# Amy Landecker

Amy Lauren Landecker (born September 30, 1969) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Sarah Pfefferman on the Amazon comedy-drama series Transparent (2014–2019), as well as her supporting roles in the films Dan in Real Life (2007), A Serious Man (2009), All Is Bright (2013), Project Almanac (2015), and Beatriz at Dinner (2017), and the TV series Your Honor (2020–2023).

## Early life

Landecker was born September 30, 1969, in Chicago, Illinois. She is the daughter of John Records Landecker, a Chicago radio personality. One of her maternal great-grandfathers was lawyer Joseph N. Welch. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, studying theater. Her paternal grandfather was a German Jewish refugee.

## Career

Landecker earned her Screen Actors Guild card doing a voiceover for a Tampax commercial. In the commercial, Landecker echoes the voice of the on-camera actress, saying only the word "ballet", but made $10,000 in residuals from the commercial. Landecker recalls, "I never saw money like that in my life, and it didn't even matter what I looked like! I was hooked on [voiceover] from then on!"
Early in her career, Landecker primarily focused on stage work, including but not limited to Rajiv Joseph's All This Intimacy in 2006, and did not move to Los Angeles until she was 38. Since then, she has appeared in numerous films and television shows, including a supporting role as Mrs. Samsky in the Academy Award for Best Picture-nominated film A Serious Man, directed by the Coen brothers. That performance received praise from many film critics, including Roger Ebert, who wrote, "Amy Landecker, too, is perfect as Mrs. Samsky. She makes the character sexy in a strictly logical sense, but any prudent man would know on first sight to stay clear".
In 2011, Landecker was a regular cast member of The Paul Reiser Show on NBC, playing Paul Reiser's wife, Claire. On television, she has guest starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, NCIS, Curb Your Enthusiasm (where her character meets and starts to date Larry David), Revenge, and many more series. She has also appeared in a number of Off-Broadway theatrical productions, including Bug. In 2013, Landecker co-starred in the films All Is Bright, Clear History, and Enough Said. In 2014, she was cast alongside Jeffrey Tambor and Judith Light in the Amazon Studios comedy-drama series, Transparent. She co-starred in the Michael Bay-produced time travel thriller Project Almanac, which was released in January 2015.

