# Erin Moriarty (actress)

Erin Elair Moriarty (born June 24, 1994) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Annie January / Starlight in the series The Boys (2019–present). Prior to The Boys, she had notable roles in the series Jessica Jones (2015), True Detective (2014), and Red Widow (2013). Outside of television, she has appeared in acclaimed independent films The Kings of Summer and Captain Fantastic, among others.

## Early life

Moriarty was born and raised in New York City. She began acting at 11 years old, starring as Annie in a 2005 community theater production of Annie. Upon graduation from high school, she deferred attending college to pursue acting.

## Career

Moriarty was cast in her first professional roles as a teenager, acting in the television series One Life to Live and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Her first roles of note were as Vince Vaughn's daughter in the 2012 comedy film The Watch; Kelly, the love interest of Nick Robinson's character, in the 2013 indie comedy The Kings of Summer; and Natalie, "a daughter destined to find out who killed her father, who once had ties to organized crime", in the ABC drama series Red Widow.
She was then cast in a supporting role in the sci-fi film After the Dark, which premiered in 2013, and had a recurring role on first season of True Detective as Audrey Hart, the problem child of Woody Harrelson's character. In September 2014, Erin Moriarty was named one of the best actors under twenty years of age by IndieWire. The same year she was cast in Ouija, but her scenes were removed from the final film, following re-shoots.
In February 2015, it was announced she joined the main cast of Netflix's Jessica Jones. In the show's first season, which was released in November 2015, Moriarty played Hope, a college student whose life is ruined by Kilgrave, the main villain.
She appeared in Blood Father, a 2016 film starring Mel Gibson. Her role as Gibson's daughter in Blood Father received praise from critics such as Manohla Dargis of The New York Times, Alonso Duralde of TheWrap, and Owen Gleiberman of Variety, but Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club felt she was unconvincing and Allen Salkin of the Daily News felt she was overshadowed by the likes of Gibson and William H. Macy. Later that year, she starred in the horror film Within. Moriarty also had a supporting role in the critically acclaimed film Captain Fantastic, in which she plays the love interest of George MacKay's character. For this film, she was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
In June 2016, she was cast in lead role the LD Entertainment feature film The Miracle Season along with Danika Yarosh and Helen Hunt; the film was released in 2018. Also in 2018, she appeared in the films The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir and Monster Party. Later that year, she appeared in Driven which centers around the sting operation which brought down auto mogul John DeLorean; the movie premiered at the 2018 Venice Film Festival and was filmed in Puerto Rico in 2017 during Hurricane Maria.
In December 2017, she was cast as Annie January / Starlight in The Boys, Amazon Studios's loose adaptation of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's comic book of the same name. The series was released in July 2019. The show's second season premiered in September 2020 with a third season initially scheduled to be released in 2021, but was delayed until June 3, 2022.
In March 2024, Moriarty was cast in the neo-noir thriller Lips Like Sugar, alongside Woody Harrelson, Owen Wilson and others. Filming began that month.

## Personal life

Moriarty has said that she's been the target of misogynistic trolling over her role on The Boys.
On January 17, 2024, journalist and media personality Megyn Kelly ran a segment about the "societal illness of plastic surgery", during which she speculated that Moriarty has had plastic surgery to augment her face. On January 26, 2024, Moriarty denied this, denounced Kelly's statements as misogynistic harassment, and stated that the scrutinized changes in her appearance were due to natural aging, weight loss, and makeup. She also announced that as a result of Kelly's statements, she would be taking an extensive break from Instagram. On February 3, 2024, Moriarty returned to the platform, thanking her fans for their support.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2012 | The Watch | Chelsea McAllister | |
| 2013 | The Kings of Summer | Kelly | |
| 2014 | After the Dark | Vivian | |
| 2016 | Blood Father | Lydia Link | |
| 2016 | Captain Fantastic | Claire McCune | Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated—Seattle Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble Cast |
| 2016 | Within | Hannah Alexander | |
| 2017 | Kong: Skull Island | Bar Guest #3 | Cameo |
| 2018 | The Miracle Season | Kelley Fliehler | |
| 2018 | The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir | Marie Rivière | |
| 2018 | Driven | Katy Connors | |
| 2018 | Monster Party | Alexis Dawson | |
| 2023 | Catching Dust | Geena | |
| TBA | True Haunting | Marsha Becker | Post-production |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2010 | One Life to Live | Whitney Bennett | 6 episodes |
| 2011 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Dru | Episode: "Flight" |
| 2013 | Red Widow | Natalie Walraven | Main role |
| 2014 | True Detective | Audrey Hart | 3 episodes |
| 2015 | Jessica Jones | Hope Shlottman | Main role season 1 |
| 2017 | Pillow Talk | Autumn | Episode: "Cancun" |
| 2019–present | The Boys | Annie January / Starlight | Main role, 32 episodes Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actress in a Streaming Television Series |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
| 2023 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II | Annie January / Starlight | Playable DLC Character; Voice and Likeness | |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist |
| 2018 | "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" | Creedence Clearwater Revival |

## Discography

The second season premiere of The Boys featured an original song "Never Truly Vanish" on which Moriarty provided the vocals. The song was later released on the series' second season soundtrack on October 9, 2020.