# Tracee Chimo

Tracee Chimo Pallero (born 1983) 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, Massachusetts. Her father is of Albanian descent and her mother is of Irish and Italian ancestry (her father is an Albanian Orthodox Christian, and her mother is Catholic). She splits her time between living in Los Angeles and New York City.

## Career

Chimo's 2010 work in the plays Bachelorette and Circle Mirror Transformation was praised by Erik Piepenburg of The New York Times, 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 plays this season." Chimo's performance in Mirror was also singled out by Elisabeth Vincentelli of the New York Post, who called her "a master of the comic silent reaction."
In 2012, Charles Isherwood of The New York Times, who also noted Chimo's performances in these two productions, called her work in the Broadway revival of Harvey "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, on which Chimo plays Chelsea Healey.

## Awards and nominations

2014 Lucille Lortel 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'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 for "Outstanding Ensemble Performance" in Circle Mirror Transformation
2010 Obie Award for Circle Mirror Transformation
2010 Lucille Lortel Nomination for "Outstanding Featured Actress" in Circle Mirror Transformation

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2012 | The Five-Year Engagement | Margaret |
| 2013 | He's Way More Famous Than You | Tracee |
| 2013 | Gods Behaving Badly | River Styx |
| 2013 | Concussion | Woman #2 |
| 2013 | Side Effects | Receptionist |
| 2013 | Take Care | Rachel |
| 2014 | Cyber | Secretary |
| 2016 | Sully | Evelyn May |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2010 | Guiding Light | Jamie Collick | |
| 2010 | Louie | Dog Pound Volunteer | Episode: "Dogpound" |
| 2011 | Inside the Actor’s Studio Apartment | Actress | |
| 2012 | First Dates with Toby Harris | Michelle | Episode: "Movies" |
| 2012 | I Just Want My Pants Back | Dylan | |
| 2013–2019 | Orange Is the New Black | Neri Feldman | recurring role |
| 2013 | The Good Wife | Chrissy Quinn | Episode: "Outside the Bubble" |
| 2014 | The Money | Jane Mulvaney | Pilot |
| 2013 | Black Box | Mackenzie Teller | 5 episodes |
| 2014 | Royal Pains | Lauren | Episode: "Oh, M.G." |
| 2015 | High Maintenance | Orly | Episode: "Esme" |
| 2015–2017 | Difficult People | Gaby | 6 episodes |
| 2016–2017 | People of Earth | Chelsea Healey | 10 episodes |
| 2018–2019 | Madam Secretary | Nina Cummings | |
| 2018 | Genius | Gertrude Stein | |
| 2020 | The Undoing | Rebecca Harkness | |

### Theatre

| Year | Play | Role | Theatre |
| 2006 | After Ashley | Julie Bell | Philadelphia Theatre Company, Regional |
| 2007 | Guilty | Lindsey | Acorn Theater, Off-Broadway |
| 2008 | All Hail Hurricane Gordo | India | Actors Theatre of Louisville, Regional |
| 2008 | Vendetta Chrome | Tallulah | Clubbed Thumb, Off-Off-Broadway |
| 2008 | Irena’s Vow | Fanka Silberman | Rose Nagelberg Theatre, Off-Broadway |
| 2009 | Irena’s Vow | Fanka Silberman | Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway |
| 2009 | Circle Mirror Transformation | Lauren | Playwrights Horizons, Off-Broadway |
| 2010 | Bachelorette | Regan | Second Stage Theatre, Off-Broadway |
| 2010 | The Break of Noon | Jenny/Gigi | Lucille Lortel Theatre, Off-Broadway |
| 2011 | The Break of Noon | Jenny/Gigi | Geffen Playhouse, Regional |
| 2012 | Harvey | Myrtle Mae Simmons | Studio 54, Broadway |
| 2012 | Bad Jews | Daphna | Roundabout Underground, Off-Broadway |
| 2013 | Bad Jews | Daphna | Laura Pels Theatre, Off-Broadway |
| 2014 | Lips Together, Teeth Apart | Chloe Haddock | Second Stage Theater, Off-Broadway |
| 2015 | The Heidi Chronicles | Fran/Molly/Betsy/April | Music Box Theatre, Broadway |
| 2016 | Noises Off | Poppy Norton-Taylor | American Airlines Theatre, Broadway |
| 2016–2017 | Fingersmith | Sue Trinder | American Repertory Theater, Regional |