Kyra Sedgwickmade her professional acting debut on screen in 1982 when she earned a role in the daytime soap operaAnother World. Three years later, she made her big screen debut in the movieWar And Love. Since then, she’s also expanded her work in the entertainment industry beyond acting in front of the camera to also produce and direct. She’s even sung in a few projects. Sedgwick is an incredibly versatile storyteller.
Sedgwick has an expansive career but has balanced having a family by splitting her time between Hollywood and the family farm in Connecticut. Sedgwick and actor Kevin Bacon met while working together in the late 1980s and married. One of their children has also become an actor, Sosie Bacon, so the entire family is well-versed in entertainment. These roles encompass some of Sedgwick’s best work.
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Heart and Soulsis one of the earliest movies in Sedgwick’s career. At the time, she was auditioning for movies, television, and theater projects, keeping herself very busy, so she easily could have passed on a project like this one that many modern audiences will see as very much a product of its time.
The ‘90s saw a lot of movies about ghosts with unfinished business.Heart and Soulsjust happens to have four ghosts. All four ghosts are killed in a trolley accident in 1959 at the same time a baby is born. Their souls become attached to him, and they watch him grow up, initially appearing to him as friends when he’s a child, not realizing their relationship with him is meant to help them complete their unfinished business.
Sedgwick is one of the ghosts, a woman who turned her boyfriend’s proposal down right before she died. She is, perhaps, the most sentimental of the ghostsand gets to do the most work opposite the lead - a youngRobert Downey Jr.
Heart and Soulsreceived 10 Saturn Award Nominations, including one for Sedgwick for Best Supporting Actress.
Justice League: The New Frontier
Cast
Justice League: The New Frontier is an animated film set in the 1950s that explores the formation of the Justice League. Based on Darwyn Cooke’s graphic novel, the film follows iconic superheroes like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman as they unite to tackle a colossal threat. Featuring the voices of David Boreanaz, Neil Patrick Harris, and Lucy Lawless, it captures the dawn of a new era in the DC Universe.
Justice League: The New Frontiersees a being known as the Centre decide to eradicate the human race. It introduces Martian Manhunter to DC’s animated movie slate and, ultimately, sees the Justice League form. In many of the animatedJustice Leaguemovies, the voice actors for the roles change from movie to movie, and that’s the case for this one as well.
Here, Sedgwick voices Lois Lane. Lois isn’t a huge part of the movie, since much of the focus is on Martian Manhunter’s fight against the Centre and Flash deciding to retire.Sedgwick, however, doesn’t do a ton of voice roles despite being prolific on the big and the small screen as well as the stage, so it’s a rare animated gem in her catalog.
The movie was nominated for an Annie Award for Best Home Entertainment Production and an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program.
The Summer I Turned Pretty
The Summer I Turned Pretty, released in 2022, follows a pivotal summer in the life of Belly, who turns sixteen during her family’s annual stay at the Fishers' beach house. This transformative season involves first love, heartbreak, and personal growth, marking a significant journey of self-discovery.
Sedgwick was one of the biggest names to be a part of it.
Sedgwick has actually been in a lot of modern television in the last 20 years. Most of that has been on network television, butThe Summer I Turned Prettyis one of her few streaming projects. She joined the series in season 2.
The series is inspired by Jenny Han’s trilogy of novels with each season of the show primarily adapting one novel. Centered on Belly (Lola Tung),The Summer I Turned Prettyfollows Belly through multiple summers of her life and chronicles her relationships with a pair of brothers.Sedgwick plays the aunt to the brothers, their mother’s estranged sister, who enters their lives when the beach house is left to her after their mother’s death.
While the second season might not have been as well received as the first, Sedgwick was one of the biggest names to be a part of it.What most critics loved about the season was its exploration of grief, and Sedgwick’s character was a big part of that.The series is the number 2 streamed property on Amazon Prime, behind onlyRings of Power.
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Something To Talk Aboutis one of manyJulia Robertsstarring vehicles from the ‘90s. While it initially received mixed reviews from critics, it definitely made an impression on audiences, and part of that is Sedgwick’s supporting role as Emma Rae King.
Roberts stars as Grace, a woman who finds out her husband has been cheating on her. She takes her daughter and returns home to her parents’ horse farm in the hope of getting some breathing room and understanding from her family. What she finds instead is that her family thinks she and her husband are both at fault for allowing themselves to drift out of their relationship.
Sedgwick’s Emma Rae is Grace’s big sister. When she finds out her little sister has been cheated on, she does get momentarily violent with the man, but she also offers Grace another perspective on the relationship.Sedgwick was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in the movie.
Miss Rose Whiteis one of several period movies Sedgwick has starred in as well as one of several made-for-TV movies she has led. While made-for-tv movies were often looked down on by those who primarily made theatrical releases in the ‘90s, this one was an award show darling. It earned three Golden Globe and 10 Emmy nominations, winning four.
Sedgwick stars in the movie as a young woman focused on her career post-World War II in New York. Because of the life she led and how her family suffered, she has hidden her Jewish heritage from those around her. When she finds out her sister has somehow survived the Holocaust in Europe, unlike the rest of their family, their reunion becomes complicated by the very different lives they have led.
The movie provides a snapshot at what happens when someone is able to escape a traumatic event and someone else has to endure it.
