# Mary Stuart Masterson
**Mary Stuart Masterson** (born 1966) is an American film, stage, and television actress, director, and producer, known for roles in *At Close Range* (1986), *Some Kind of Wonderful* (1987), *Fried Green Tomatoes* (1991), and *[Benny & Joon](https://www.edgepedia.org/benny-and-joon)* (1993), and for a Tony Award-nominated performance in the Broadway revival of the musical *[Nine](https://www.edgepedia.org/nine-musical)*.[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/mary-stuart-masterson-85267) • [2](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/47515/mary-stuart-masterson/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1966[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/mary-stuart-masterson-85267) |
| Family | Daughter of actor-director Peter Masterson and Tony-winning actress Carlin Glynn; wife of actor Jeremy Davidson since 2006, with four children[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/mary-stuart-masterson-85267) • [3](https://time.com/87721/sixteen-candles-where-are-they-now/) |
| Screen debut | *The Stepford Wives* (1975), playing the daughter of her real-life father[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000524/) |
| Signature 1980s–90s roles | Terry in *At Close Range*, Watts in *Some Kind of Wonderful*, Idgie Threadgoode in *Fried Green Tomatoes*, Joon in *Benny & Joon*[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/mary_stuart_masterson) • [6](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/254584-Mary-StuartMasterson?cp=1&cxt=Cast3&pos=4&sid=8705163f-2500-4049-861d-8d789d8add8b&sr=8.70608) |
| Award | National Board of Review Award for *Immediate Family* (1989); Tony nomination and Theatre World Award for *Nine* (2003)[2](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/47515/mary-stuart-masterson/) • [1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/mary-stuart-masterson-85267) |
| Directing | *The Cake Eaters* (2007), her feature directorial debut, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival[2](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/47515/mary-stuart-masterson/) |
| Advocacy | Founder of Stockade Works, a Hudson Valley nonprofit creating pathways into film and television careers[7](https://www.aol.com/articles/fried-green-tomatoes-star-mary-152522000.html) |
## Early life and debut
Masterson was born into a show business family. Her father, Peter Masterson, was a writer, director, and actor, and her mother, Carlin Glynn, was a Tony Award-winning actress; as a child she spent weekends backstage in Broadway theaters watching her parents work.[3](https://time.com/87721/sixteen-candles-where-are-they-now/) • [8](https://upstartco-lab.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Read-the-Full-Report_0.pdf) She made her film debut before the age of ten in *The Stepford Wives* (1975), playing the daughter of the character played by her father.[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000524/) At her parents' direction she then led a life outside the limelight, attending school in New York, including productions at the [Dalton School](https://www.edgepedia.org/dalton-school).[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000524/)
At 15 she appeared on Broadway in Eva Le Gallienne's version of *Alice in Wonderland*, her first professional stage role, in the 1982–83 revival, playing the Small White Rabbit and the Four of Hearts and understudying Alice.[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000524/) • [1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/mary-stuart-masterson-85267) • [9](https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/20-questions-withmary-stuart-masterson_24257/)
## Film career
By 18 she had decided to follow her parents into acting and resumed her screen career with the television film *Love Lives On* (ABC, 1985), then made her first lead film role in *Heaven Help Us* (1985).[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/mary_stuart_masterson) Over the next two decades she appeared in some 30 films.[8](https://upstartco-lab.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Read-the-Full-Report_0.pdf)
Her late-1980s run established her reputation: Terry in *At Close Range* (1986), the tomboy drummer Watts in John Hughes' *Some Kind of Wonderful* (1987), Rachel Feld in *Gardens of Stone* (1987), and leads in *[Chances Are](https://www.edgepedia.org/chances-are-film)* and *Immediate Family* (both 1989).[10](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Mary-Stuart-Masterson/) For *Immediate Family* she received the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress.[10](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Mary-Stuart-Masterson/)
**The 1990s.** She played Idgie Threadgoode in *Fried Green Tomatoes* (1991), the headstrong Georgian at the center of the film adapted from [Fannie Flagg](https://www.edgepedia.org/fannie-flagg)'s novel; in 2016 at the [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival) she said scenes had been removed that would have made Idgie's relationship with Ruth ([Mary-Louise Parker](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-louise-parker)) more obvious.[6](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/254584-Mary-StuartMasterson?cp=1&cxt=Cast3&pos=4&sid=8705163f-2500-4049-861d-8d789d8add8b&sr=8.70608) • [11](https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/story/317993) She followed with the unstable dreamer Joon opposite Johnny Depp in *Benny & Joon* (1993), one of a quartet of prostitutes in *Bad Girls* (1994), and a workaholic romanced by Christian Slater in *Bed of Roses* (1996).[12](https://www.wamc.org/51-the-womens-perspective/2007-11-16/masterson-takes-on-a-new-role) • [13](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/mary-stuart-masterson/)
## Stage, television, and directing
On Broadway she starred as Luisa Contini in the 2003 [Roundabout](https://www.edgepedia.org/roundabout) revival of the musical *Nine*, opposite [Antonio Banderas](https://www.edgepedia.org/antonio-banderas), earning nominations for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award, and receiving a Theatre World Award.[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/mary-stuart-masterson-85267) In 2005 she made her West End debut at the Old Vic in Dennis McIntyre's *National Anthems* opposite [Kevin Spacey](https://www.edgepedia.org/kevin-spacey).[9](https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/20-questions-withmary-stuart-masterson_24257/)
