Debra Messing

Debra Lynn Messing, born August 15, 1968, is an American actress. She achieved widespread recognition for her breakthrough role as interior designer Grace Adler on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace (1998–2006, 2017–2020). For her performance, she received seven Golden Globe Award nominations and five Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2003.

Messing was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Sandra Ellen, a singer, banker, and real estate agent, and Brian Messing, a costume jewelry packaging executive. Raised in a Jewish family, she moved to East Greenwich, Rhode Island, at age three. She attended Brandeis University, graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Arts in 1990. She subsequently completed a Master of Fine Arts degree through the Grad Acting Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

Messing began her professional career with a stage role in the 1993 workshop production of Angels in America: Perestroika. She appeared in NYPD Blue and made her feature film debut in A Walk in the Clouds (1995). Soon after, she co-starred on the Fox sitcom Ned & Stacey (1995–1997), guest-starred on Seinfeld, appeared in the off-Broadway play Collected Stories, and led the dramatic series Prey (1998). Her career reached a milestone when she was cast as Grace Adler in Will & Grace, a role she later reprised in the show's three-season revival from 2017 to 2020.

Messing starred as Molly Kagan in the miniseries and television series The Starter Wife (2007–2008), earning Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. She later portrayed Broadway playwright Julia Houston on the NBC musical drama Smash (2012–2013) and detective Laura Diamond on The Mysteries of Laura (2014–2016). Her feature film credits include Hollywood Ending, The Mothman Prophecies, Along Came Polly, The Wedding Date, Searching, 13: The Musical, and voice roles in Garfield and Open Season.

Messing made her Broadway debut in John Patrick Shanley's play Outside Mullingar in 2014. That same year, she won the Best Actress Award at The Williamsburg Independent Film Festival for her performance in Like Sunday, Like Rain. She later starred in the Broadway production Birthday Candles in 2022, earning an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination, and in the Off-Broadway play Shit. Meet. Fan in 2024. Earlier, in 2005, she was honored with the Women in Film Lucy Award.

In addition to her acting work, Messing co-founded the nonpartisan organization "I am a voter" in 2018. Following the October 7 attacks, she became a prominent public supporter of Israel, speaking at the March for Israel in Washington, D.C., visiting Israel, and serving as an executive producer and participant in the documentary October 8. Messing was married to actor and screenwriter Daniel Zelman from 2000 until their 2016 divorce, and they have one son.