# Constance Zimmer

Constance Zimmer (born October 11, 1970) is an American actress. She rose to prominence playing Dana Gordon on the HBO series Entourage (2005–11) and Claire Simms on the ABC series Boston Legal (2006–07). She went on to appear on the Netflix series House of Cards (2013–18) and voiced Strongarm on Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2014–17). She gained wider recognition for her role as Quinn King on Unreal (2015–18), for which she received a Critics' Choice Television Award and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination both in 2016.

## Early life and education

Zimmer was born in Seattle, Washington, to German immigrant parents from the former East Prussia. They divorced when she was very young. Zimmer also has an older sister. She speaks fluent German, saying in a 2015 interview that although her parents spoke English with her as a child, she spent six weeks of every summer in Germany, with her grandmother who only spoke German. Zimmer decided to pursue a career in acting after she fell in love with the craft as a high school student. Following high school, she was accepted to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena.

## Career

Zimmer's stage career was highlighted with her award-winning portrayal in a Los Angeles production of Catholic School Girls, where she won a Dramalogue for Best Actress. After starring in several national commercials, most notably for Duracell, she started making guest appearances in such shows as Ellen, Seinfeld, The X-Files, Gideon's Crossing, and The King of Queens, as well as having recurring roles in The Wayans Bros., Hyperion Bay, and The Trouble With Normal. During that same period, she was cast in a few independent films such as Spin Cycle, Home Room, and Warm Blooded Killers.
Zimmer eventually booked her first TV series regular role on the NBC comedy Good Morning, Miami as the lazy and burned-out office assistant, Penny Barrington. After the series was canceled, she spent the second season recurring as Sister Lilly Waters in the CBS drama, Joan of Arcadia, as well as guest-starring in episodes of NYPD Blue and Jake in Progress. Also in 2005, she acted in the short film Just Pray, directed by Tiffani Thiessen. It was accepted into the Tribeca Film Festival.
In early 2006, Zimmer was cast as Brianna, the competitive law undergrad, in the ABC crime/drama series In Justice. She joined the cast of Boston Legal, where she played associate attorney Claire Simms on the show's third season. Along with regulars Rene Auberjonois, Julie Bowen, and Mark Valley, Zimmer was dropped by David E. Kelley at the end of season three. Zimmer also portrayed industry powerhouse and studio executive Dana Gordon in the HBO original series Entourage from 2005 to 2011, arguably her most known role to date.
Zimmer performed in the world-premiere play, Girls Talk, alongside Brooke Shields, Andrea Bendewald, and Nicole Paggi. The play was written and directed by Roger Kumble. She also starred in the NBC summer series Love Bites as Colleen Rouscher and had a guest appearance on USA's Royal Pains, playing psychiatrist Dr. Abby Burton.
In 2014, she was cast in the series regular role of Quinn King on the Lifetime dramedy series UnREAL. The show has received critical acclaim and Zimmer's performance has garnered high praise. The series ended in July 2018 after four seasons. For her performance in the series, she won a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
In 2015, she had a recurring role on season three of the ABC superhero series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as Rosalind Price. She has been a semi-regular panelist on ABC's Match Game since 2017.

