biografia/) Television credits include a story arc on *Person of Interest* as Martine Rousseau, a recurring role as Gamemnae on *Supergirl* (2019–2021), and appearances in *The Good Wife*, *Elementary*, *Castle*, and *The Girl from Plainville*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/) • [8](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/cara-buono/credits/3030020575/) She was nominated with the *Stranger Things* ensemble for a Screen Actors Guild Award for drama ensemble in 2024.[9](https://www.sagawards.org/files/sagawards/24_nomsannounced_final.pdf)
In a December 2025 interview, Buono discussed the arrival of AI in filmmaking, describing her first day in a scanning studio truck and arguing that AI can support storytelling but should not erase the human performers whose work trains it.[10](https://read.getsuperintel.com/p/exclusive-interview-stranger-things-actress-cara-buono-on-the-future-of-tv-film)
## Personal life
Buono married Peter Thum on July 11, 2009; the couple has one child.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/bio/) She is of Italian descent and grew up in New York with two brothers and a sister.[11](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-79525/biographie/)
## References
1. [Cara Buono, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/)
2. [Cara Buono, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/cara-buono)
3. [Cara Buono, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cara_buono)
4. [Cara Buono, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/cara-buono/)
5. [Cara Buono Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120648/bio/)
6. [The Surprise Best Part of the New 'Stranger Things' Episodes, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/the-best-part-of-new-stranger-things-episodes-is-a-wine-drunk-mom/)
7. [Cara Buono biografia, Comingsoon.it](https://www.comingsoon.it/personaggi/cara-buono/16707/biografia/)
8. [Cara Buono List of Movies and TV Shows, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/cara-buono/credits/3030020575/)
9. [30th Annual SAG Awards Nominations, SAG Awards](https://www.sagawards.org/files/sagawards/24_nomsannounced_final.pdf)
10. [Exclusive Interview: Stranger Things' Actress Cara Buono on the Future of TV & Film, Superintel](https://read.getsuperintel.com/p/exclusive-interview-stranger-things-actress-cara-buono-on-the-future-of-tv-film)
11. [Cara Buono : Sa biographie, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-79525/biographie/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 2000s onward › Surnames Bu to Ce*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license