Cavedwelleris one of several projects that features both Sedgwick and real-life husband Kevin Bacon. Bacon plays Sedgwick’s boyfriend at the start of the movie. They both are musicians, but Sedgwick’s role sees her returning from her free-spirited life to the hometown she left behind after her boyfriend’s death.
Sedgwick’s Delia ran away from an abusive husband, leaving her two young daughters in the care of a family member. When her abusive ex is dying and her most recent boyfriend dies, Delia brings her youngest daughter home, wanting to unite her daughters and get redemption from the family. She agrees to be her ex’s caregiver so she can build a relationship with her older daughters again.
Inspired by the novel of the same name,Cavedwelleris an exploration of how relationships affect people, the unhappy, the complicated, and the loving.
The Edge of Seventeen
The Edge of Seventeen is a 2016 coming-of-age story starring Hailee Steinfeld, Woody Harrelson, Kyra Sedgwick, and Haley Lu Richardson. Steinfeld stars as Nadine Franklin, who is struggling her way through high school as a 17-year-old. But things get more complicated when her best friend starts dating her older brother.
One of Sedgwick’s most critically acclaimed movies isThe Edge of Seventeen. She’s not the star of it. That honor goes to Hallie Steinfeld. Sedgwick plays her mother.
The movie follows Steinfeld as Nadine, a young woman who doesn’t see eye-to-eye with her mother, who is focused on appearances, and finds herself at odds with her older brother, who is more popular than her. Her world falls apart when she finds out that her best friend and her brother are seeing one another after her father dies.
The focus of the movie is firmly on Steinfeld’s Nadine, but without the talent of the heavyweights around her, like Haley Lu Richardson as her best friend, Harrelson as her teacher, and Sedgwick as her mother, the movie wouldn’t feel as real.They all provide grounded performances as Nadine’s world disintegrates around her.
The movie and Steinfeld received a slew of nominations from different critical societies.
Born on the Fourth of July
Ron Kovic, driven by a strong sense of patriotism, enlists in the Marine Corps and is deployed to Vietnam. His life takes a drastic turn when he sustains a severe injury, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Returning to a nation divided over the war, Kovic struggles with his newfound disability and the disillusionment with his former beliefs. His path to recovery and self-discovery leads him to become a passionate anti-war activist, using his voice to advocate for peace and the rights of veterans, redefining his purpose and legacy.
Born on the Fourth of Julyis often remembered as one of Tom Cruise’s best projects, but he wasn’t the only actor to find his name put on the map because of the drama. The movie sees Cruise as a soldier who returns home with serious injuries and PTSD following the Vietnam War, only to find how poorly veterans are treated. Throughout his journey, he becomes firmly anti-war, speaking at protests and appealing to Congress.
Sedgwick plays Donna, his childhood friend. Donna grows up while he’s at war to move to New York and becomes involved in anti-war protests herself. It’s a great early role for Sedgwick that helps to show her range, even if she doesn’t get to appear in much of the movie.
Born on the Fourth of Julywas nominated for eight Oscars, winning two of them, and five Golden Globes, winning four.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
From the creative minds of Dan Goor and Michael Schur comes Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a police comedy series set in the NYPD’s fictional 99th precinct. Headed by the comedically serious Captain Raymond Holt and protagonist Jake Peralta, the detectives of the 99 deal with burglaries, drug deals, and oddities in New York City, occasionally steering into real-world issues surrounding police perception and social concerns in the 2010s and earlier. Each detective has their own unique personality that makes them stand out, creating endearing dynamics that helped the show thrive for eight seasons.
Wuntch is a very different role for Sedgwick.
Brooklyn Nine-Nineis one of the most-loved comedy series of recent years. With its Halloween heists, its heartfelt relationships, and its impressive comedic ensemble, it’s easy to see why audiences love the show. Sedgwick wasn’t a regular cast member, but she did recur throughout the series as the nemesis of Captain Holt (Andre Braugher).
Wuntch is a very different role for Sedgwick.Fans are used to seeing her as empathetic women, those supporting the characters around them. Wuntch is the antithesis of thatas she purposely makes Holt’s life difficult. She’s unethical, but she’s also incredibly fun to watch. Even when her character is written out of the show,the writers made sure Sedgwick left her markby making Holt plan the memorial service for the character.
While Sedgwick was never nominated for her work on the show herself, the series did have 81 nominations and 15 wins across award shows.
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The Closer
The Closer was a popular crime drama that ran for seven seasons between 2005 and 2012. The series centers on the Priority Homicide Division in Los Angeles. Working as the Deputy Police Chief, Brenda Johnson has the unique skill of getting confessions out of suspects. Kyra Sedgwick stars as Brenda Leigh Johnson alongside JK Simmons and Corey Reynolds.
The Closeris the project for which Sedgwick has received the most accolades.
Sedgwick’s most famous role is likelyThe Closer. It’s also her best project. Crime procedurals can start to feel the same after watching the dozen of them on television at any given time, but Sedgwick’s role as Brenda kept the show interesting and entertaining.
What’s unique about this series is that, despite Brenda being a deputy police chief, she’s trained in interrogation by the CIA.That makes every interrogation scene in the series a nail-biter. Set in Los Angeles, the series did a good job of intertwining cultural aspects of different Los Angeles neighborhoods into the cases of the week. It also led to a spinoff series calledMajor Crimes.
The Closeris the project for which Sedgwick has received the most accolades. She was nominated more than 30 times across various award shows for her role in the series.Kyra Sedgwickwon both a Golden Globe and an Emmy for the series.