## Personal life

Zimmer has been married twice. First, to special effects artist Steve Johnson, whom she met when working on Duracell commercials featuring The Puttermans in the late 1990s.
On January 5, 2008, Zimmer gave birth to a daughter, Colette Zoe, whose father is director Russ Lamoureux. On June 20, 2010, it was announced that Zimmer and Lamoureux were engaged. They married in October of that year.
Zimmer attends many celebrity benefits for charity. Among those she supports are the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Heifer International.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1998 | Senseless | Zestfully Clean Woman | |
| 1999 | Warm Blooded Killers | Vicky Portenza | |
| 2000 | Spin Cycle | Echo | |
| 2001 | Farewell, My Love | Kyle | |
| 2002 | Home Room | Assistant Kelly | |
| 2005 | Just Pray | Corley James | Short film |
| 2006 | Damaged Goods | Angel | Short film |
| 2007 | The Hammer | Nicole | |
| 2008 | Chaos Theory | Peg the Teacher | |
| 2008 | AmericanEast | The Director | |
| 2011 | Demoted | Elizabeth Holland | |
| 2012 | St. Sebastian | Nurse | Unreleased |
| 2012 | The Babymakers | Mona | |
| 2015 | Entourage | Dana Gordon | |
| 2015 | Results | Mandy | |
| 2015 | Run the Tide | Lola | |
| 2018 | Burger Boss | Mother | Voice, short film |
| 2019 | Wonder Woman: Bloodlines | Veronica Cale | Voice, direct-to-video |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1993 | The Day My Parents Ran Away | Girl in Line | Television film |
| 1994 | Babylon 5 | Young Woman Patient | Episode: "The Quality of Mercy" |
| 1997 | Quicksilver Highway | Female Patient | Television film |
| 1997 | Ellen | Riot Girl | Episode: "Just Coffee?" |
| 1997 | Unhappily Ever After | LaVerne | Episode: "Tiffany, the Home Wrecker" |
| 1998 | Seinfeld | Waitress #2 | Episode: "The Wizard" |
| 1998 | Jenny | Kaleigh | Episode: "A Girl's Gotta Come through in a Clutch" |
| 1998 | Diagnosis: Murder | Lisa Blake | Episode: "An Education in Murder" |
| 1998 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Millie | Episode: "Reunion" |
| 1998 | The Wayans Bros. | Vanessa | 2 episodes |
| 1998 | Felicity | Girl | Episode: "The Last Stand" |
| 1998 | The King of Queens | Jenny | Episode: "Fixer Upper" |
| 1999 | Chicago Hope | Dana | Episode: "A Goy and His Dog" |
| 2000 | The X-Files | Phoebe | Episode: "First Person Shooter" |
| 2000 | Rude Awakening | Sandi | Episode: "Star 80 Proof" |
| 2000 | Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction | Mary | Episode: "The Find" |
| 2000 | Providence | Megan | 2 episodes |
| 2000–01 | The Trouble with Normal | Kristen | 4 episodes |
| 2001 | Gideon's Crossing | Jessica Kagen | Episode: "Dr. Cherry Must Be Stopped" |
| 2001 | FreakyLinks | Tori Spangler | Episode: "Subject: The Stone Room" |
| 2001 | The Fighting Fitzgeralds | Beth | 5 episodes |
| 2001 | Philly | Pamela Tommasino | Episode: "Blown Away" |
| 2002 | My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star | Siobahn! Ross | 3 episodes |
| 2002–04 | Good Morning, Miami | Penelope "Penny" Barnes Barrington | 40 episodes |
| 2003 | Mystery Woman | Cassie Tilman / Cassie Thomas | Television film |
| 2004 | NYPD Blue | Zoe Prentiss | Episode: "Dress for Success" |
| 2004–05 | Joan of Arcadia | Sister Lilly Watters | 11 episodes |
| 2005 | Jake in Progress | Greta | Episode: "Henry Porter and the Coitus Interruptus" |
| 2005–06 | Out of Practice | Naomi | 2 episodes |
| 2005–11 | Entourage | Dana Gordon | 21 episodes |
| 2006 | In Justice | Brianna | 13 episodes |
| 2006–07 | Boston Legal | Claire Simms | 23 episodes |
| 2007 | Notes from the Underbelly | Kelly | Episode: "Oleander" |
| 2009 | Pushing Daisies | Coco Juniper | Episode: "Window Dressed to Kill" |
| 2009 | Cupid | Hallie Butler | Episode: "The Great Right Hope" |
| 2009 | The New Adventures of Old Christine | Amy Hunter | 2 episodes |
| 2011 | Love Bites | Colleen Rouscher | 7 episodes |
| 2011 | Royal Pains | Dr. Abby Burton | Episode: "A Little Art, A Little Science" |
| 2013 | Grey's Anatomy | Dr. Alana Cahill | 5 episodes |
| 2013 | The Newsroom | Taylor Warren | 5 episodes |
| 2013–18 | House of Cards | Janine Skorsky | 19 episodes |
| 2014 | Hot in Cleveland | Lilly | Episode: "Stayin' Alive" |
| 2015–17 | Transformers: Robots in Disguise | Strongarm, Filch | Voice, 68 episodes |
| 2015–18 | Unreal | Quinn King | 38 episodes |
| 2015 | Complications | Dr. Laster | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Rosalind Price | 8 episodes |
| 2016 | Maron | Lindsey | Episode: "Step 1" |
| 2016 | Better Things | Herself | Episode: "Sam/Pilot" |
| 2016 | BoJack Horseman | Skinny Gina, Lindsey | Voice, 4 episodes |
| 2017 | Angie Tribeca | Detective Goldstein | Episode: "Hey, I'm Solvin' Here!" |
| 2017–18 | Match Game | Panelist | 6 episodes |
| 2018 | RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars | Herself | Episode: "The Bitchelor" |
| 2018 | Mom | Professor Stevens | Episode: "Ambulance chasers and a Babbling Brook" |
| 2018–19 | A Million Little Things | Jeri Huntington | 3 episodes |
| 2019–20 | Shameless | Claudia Nicolo | 5 episodes |
| 2020 | Condor | Robin Larkin | 6 episodes |
| 2021–22 | Good Trouble | Kathleen Gale | 18 episodes; also director (3 episodes) |
| 2022 | Big Sky | Alicia Corrigan | 9 episodes |
| 2022 | The Calling | Anna Harvey | 4 episodes |
| 2023 | Harlan Coben's Shelter | Shira Bolitar | 8 episodes |
| 2023 | The Boy in The Walls | Director | |

### Podcasts

| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
| 2020–2021 | The Shadow Diaries | Marilyn Rose | Voice role | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2008 | 14th Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (shared with the others) | Boston Legal | Nominated |
| 2016 | 6th Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Unreal | Won |
| 2016 | 5th BTVA Voice Acting Awards | Best Vocal Ensemble in a New Television Series (shared with the others) | Transformers: Robots in Disguise | Won |
| 2016 | 20th OFTA Television Awards | Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Unreal | Nominated |
| 2016 | 14th Gold Derby Awards | Best Drama Supporting Actress | Unreal | Nominated |
| 2016 | 68th Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Unreal | Nominated |
| 2016 | 7th Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Unreal | Nominated |
| 2017 | 6th BTVA Voice Acting Awards | Best Vocal Ensemble in a Television Series (shared with the others) | Transformers: Robots in Disguise | Nominated |