Television work included the thriller *Black and Blue* (CBS, 1999), the series *Kate Brasher* (CBS, 2001), Dr. Helen Taussig in the HBO film *Something the Lord Made* (2004), Dr. Rebecca Hendrix in five episodes of *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* (2004–2007), FBI Director Eleanor Hirst in *Blindspot* (2016–2017), and the first season of *For Life* (2020).[10](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Mary-Stuart-Masterson/)
She moved behind the camera in the early 2000s, directing the segment "The Other Side" in the television film *On the Edge* (2001) and making her feature directorial debut with *The Cake Eaters* (2007), set in a small upstate New York town, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and won audience and jury prizes at numerous festivals.[10](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Mary-Stuart-Masterson/) • [2](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/47515/mary-stuart-masterson/) She also produced *Tickling Leo* (2009), *The Rest of Us* (2019), *Adopting Audrey* (2021), and *[Bloody Axe Wound](https://www.edgepedia.org/bloody-axe-wound)* (2024).[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000524/)
## Hudson Valley and recent work
In 2013, pregnant with her fourth child, she and Jeremy Davidson moved two hours north from New York City to the [Hudson Valley](https://www.edgepedia.org/hudson-valley), finding the city financially and logistically unmanageable with four children under the age of 4.[8](https://upstartco-lab.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Read-the-Full-Report_0.pdf) With Davidson she co-founded Storyhorse Documentary Theater, multimedia theater pieces based on transcribed interviews on topical Hudson Valley issues, and she founded Stockade Works, a Kingston-based nonprofit and production effort creating pathways into film and television careers in the region.[2](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/47515/mary-stuart-masterson/) • [7](https://www.aol.com/articles/fried-green-tomatoes-star-mary-152522000.html)
Her recent screen work includes Aunt Jane in *Five Nights at Freddy's* and Eileen Flynt in *The Senior* (both 2023).[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000524/) In June 2026 she attended the premiere of *[Rain Reign](https://www.edgepedia.org/rain-reign)*, an adaptation of Ann M. Martin's 2014 novel, at the Tribeca Festival, her first photographed red carpet appearance since a Tribeca event in 2021.[14](https://www.aol.com/articles/mary-stuart-masterson-makes-rare-201837000.html) She has signed on for a role in *[Sunny](https://www.edgepedia.org/sunny-2026-film)*, a mafia thriller from Norwegian filmmaker Eva Sørhaug led by [Angelina Jolie](https://www.edgepedia.org/angelina-jolie).[15](https://parade.com/news/beloved-80s-star-mary-stuart-masterson-59-reappears-on-the-red-carpet)
## References
1. [Mary Stuart Masterson – Broadway Cast & Staff, IBDB](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/mary-stuart-masterson-85267)
2. [Mary Stuart Masterson, Penguin Random House author page](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/47515/mary-stuart-masterson/)
3. [Sixteen Candles Turns 30: Where Are the Stars Now?, Time](https://time.com/87721/sixteen-candles-where-are-they-now/)
4. [Mary Stuart Masterson, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000524/)
5. [Mary Stuart Masterson, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/mary_stuart_masterson)
6. [Mary Stuart Masterson, AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/254584-Mary-StuartMasterson?cp=1&cxt=Cast3&pos=4&sid=8705163f-2500-4049-861d-8d789d8add8b&sr=8.70608)
7. [Fried Green Tomatoes Star Mary Stuart Masterson Makes Rare Red Carpet Appearance, People via AOL](https://www.aol.com/articles/fried-green-tomatoes-star-mary-152522000.html)
8. [Make Local Work: The Story of an Artist Entrepreneur, by Mary Stuart Masterson, Upstart Co-Lab report](https://upstartco-lab.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Read-the-Full-Report_0.pdf)
9. [20 Questions With…Mary Stuart Masterson, What's On Stage](https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/20-questions-withmary-stuart-masterson_24257/)
10. [Mary Stuart Masterson, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Mary-Stuart-Masterson/)
11. [Queering Cinema: Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker in Fried Green Tomatoes, EDGE](https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/story/317993)
12. [Masterson takes on a new role, WAMC](https://www.wamc.org/51-the-womens-perspective/2007-11-16/masterson-takes-on-a-new-role)
13. [Mary Stuart Masterson, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/mary-stuart-masterson/)
14. [Mary Stuart Masterson makes rare red carpet appearance at Tribeca Film Festival, People via AOL](https://www.aol.com/articles/mary-stuart-masterson-makes-rare-201837000.html)
15. [Mary Stuart Masterson, 59, Makes Rare Red Carpet Appearance, Parade](https://parade.com/news/beloved-80s-star-mary-stuart-masterson-59-reappears-on-the-red-carpet)
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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: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames M to Ma*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 12, 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