## Personal life

Landecker divorced Jackson Lynch, with whom she has a daughter, in 2011. She began dating actor Bradley Whitford, whom she met on the set of Transparent, in 2015. They announced their engagement in March 2018 and married on July 17, 2019.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1998 | Temporary Girl | Sondra Hardwood | |
| 1999 | Turks | Woman on Train | |
| 1999 | Light It Up | Reporter | |
| 2007 | Dan in Real Life | Cindy Lamson | |
| 2009 | A Serious Man | Mrs. Samsky | |
| 2013 | All Is Bright | Therese | |
| 2013 | Enough Said | Debbie | |
| 2013 | What Should We Watch? | Irene | Short film |
| 2015 | Project Almanac | Kathy | |
| 2015 | Upended | Cate | Short film |
| 2015 | Babysitter | Janine | |
| 2015 | The Meddler | Diane | |
| 2016 | Dreamland | Olivia | |
| 2016 | Upended | Cate | Short film |
| 2017 | Beatriz at Dinner | Jeana | |
| 2017 | The Hunter's Prayer | Banks | |
| 2018 | A Kid Like Jake | Sandra | |
| 2019 | Snatchers | Cheryl | |
| 2019 | 3 Days with Dad | Velma | |
| 2019 | Bombshell | Dianne Brandi | |
| 2020 | Shithouse | Mrs. Malmquist | |
| 2020 | Project Power | Gardner | |
| 2021 | Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One | Barbara Gordon | Voice; direct-to-video |
| 2021 | Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans | Barbara Lake | Voice |
| 2021 | Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two | Barbara Gordon, Carla Viti | Voice; direct-to-video |
| 2022 | Three Months | Edith | |
| 2022 | I Love My Dad | Diane | |
| 2023 | Missing | Heather | |
| 2024 | Shell | Detective Flores | |
| 2025 | For Worse | Lauren | Post-production; also director and writer |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1999–2000 | Early Edition | Susan Schwartz | 2 episodes |
| 2003 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Stephanie Grayson | Episode: "Rotten" |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Jamie Callahan | Episode: "Goliath" |
| 2006 | Conviction | Donna Thatcher | Episode: "True Love" |
| 2008 | Law & Order | Attorney Parrish | Episode: "Misbegotten" |
| 2008 | Mad Men | Petra Colson | Episode: "A Night to Remember" |
| 2010 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Agent Stahl | 2 episodes |
| 2010–2014 | Louie | Sandra/Louie's Mother | 4 episodes |
| 2011 | NCIS | Dr. Ellen Gracey | Episode: "Out of the Frying Pan" |
| 2011 | The Paul Reiser Show | Claire | Series regular, 7 episodes |
| 2011 | House | Darrien | Episode: "After Hours" |
| 2011 | The Protector | Arlene Duncan | Episode: "Spoon" |
| 2011 | Happily Divorced | Audrey | Episode: "Someone Wants Me" |
| 2011 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Jane Cohen | Episode: "The Bi-Sexual" |
| 2011 | Prime Suspect | Alice Paget | Episode: "The Great Wall of Silence" |
| 2011–2014 | Revenge | Dr. Michelle Banks | 3 episodes |
| 2012 | House of Lies | Janelle Winter | Episode: "Microphallus" |
| 2012 | Private Practice | Melissa | Episode: "Too Much" |
| 2012 | Retired at 35 | Kat | Episode: "The Proposal" |
| 2013 | Vegas | Karen Schultz | Episode: "From This Day Forward" |
| 2013 | Clear History | Nathan's Wife | Television film |
| 2014–2019 | Transparent | Sarah Pfefferman | Series regular; 38 episodes Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2015) Nominated—Gold Derby Award for Best Comedy Supporting Actress (2016) |
| 2015 | Married | Harper's Mom | Episode: "Koreatown" |
| 2016 | People of Earth | Debbie Schultz | Episode: "Acceptance" |
| 2016–2018 | Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia | Barbara Lake (voice) | 37 episodes |
| 2017 | Room 104 | Joan Teakins | Episode: "Phoenix" |
| 2018 | Grey's Anatomy | Morgan | Episode: "(Don’t Fear) the Reaper" |
| 2018 | Alone Together | Camille | Episode: "Dinner Party" |
| 2018 | LA to Vegas | Patricia | 3 episodes |
| 2019 | Sneaky Pete | Lorraine Sheffield | Recurring, 5 episodes |
| 2019 | The Twilight Zone | Anne Storck | Episode: "The Blue Scorpion" |
| 2019–2022 | The Handmaid's Tale | Mrs. Mackenzie | 3 episodes |
| 2019 | She-Ra and the Princesses of Power | Octavia (voice) | Episode: "Boys' Night Out" |
| 2020 | Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts | Dr. Emilia (voice) | 17 episodes |
| 2020 | Little Birds | Vanessa Savage | 3 episodes |
| 2020–2023 | Your Honor | Nancy Costello | Recurring role (season 1 & 2) |
| 2021 | Q-Force | (voice) | Episode: "Backache Mountain" |
| 2021 | The Premise | Trish | Episode: "Moment of Silence" |
| 2021–2023 | The Croods: Family Tree | Ugga Crood (voice) | 49 episodes |
| 2022 | Minx | Bridget Westbury | 3 episodes |
| 2022 | Chivalry | Mia | 2 episodes |
| 2022 | We Baby Bears | Gail (voice) | Episode: "Tooth Fairy Tech" |
| 2022 | Gaslit | Lurleen Landry | Episode: "Tuffy" |
| 2022 | Ramy | Kendra | Episode: "American Life Coach" |
| 2024 | In the Know | Various voices | 4 episodes |
| 2025 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Katharine Vernon | Episode: "First Light" |